HOOVER, Ala. - Tennessee quarterback Josh Dobbs had yet to begin kindergarten when the St. Louis Rams began lighting up NFL scoreboards for three seasons and became known as "The Greatest Show on Turf."
So when Mike DeBord, the new offensive coordinator for the Volunteers, brought up those Rams teams that scored 500-plus points in 1998, 1999 and 2000 earlier this offseason, Dobbs and the Vols' other quarterbacks were pretty much clueless.
"We were like, 'What are you talking about?'" Dobbs recalled during Tennessee's turn at SEC Media Days on Tuesday.
DeBord was the offensive coordinator at Michigan while the Rams - with an attack led by two-time MVP quarterback Kurt Warner, a three-time NFL offensive player of the year at running back in Marshall Faulk and the receiver tandem of Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt - won one Super Bowl and played in another.
Tennessee's new coordinator worked with Mike Martz, the offensive coordinator of those St. Louis teams, on the staff with the Chicago Bears in 2010 and 2011.
After working with Mike Bajakian his freshman and sophomore season at Tennessee, Dobbs, who likely answered more questions Tuesday about his off-field interest in working on airplanes and his academic workload as an aerospace engineering major than he did about football, is adjusting to life under DeBord.
"He's been everywhere within college football, professional football," Dobbs said.
"He's a wealth of knowledge, so he's awesome to have at my fingertips."
When Vols head coach Butch Jones, who worked for DeBord at Central Michigan more than a decade ago, interviewed his former boss for Bajakian's vacant post, Dobbs and Tennessee's other quarterback were asked to sit in on it and watch video with the candidate.
Dobbs was watching video the following day while Jones and DeBord were there, and he joined them to watch more.
"From (day) one it was a great dynamic," Dobbs said. "It was great to go ahead and meet him and see what coach was going to coach me for the future seasons. Our relationship since then has really just grown. It's been awesome."
Tennessee freshman quarterback Jauan Jennings practices on March 26, 2015, in Knoxville. At right is offensive coordinator Mike DeBord.Thundering Hurd
Sophomore running back Jalen Hurd is tipping the scales at 242 pounds heading into preseason camp, and that's fine with Tennessee's coaches. They pushed the former five-star recruit to add the weight and size necessary to build enough durability to survive the wear and tear of an SEC season.
Hurd ran for 899 yards as a freshman, but he missed nearly all of two games and was limited heavily against Florida due to nagging injuries, and the Vols dearly missed him.
"He's been as determined and focused and as determined a young man as we have in our program right now," Jones said. "Now you couple that with Alvin Kamara, and we're really, really excited.
"Alvin stepped in our program from day one and didn't say a word and just kept working and working and working. He has earned the respect of his teammates. We look forward to those two playing football together."
Aiming high
After missing all of 2013 with a knee injury, defensive end/linebacker Curt Maggitt, who completed his degree last December, gave slight consideration to jumping to the NFL after last season, but his desire to put two seasons of healthy, productive football together and what the Vols had coming back made his decision to return simple.
He and Derek Barnett, the other half of Tennessee's pass-rushing tandem, are hoping to put up big numbers in 2015.
The Vols recorded the program's highest season sack total (35) since 2001 last year, with Maggitt finishing third in the SEC with 11 and Barnett adding 10 as a freshman. They're aiming to combine for 30 this season.
"I take great pride in that," Maggitt said. "Barnett is a guy I've got a lot of respect for on the field and off the field, the way he carries himself. He's a real good friend of mine.
"We're not just rushing the passer to be the second-best or the third-best (in the SEC). We talk about it all the time: We're the best tandem. We want to break records."
Passing the line
Jones noted that Tennessee's first- and second-team offensive lines are comprised completely of scholarship players for the first time in his tenure, and he's looking forward to that unit being much improved this season.
"Now we have competition, and as we all know, competition is extremely healthy," he said. "We're going to have some competitive battles to find the best five to start the season, and that may (change) through the season - maybe No. 6 or No. 7 is playing. But we now have that competitive depth that we need."
The Vols return 64 career starts on their offensive line after having just six going into 2014.
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.