Chavis Gets A Shot At His Old Team
September 29th, 2010 10:27 AM║ Posted By: John Pennington ║ Permalink
║ Schools: LSU, Tennessee
John Chavis is a Tennessee alum. For 20 years he was an assistant coach for the Vols. He still owns a home in Knoxville.
But now he’s LSU’s defensive coordinator and let there be no doubt that he wants a win against the school that fired him (as part of the Phillip Fulmer purge) in 2008.
“I’m purple and gold through and through,” Chavis said yesterday. “If I finish my career here at LSU, I’ll be a happy man. It’s a great place, I love the Tigers, the people have been wonderful to me. And the players. That’s who I’m the most attached to, the ones playing in the purple and gold.
“I enjoyed my time there (at Tennessee). It was fun. Probably one of the best eras in Tennessee football history. But that’s gone. I’m fortunate to be in a great program where we’ve got a chance to win and coach great athletes.”
Gone indeed. LSU has 11 sacks on the season. Tennessee has allowed 11 sacks in its last two games. LSU’s opponents have converted just 28% of their third downs. Tennessee’s offense has converted just 19% of its own and is woeful in third-and-long situations. Toss in the fact that nearly half of UT’s travel squad will be making its first road trip and you’ve got the recipe for a whole lot of revenge to be served up by Chavis this weekend.
And don’t forget, players have a tendency to want to stick it to their coach’s ex-programs. Especially when that coach was fired by the ex-program he’s facing.
“He hasn’t said anything about it,” said linebacker Ryan Baker. “But we know that’s where he’s from and we want to prove to him that he made the right decision to come to LSU.”
Some close to Chavis say that he chose LSU over Clemson (which is closer to his childhood home) two years ago because he wanted to get his licks in against Tennessee. That chance comes Saturday.
As for that home of his in Knoxville, the coach asked at a press conference yesterday if anyone wanted to buy it.
