When he was just 27 years old, Mike Bajakian began his first full-time Football Bowl Subdivision coaching job with Central Michigan. Mind you, it had been seven years since his last college football game and his only previous work was attributed to working as a graduate assistant at Rutgers and Michigan.

However, in a recent twist of events, Mike DeBord, coincidentally the same person who got him his first job at Central Michigan, was hired to replace Bajakian and move to Knoxville. The former Tennessee offensive coordinator is moving to take over as the quarterback coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Regarding his thoughts on the newly announced successor, Bajakian expresses that “I’ve been close with Mike for a long time…we’ve stayed in touch. He’s been a mentor to me and a guy that I’ve bounced a lot of things off, from career moves to X’s and O’s. He’s a good man and a good coach, and I really think Coach DeBord will fit in well at Tennessee.”

Bajakian further elaborates that he expects DeBord to mesh well with Tennessee’s coaching methods, due to his NFL experience with the Chicago Bears and Seattle Seahawks.

He states that, “I’ve already been on the phone a couple of times with Mike talking terminology with scheme…I told him…if there is anything they need, don’t hesitate to give me a call.” Furthermore, Bajakian is immensely looking forward to the transition to working with the Tampa Bay Bucs.

He confessed that, “it’s everything I was looking for, it’s an opportunity to learn and be around some great coaches.”