KNOXVILLE -- Mike DeBord won't call his first play in a live football game for another six months.
Tennessee's new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach already is impressing his new boss just a couple of weeks on the job.
Butch Jones trumpeted the value of fit and continuity ad nauseam both before and after he hired DeBord, who has not been a college coordinator since 2007 and has been out of coaching altogether for two years, and the third-year coach of the Volunteers believes the fresh perspective has been good for the program.
"What Mike DeBord has brought to our football program already in a couple short weeks has been remarkable," Jones told the Times Free Press on Thursday. "Our kids have gravitated toward him. He has a command presence. Familiarity with the staff was monumental. We were able to walk in on Monday and start out quality control.
"When you hire an offensive coordinator, you're hiring a personal brand, and we interviewed a lot of great coordinators, but we just need to enhance what we're doing. Mike DeBord's fit so far has been a great fit for everyone. Our players love the change. They can sense the passion.
"We've made subtle adjustments already that, I think, are going to help us in moving forward, and I think our entire staff has benefited from his knowledge, his experience. Change is good. I really believe that. Change is good, and we're seeing the byproducts of that change right now."
When he was introduced during a news conference eight days ago, the 59-year-old DeBord claimed his battery was "fully charged" after two years in an administrative role at Michigan, where he spent five seasons as the offensive coordinator in two stints.
DeBord, Jones's former boss as the head coach at Central Michigan, said he spent his time away from coaching studying the game extensively while he awaited a desirable opportunity to get back into coaching. He thought that would come in the NFL, where he spent five seasons with Seattle and Chicago after leaving Michigan after the 2007 season.
Jones can rattle off a long list of reasons he tabbed DeBord to replace Mike Bajakian, the only offensive coordinator he's had in eight seasons as a head coach, but he quickly said he paid no mind to DeBord's time away from coaching and away from college.
"I know what Mike DeBord's all about," Jones continued. "I was going to hire the right fit for Tennessee football. I think he benefited from being out of the game for a year and a half, because he was basically able to go on a football sabbatical. He was very tied to running the day-to-day operations of the Michigan football program.
"He's seen things happen; he was on the field; he was in all the meetings. He was able to develop trends in football, whether it be from the National Football League side of things or college football. I think that helped him. I think his five years in the National Football League helped him."
Now Jones wants DeBord to help Tennessee's offense with the tweaks necessary to help the Vols move up a level in the Southeastern Conference.
The Vols never had any intentions of revamping the up-tempo spread offense Jones has used, but he readily admits there are areas that need improvement.
Jones first pointed to explosive plays, then to pass protection.
The Vols went from 100th nationally with 142 plays of 20-plus yards in 2013 to 73rd in the country with 183 such big plays in 2014, and though the mobility of quarterback Josh Dobbs aided a struggling offensive line the latter half of the season, Tennessee allowed 43 sacks, the sixth-most in the FBS.
"There's areas (that) for us to take the next step," Jones said, "we have to take tremendous strides in moving forward."
And he's confident DeBord is the coordinator to help the Vols make those strides.
"It's one thing to know what the problems are, but (it's another thing) to know how to fix them," he said. "When you look at Mike DeBord's experience from the collegiate level to the professional ranks, but also him coaching all the positions of an offense, (it) really helps him.
"He's already been a great resource for Coach (Mark) Elder, Coach (Don) Mahoney, Coach (Robert) Gillespie, then obviously our quarterbacks as well, and Coach (Zach) Azzanni. I wanted an individual who could correct the problems and know how to correct the problems."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com