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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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Nov 28, 2015; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs quarterback Dak Prescott (15) makes a pass during the first quarter of the game against the Mississippi Rebels at Davis Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 28, 2015; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs quarterback Dak Prescott (15) makes a pass during the first quarter of the game against the Mississippi Rebels at Davis Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports /

2. Billy Gonzales

If you want to stay inside the SEC with the hire, Billy Gonzales out of Mississippi State is your man. Clearly this Urban Meyer/Dan Mullen coaching tree is a thing of beauty when it comes to offensive coordinators.

But Gonzales might be the most proven coordinator there is among the bunch.

Mullen made him offensive coordinator in 2014. Anybody remember what happened that year? With no offensive line, Gonzales turned Dak Prescott into a Heisman candidate while leading the Bulldogs to a No. 1 ranking overall in the country, and they were one bad half away from making the College Football Playoff.

Remember, this is Mississippi State, the worst program in the SEC West! And with limited resources, McSorley led the Bulldogs to a Top 10 offense in all of college football.

The next year they fell off after losing tons of weapons, but he still kept the offense in the Top 40.

Then, this year, with an entirely brand new cast of characters and Prescott gone to the NFL, he turned Nick Fitzgerald into an elite SEC quarterback down the stretch and, with no help from the defense, nearly got a rebuilding Bulldogs team back to a winning record just because of his side of the ball.

Gonzales is a proven success as offensive coordinator who has now shown that he can develop quarterbacks for the NFL and can keep the worst program in the SEC West competitive with the top programs there with his offenses.

That counts for a lot, and most Mississippi State fans are pretty excited about the future of their offense under Fitzgerald, Prescott’s replacement.

Imagine what he could do with better recruits in a weaker division!

You know that Gonzales would jump at the opportunity to be the Tennessee football offensive coordinator, and Butch Jones should seriously consider it.

He has all the elements of the spread offense you want, and at Tennessee, he would have the talent.

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