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Tennessee Football: Top 5 Candidates Who Should Replace Mike DeBord as Vols Offensive Coordinator

By Caleb Calhoun

Oct 15, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Butch Jones runs on to the field before the game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 15, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Butch Jones runs on to the field before the game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sep 24, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; General view of the Tennessee Volunteers running through the T before the game against the Florida Gators at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 24, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; General view of the Tennessee Volunteers running through the T before the game against the Florida Gators at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports /

Tennessee football needs a new offensive coordinator after Mike DeBord’s departure for Indiana. Here are the five best candidates the Volunteers could get.

For the third time in as many years, Tennessee football is in search of a new coordinator on one side of the ball. It’s the second time in three years that the Vols are looking for a new offensive coordinator.

After two years with the program, Mike DeBord is leaving to take the same job with the Indiana Hoosiers.

DeBord did many good things while in Knoxville. He helped Butch Jones return Tennessee football to a Top 25 program, and he oversaw one of the most productive quarterbacks in school history.

However, many fans felt that the offense was lacking at certain points considering all the weapons DeBord had. Now, with him gone, the possibilities could be endless.

As we get set to take a look at the top candidates out there who should replace DeBord as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator, there are a few criteria we are using to measure each one.

For starters, they have to have coordinating experience. All due respect to Larry Scott and Zach Azzanni, Tennessee should never be a place where you get your start as a coordinator unless you were a position coach there first and won a national title.

That’s not the case for either of those guys.

The coordinator should also have a proven track record of some success somewhere.

Finally, needs to have solid experience dealing with Butch Jones’s spread offense in the modern college football game. At times, DeBord seemed to have trouble adjusting to that since his experience was always in pro-style power offenses.

That can’t happen again.

So with those three criteria, we have five clear candidates who could be the next Tennessee football offensive coordinator. Here is how they rank from worst to best.

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