1. Mike DeBord
The other coach on this list, offensive coordinator Mike DeBord has received a massive amount of criticism for his play-calling against Appalachian State. And for good reason.
It appeared DeBord and the rest of the offensive staff thought they could get by and win against Appalachian State with just a basic, vanilla offensive game plan. The Vols did get the win, but it was in spite of that scheme, not because of it. The Vols only averaged 5.4 yards per play against Appalachian State, and they didn’t run Josh Dobbs or Alvin Kamara often at all.
DeBord has been criticized for being too conservative in his time at Tennessee so far. And he certainly did nothing to quell that talk in Week 1 of 2016. Getting his explosive offensive players more plays and opening up the playbook against Virginia Tech will quiet the vitriol being spewed towards him a bit.
Virginia Tech’s defense will be even better coached than Appalachian State’s. DeBord and the Vols need to answer with a much more nuanced offensive game plan in order to win this week.
