Chad Henne, Mike Hart, Steve Breaston. Names that Michigan State is scared of. Names that give defensive coordinators nightmares. Names with which Penn State defense is oh so familiar. And most of all, names that were not utilized to their full potential in the past years. Well, we can only turn to the future, and the future is as bright as the sun glowing on the Big House on a victorious fall Saturday. So, I ask the question, why is this so? Well my maize and blue brethren, I have two words for you: Mike DeBord.

The 50 years young offensive coordinator is blessed with some incredible talents. You start up front with a great offensive line, including a very good tight end in Tyler Ecker. DeBord used his tight end, Jerame Tuman, to the max when he was offensive coordinator in Ann Arbor back in the late-1990’s. It was no coincidence that Tuman was a back-to-back All-Big Ten performer in 1997 and 1998. Tuman was also an All-American in the 1997 season, a year in which we won the National Championship. There were also eight offensive linemen named to the All-Big Ten teams, which is credited to DeBord’s incredible ability to run the football. The Muncie, Indiana native was the offensive tackles and tight ends coach for his first two years in Ann Arbor; he took over at assistant coach, and then assumed the offensive coordinator position in the 1997 season. DeBord led his offenses to victories in three straight bowl games: the 1998 Rose Bowl, the 1999 Citrus Bowl, and the 2000 Orange Bowl. Interestingly enough, DeBord use to live just three hours south of South Bend. Hmm…

In other words, DeBord doesn’t mess around. He runs the football successfully, which instantly makes the quarterback better. That’s where Chad Henne comes in. DeBord has always seemed to adjust to each specific quarterback. Quarterbacks coach, Scot Loeffler, commented that, “If you look at Mike’s offense when he was coordinator here before, he ran different offenses depending on the strengths and weaknesses of his players. He had a different philosophy in 1997 with Brian Griese than he did with Tom Brady in 1999 because there were things Tom did better than Brian and Brian did better than Tom. Knowing Mike, and what he and the rest of the offensive coaches want out of this team, we’re going to run an offense this fall that makes best use of the talent we have.” 

During DeBord’s previous three seasons as the offensive coordinator, 1997, 1998, and 1999, the Michigan offense averaged 182.3, 155.8, and 121.8 yards on the ground respectively. In all three of those seasons, his tight ends were at least in the top four in terms of receiving yards. In contrast, during the past four seasons with Terry Malone at the helm, there was only one season where a tight end was in the top three.

The players know the philosophy; heck, even I know the philosophy that DeBord brings to the table. Focus on running the football and setting up the pass. “It’s about balance”, Doug Dutch said, “It’s about what he wants to do when we have the football on offense. I know he wants to score points, too, and he seems to be pretty interested in a passing game that stretches the field. He’s made some changes, and I’m excited to play in the offense we have now. We’re capable of accomplishing big things.”

Ah, that just brings music to my ears. That just gets me as giddy as a schoolgirl. Stretching the ball in the passing game, wonderful! We’re not just capable of accomplishing big things, we will accomplish great things. Carr seems to agree with me. “Going in, we had a purpose to improve ourselves, to come out of the spring with our players having confidence and a belief that we can and we will run the football effectively.”

Why is this so, you may ask yourself? Well, my Wolverine compatriots, it’s because of a man with enthusiasm for the game and a passion for winning. That man is Mike DeBord, Michigan’s offensive coordinator who will lead Michigan to a very impressive season on the offensive side of the ball.

Go Blue!

Stay tuned for Why the Michigan defense will succeed… in the coming weeks.

Quotes Credit: The Wolverine