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Tennessee football: 5 OC changes that worked out for Vols

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 08: Tennessee mascot Davy Crockett carries the flag across the end zone during a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers at Neyland Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennesee won the game 59-3. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 08: Tennessee mascot Davy Crockett carries the flag across the end zone during a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers at Neyland Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennesee won the game 59-3. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images
Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images /

5. 2015: Mike DeBord

This one is pretty obvious. Butch Jones’s only two successful seasons with Tennessee football were the two years he brought in Mike DeBord as offensive coordinator. When DeBord arrived, Jones was 12-13 on Rocky Top through two years. His offenses averaged 353 yards and 23.8 points a game in 2013 and 370.5 yards and 28.9 points per game in 2014.

Then, when DeBord arrived, the Vols went 9-4 with Top 25 finishes each of the next two years, the only two years since Phillip Fulmer’s firing that they had over seven wins or a Top 25 finish in a season. On top of that, the offenses jumped to averaging 422 yards and over 35 points a game in 2015 and over 443 yards and 36 points a game in 2016.

So the improvement under DeBord is clear. But it’s a bit misleading at the same time. We should note that the Vols won four of their final five games in 2014 and 37 points a game after they inserted Joshua Dobbs into the starting lineup. They then returned their entire lineup in 2015 and 2016, so the improvement was expected.

But at the same time, you can’t deny that the DeBord hire worked out. That offensive success of Rocky Top was impossible to deny, and it became even clearer after he left. Again, to be fair, when he left a lot of the talent left, most notably Dobbs.

Still, in 2017 the Vols averaged fewer than 20 points a game and under 300 yards. Simply put, it’s safe to say the DeBord hire worked out and may have extended Butch Jones’s career longer than it should have.

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