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Tennessee offensive coordinator Mike DeBord’s stay in Knoxville is over after two years.
On Tuesday afternoon, news broke that the 60-year-old play-caller had accepted the same position with Indiana, leaving a significant opening on coach Butch Jones’ staff entering the offseason.
Moments ago, Jones addressed the media about the vacancy and how he plans on filling it in the coming days/weeks, discussing what he’s looking for and how the offense might look in 2017:
Jones says DeBord has “made Tennessee football much better”
— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) January 3, 2017
#Vols coach Butch Jones said OC search will span from college to NFL and internal and external candidates. No timeline on the hire.
— Tennessee Beat (@TennesseeBeat) January 3, 2017
Butch: "I don't see us making monumental changes" with the offense.
— Patrick Brown (@pbrown247) January 3, 2017
#Vols coach Butch Jones said it's already been a challenge returning all the text messages regarding the offensive coordinator opening.
— Tennessee Beat (@TennesseeBeat) January 3, 2017
#Vols coach Butch Jones said the No. 1 priority for a new offensive coordinator will be quarterback development.
— Tennessee Beat (@TennesseeBeat) January 3, 2017
This past season, Tennessee (9-4) scored more points than any other team in program history, ranking second in the SEC behind Alabama in scoring offense (36.4 points per game) while producing nearly 48 points over its final five games of the season.
The Vols finished with the conference’s best passer rating (149.55) and ranked 40th in the country in total offense with 443.7 yards per contest.
Tyler Waddell is a member of the Saturday Down South news team. He brings over five years of professional journalism experience and is closing in on a Bachelor's in sports management. Follow him on Twitter (@Tyler_Waddell).
