IU Coach Tom Allen knows defense.
Wherever he has gone in his career, that school’s defense has improved immediately, and IU’s defense improved in every major statistical category under his guidance this season. However, Allen has little experience coaching offense and hasn’t had to deal with that side of the ball since he was a high school head coach.
That was why last week’s offensive coaching hires were so important for Allen. He needed to add coaches to his staff that he could trust to run the offense.
Allen hired Mike DeBord from Tennessee as IU’s new offensive coordinator. DeBord has decades’ worth of experience conducting offenses. Before coaching at Tennesse, he coached tight ends in the NFL with the Chicago Bears and the Seattle Seahawks and twice served as offensive coordinator at Michigan, for a total of five years.
“Coach DeBord is going to be the visionary for the system they develop,” Allen said. “I’m just really thrilled to have him here with us running our offense.”
Last season DeBord’s offense set single-season school records for points and touchdowns in the SEC against several tough defenses along the way.
DeBord’s offense featured one of the best rushing attacks in the country in 2016, but IU doesn’t have a quarterback like Joshua Dobbs, who rushed for a team high 1,051 yards. Dobbs’ development as a passer in his time with DeBord is notable, and IU needs improvement from junior quarterback Richard Lagow next season.
Allen also made a big splash by hiring Ole Miss wide receivers coach Grant Heard to fill the same position at IU. Heard will also be the passing game coordinator.
Two of the biggest beneficiaries of this hire should be sophomore wide receiver Nick Westbrook and junior wide receiver Simmie Cobbs Jr. Though Cobbs missed the majority of the season, Westbrook filled in his place and had 995 yards and averaged 18.4 yards per catch. Cobbs had 1,035 receiving yards in his sophomore campaign in 2015.
The past two seasons at Ole Miss the Rebels have had a terrific aerial attack that was led by strong play from receivers Laquon Treadwell and Damore’ea Stringfellow. Per Football Study Hall’s S&P metric — measuring efficiency and explosiveness — the Rebels had the second-best passing attack in 2015 and had the 14th-ranked attack in 2016. In 2015 Treadwell had 83 catches, 1,165 yards and 11 touchdowns, and Stringfellow has had 1,219 yards combined in the past two seasons.
Under Heard, Cobbs and Westbrook should continue their growth and be the bedrock of IU’s offense next season as they are similar receivers to what Heard had at Ole Miss.
Allen also retained Shawn Watson as the quarterback coach, which is a great move for this offense. Watson was an offensive analyst in 2016 and transitioned into his current role before the Foster Farms Bowl. His existing knowledge of the IU quarterbacks is crucial because he knows what each member of the unit needs to improve.
While at Louisville, Watson helped mentor Teddy Bridgewater, who had a terrific upward development in his time as the Cardinals’ quarterback. Bridgewater increased his completion percentage, touchdowns and yards every year he was at Louisville. His steady improvement culminated in his junior season, when he had 3,970 yards, 31 touchdowns and only 4 interceptions.
Lagow had an up-and-down first season as starting quarterback in Bloomington. He passed for 3,362 yards and 19 touchdowns but threw 17 interceptions. If Watson can take the positives of Lagow’s game and hone in on diminishing the negatives, this offense would be much better for it.
Overall, while IU lost one of the best offensive minds in college football when Kevin Wilson resigned, Allen did a great job of compiling a versatile staff that should be able to help the Hoosiers score.
Adding DeBord, Heard and Watson to already successful coaches such as offensive line coach Greg Frey and running backs coach Deland McCullough, Allen created an staff that should do wonders for IU’s offense.
aphussey@indiana.edu
@thehussnetwork
