ANN ARBOR, Mich. – University of Michigan Director of Intercollegiate Athletics
Dave Brandon announced Friday (Feb. 1) the hiring of Mike DeBord as a sport administrator with the athletic department’s Olympic sports teams. DeBord is returning to Michigan Athletics after spending the past five years as an assistant coach with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears.
“I am really excited to return to the University of Michigan in a role where I can work with our coaches and student-athletes as they work to achieve their goals and aspirations,” said DeBord. “It has been exciting to watch Michigan Athletics from afar and now I am fortunate to be a part of it again.”
DeBord will be a sport administrator working with the field hockey, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s gymnastics, men’s and women’s track and field and men’s and women’s tennis programs.
DeBord spent three seasons coaching the tight ends for the Bears organization (2010-13). He spent two seasons with the Seahawks organization, first as an offensive line assistant under Mike Holmgren (2008) and as tight end coach for Jim Mora (2009).
Prior to his NFL experience, DeBord spent 26 seasons coaching at all levels of the collegiate game. He was an assistant coach at Michigan from 1992-99 and 2004-07. In between his Michigan appointments, DeBord was the head coach at Central Michigan University for four seasons (2000-03).
DeBord was hired by Gary Moeller as offensive line coach in 1992, a position he held through the 1996 season. DeBord added duties as assistant head coach in 1995, and was elevated to offensive coordinator prior to the 1997 season. During his first of two stints as offensive coordinator (1997-99), the Wolverines won three straight Jan. 1 bowl games: Rose, Citrus and Orange bowls. Michigan claimed the 1997 national championship during DeBord’s initial season as coordinator, a year in which he was selected by
The Sporting News as the National Assistant Coach of the Year.
After four seasons at Central Michigan, DeBord returned to Michigan in 2004 as the special teams coach and recruiting coordinator. He held those duties for two seasons before returning to the offensive coordinator role for the 2006 and 2007 seasons.
DeBord graduated from Wes-Del High School in Delaware County, Ind. He started for four years on the offensive line at Manchester College, receiving all-conference, all-district and honorable mention NAIA All-America honors during the 1977 season when he was captain. He was inducted into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame in 1995.
After receiving his master’s degree from Ball State in 1981, DeBord embarked on a coaching career that included stops at Franklin College, Fort Hays, Eastern Illinois, Ball State, Colorado State and Northwestern before joining the Michigan staff.