It all began at the end of the 2014 Tennessee football season. Offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian left the Vols for the NFL, and Butch Jones immediately hired Mike DeBord.
Jones served under DeBord at Central Michigan in the early 2000s. That was a failure, but still, nobody questions DeBord’s background as an offensive coordinator. He won a national title at Michigan, developed Tom Brady two years later, and turned around Chad Henne in 2006.
Then this past offseason came. Jones made the biggest assistant coach splash by parting ways with defensive coordinator John Jancek to get Bob Shoop.