On the Prospects of Mike Debord as UT's Next Coordinator

by CornFromAJar on Jan 8, 2008 3:03 PM EST in Tennessee Volunteer Football Comment 5 comments

There is scuttlebutt out there that former Michigan offensive coordinator Mike DeBord will be interviewing with Fulmer for the same post at Tennessee. My first reaction is "yikes!", because this guy was pretty roundly hated by Michigan fans while he was in Ann Arbor. For example, look no farther than Brian's sentiments from when DeBord was hired to be Michigan's OC for the second time:

On the surface, DeBord is a ridiculous choice for offensive coordinator. He was unimpressive during his first three years; he failed at CMU; he is not particularly exciting. But there are extenuating circumstances that provide hope that the second time will be better. Loeffler is more heavily involved with the game planning ever year. Lloyd Carr is adapting to college football's offensive renaissance -- with painful slowness at times, granted. The defense is not a rock to fall back upon. DeBord's made some noises in interviews the echo these sentiments, but we won't have a clear idea how meaningful those noises are until the Notre Dame game.

And more of Brian's thoughts, from mid-2007 when it was obvious what was wrong with the Michigan program:

When Mike Debord plays rock-paper-scissors, he always picks rock.

Rock totally beats scissors. Why would anyone pick anything else? Sure, occasionally someone will throw his own rock, but this is Michigan. We can out-execute their rock. And there are rumors of this thing called "paper". Apparently it beats rock, which seems darned unsporting, but Mike Debord will believe that when Mike Debord sees it. We can probably out-execute paper, too. Some people will hypothesize that the potential existence of paper warrants the occasional scissors throw, but only three things can happen when you throw scissors and two of them are bad. The idea of throwing "paper" is to be regarded with naught but scorn. Oooh, a Snickers bar! Mike Debord likes Snickers and will let pet monkey Bonzo call a series as he enjoys a candy bar.

Hey, Bonzo scored a touchdown. Now we're ahead. Let's go back to rock. Rock beats scissors.

Rock, rock. Definitely rock. Rock. Judge Wapner's on at ten.

In between there are few kind words for DeBord that I can find (though there are references to DeBord as "Capitan Failure" and a little-used but telling post tag "loldebord") but you can look for yourself here. I think it's safe to say that Brian's pretty well on the pulse of Michigan football. So while getting a former Michigan coordinator might be a big deal to some, any news that DeBord has done anything but interview with UT will be met with a roll of the eyes from yours truly, FWIW.

However, there are a couple of good points about a potential DeBord hire if it comes to that -- and at this point we don't even know if he has or is going to interview for sure -- but Michigan football looks a lot like Tennessee football, so there would probably be a natural comfort level. DeBord was in charge of M's special teams for a couple of years before his second stint as OC, and I'd love to see Fulmer hire someone to coordinate special teams full-time (though I'm doubtful anyone would go from offensive coordinator at a major school to special-teams coordinator at another major school without seeing it as a major demotion).

Another thing, DeBord would potentially bring QB coach Scot Loeffler with him, a guy who is a top recruiter and by all accounts a very good position coach who should be a coordinator himself one day. There are pretty strong rumors that VHT and Michigan's part-time starting QB in 2007 Ryan Mallett will follow Loeffler wherever he ends up. Are gaining Mallett and Loeffler worth putting up with DeBord? Maybe, but from what I've read I'd rather have Richmond's Dave Clawson, who we know has interviewed.

Go Vols

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Here's a thought...

Maybe Deboard is disliked in Michigan for much the same reason Randy Sanders was disliked in his later years with the Vols: 1) the inability to run a consistent offense and 2) predictable playcalling. It's obvious, in Sanders' case that he just needed a change in venue. A change in tools and equipment. His knowledge and skill-set remained constant in his move to Lexington.

Personally, I would have no problem if Deboard were hired onto the Vols' coaching staff. Perhaps he can have the same effect on the offense here as Coach Sanders' had at Kentucky the past 2 seasons? Maybe, maybe not. The one thing we've ALL learned from CFB this season...nothing is certain.

There's no guarantee that Malzahn, June Jones, R-Rod, or even the dreaded URB would have success at Tennessee as the signal caller. Jus'sayin.

by Aerobab on Jan 8, 2008 8:19 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

All true...

Just based on the limited amount of information I have, if it comes down to a choice b/w DeBord and Clawson, I'm rooting for Clawson.

And I've decided not to criticize or denigrate the new hire, whoever it turns out to be, before he's called a play at UT. (Meaning: halftime of the Orange/White game, DeBord's butt is mine)

I still reserve the right to roll my eyes, though.

by CornFromAJar on Jan 8, 2008 8:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I do not know....

I was very much excited when i heard that Mike Debord had been released at michigan, because of the balance that they had on offense, and how they had developed a top of the line qb, rb, and receivers, and that Scott Loeffer was also being considered among various places as well.

However, I looked at his numbers and they were much lower than expected, and I very much can understand the predictable playcalling. With that being said, Michigan did have excellent receivers, and with the successes the Henne and Hart turned out to be at the collegiate level, I would not mind debord, cause it seems individuals at all the skill positions do tend to develop and blossom. And Loeffer could work his way up in the UT system and take over taylor's recruiting touch, and RYAN MALLET WOULD BE AWESOME!!!!

by Power T on Jan 8, 2008 10:05 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Mallet update

It looks like Ryan Mallet is going to announce soon that he will transfer to play at UCLA.

by tommotornado on Jan 9, 2008 11:04 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

New OC

Great hire Phil. Maybe we will not be so predictable with Clawson. Also good hire with Brayton as running back coach. Keep up the good work and finish out the staff strong. I'm not worried about losing Mich coaches and qb they would bring because we have great prospects already. What I would really love to hear is that we got a great DL player. Good job keeping OL together for another year. Now work on Arian, what a workhorse. We can always bring in others for change of pace and speed. Once you finish the staff, they can go to work to coach up the talent. Have a great offseason so we can have a great season next year and beat both FL and AL

by TN Voltan on Jan 10, 2008 8:41 PM EST reply actions 0 recs