The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MAY 2025 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 61 ❱ IN MEMORIAM dinated the Wolverines' national title- winning offense in his first year calling plays under head coach Lloyd Carr. "Mike was one of the great leaders," former offensive lineman Jon Jansen told The Detroit News. "He cared about you as a player, and I 100% attribute a ton of my success and my life to the energy he put into me. He was just like everybody on Lloyd's staff — he was such a good man and cared about you as an individ- ual, whether it was going to class, mak- ing the right decisions. He was some- body that was always there no matter the situation. "He was one of the best men I have ever known." DeBord left to become the head coach at Central Michigan from 2000-03. He came back to Ann Arbor in 2004 and re- mained on staff through 2007 when Carr retired before returning to U-M as an analyst in 2020 under Jim Harbaugh. Other stops along the way included Eastern Illinois, Ball State and North- western prior to landing on Carr's staff. After Carr's retirement, DeBord coached in the NFL with Seattle and Chicago and then returned to Ann Arbor as a sports administrator for the Olym- pic programs. He returned to the college football ranks to coach at Tennessee in 2015 and Indiana in 2017, working as as- sociate head coach and offensive coor- dinator in Bloomington. After another brief retirement, he returned to coaching with the San Diego Fleet in the Alliance of American Football (AAF), followed by a year as Kansas' offensive coordinator/ quarterbacks coach in 2021. "It is with deep sadness that we learned of the passing of Mike DeBord, a respected leader and a valued figure in Central Michigan football history," CMU head coach Matt Drinkall said. "You still hear stories from his former play- ers about the impact he made on their lives and our community. His legacy as a coach, as a person, and as a mentor will forever be remembered." Former Central Michigan head coach and athletics director Herb Deromedi praised the coach and the person DeBord was throughout his career. "Mike was an excellent coach, but he was even a better person," Deromedi said, via CMU Athletics. "He had the ability to criticize a player and chew him out, and then by the time he left the room, he had his arm around him. He was a player's coach; players loved play- ing for him." Former Central Michigan offensive lineman Adam Kieft, who was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2005, praised DeBord's loyalty when leading the Chip- pewas as their head coach. "When I went on some recruiting trips to some other schools, it almost felt like those schools didn't know a whole lot about me as a person before I showed up," he said. "Even before my recruiting trip he spent the time before I got there to learn a little bit about me, talked to my high school head coach and found out some stuff about me to make sure that I had a good experience while I was there and could relate to me. "He put the emphasis on me as a per- son as much as a football player to en- joy what was going to happen in Mount Pleasant and the vision for the program." DeBord graduated from Wes-Del High School in Delaware County, Ind., then started four seasons on the offensive line at Manchester College, receiving all- conference, all-district and honorable mention NAIA All-America honors in 1977. He earned a master's degree from Ball State in 1981 while also serving as a grad assistant. DeBord's coaching career began in 1978 at South Decatur High School, fol- lowed by stops at Franklin College, Fort Hays State, Eastern Illinois, Ball State, Colorado State and Northwestern before arriving in Ann Arbor. DeBord's wife, Deb DeBord, died last June after a battle with cancer. ❑ DeBord's Coaching Career School/Team Responsibility Years Franklin (Ind.) College Offensive Line 1982-83 Fort Hays State Offensive Line 1984 Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks/Wide Receivers 1985-86 Eastern Illinois Offensive Line 1987-88 Ball State Offensive Line 1988-89 Colorado State Offensive Line 1990-91 Northwestern Offensive Line 1992 Michigan Offensive Line 1993-96 Offensive Coordinator 1997-99 Special Teams/Recruiting Coordinator 2004-05 Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends 2006-07 Analyst 2020 Central Michigan Head Coach 2000-03 Seattle Seahawks Asst. Offensive Line 2008 Tight Ends 2009 Chicago Bears Tight Ends 2010-12 Tennessee Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks 2015-16 Indiana Asst. Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends 2017-18 San Diego Fleet Offensive Coordinator 2019 Kansas Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks 2021 He Said It "Football to me, coaching football's an ad- diction. You've got to be addicted to it. And when I say coaching, I'm talking about with the players, with the coaches, recruiting, the game — it's an addiction. I was addicted to it and so all of a sudden you go all those years and now you're gonna say you're not gonna do it? I applaud those guys who can do that." — Mike DeBord to The Detroit News, 2020