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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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Oct 24, 2015; Waco, TX, USA; Baylor Bears head coach Art Briles during the fight song following a game against the Iowa State Cyclones at McLane Stadium. Baylor won 45-27. Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 24, 2015; Waco, TX, USA; Baylor Bears head coach Art Briles during the fight song following a game against the Iowa State Cyclones at McLane Stadium. Baylor won 45-27. Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports /

5. Art Briles

If you’re simply looking for the best offensive mind in college football when it comes to the spread, you can’t get much better than Art Briles.

From Robert Griffin III to Bryce Petty to Seth Russell, he had a history of turning quarterbacks into college superstars while with the Baylor Bears, and he broke tons of offensive records in the process.

With his firing from there along with his desperation to get back into the game, there’s no way he wouldn’t accept this offer.

And he’d be a surefire hit. However, the downside is obvious, and it’s why he’s No. 5 instead of No 1.

Briles’s failure to deal with the sexual assault accusations against some of his players at Baylor is nearly unforgivable, and he has not done an adequate job yet of proving that he made any effort to stop it.

With Tennessee not even a year removed from settling a sexual assault lawsuit of its own, Briles’s baggage is the last thing they would want, especially with Butch Jones making such an effort to turn around the football program’s reputation.

However, Briles would just be a coordinator, not the face of the program. And the details of his involvement in Baylor’s scandal are still a bit hazy.

So Tennessee football might be able to pull this off. Briles is one of only two sure successes as a coordinator on this list when it comes to winning.

That means the Vols would have to way those upsides against his potential baggage. And that potential baggage drops him here.

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