COLLEGE STATION, Texas — When you really think about it, there had to be some crazy twist to this snowball of an evolution, something that kept every move, every single football decision made at Texas A&M since 2011, from absolute perfection.
In the last three years, Texas A&M left the Big 12 for the SEC and hired Kevin Sumlin, which was followed by Sumlin and his staff’s development of a redshirt freshman quarterback named Johnny Manziel, which was followed by a program-defining win at Alabama, which led to an 11-win season, which was followed up with dominant recruiting classes, which led to deep-pocket boosters throwing cash at all things Aggies — and the next thing you know, a program once mired in uncertainty was one of the hottest things going in college football.
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And the defense still couldn’t stop anyone.
“That’s the one thing that hasn’t turned out the way we’d hoped,” Sumlin says.
There, everyone, is your twist.
So when you have everything else, when you’ve nailed everything in your transition from one conference to another and have more than $500 million in private donations to build the palace of all football facilities, the only thing left is to throw a wad of cash at the best defensive coordinator in your own conference and ask for help.
Wouldn’t you know it, that decision worked, too.
Somehow Sumlin convinced LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis — maybe the most loyal assistant in the game (two jobs, Tennessee and LSU, since 1989) — to join this carnival ride of what could be and help the Aggies do what was a laughable thought when it was first announced they would leave the Big 12 for the SEC: win the best conference in college football.
“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think that could happen,” Chavis says.
The quick answer to why this decision will fall in line with all those other Aggie moves that turned golden: in six seasons at LSU, Chavis’ defenses finished in the top 12 in the nation four times, forced 152 turnovers (Texas A&M forced a measly 13 in 2014) and scored 14 touchdowns.
The long — and more impactful — answer is the Aggies were desperate for what the 58-year-old Chavis brings: meticulous fundamentals, high expectations and a quarter century of grinding in the SEC — and a guttural passion to earn everything. To find out what makes you happy, and then work like you never have to develop and feed it.
Just like young Johnny Chavis learned from his father, a sharecropper of Lumbee Indian heritage and a man who told his son to be proud of who he is (his mother was Cherokee) and the work he does — and life will be fruitful.
“My dad was not an educated man,” Chavis said, “but he was a damn good man who had great wisdom.”
Chavis never dreamed he’d make millions coaching this game, never thought there would one day be attorneys for two schools arguing over who owes whom what for a man to coach the game of football.
The lawsuit between LSU and Chavis (and by proxy, Texas A&M) about a $400,000 buyout already is in his rearview even though it’s far from settled. He can’t worry about things he can’t control; only what’s in front of him and what dictates his vision and his happiness.
Right now, it’s the little things. Separation between defensive backs and receivers, hip movement when coming out of breaks, balance and leverage when rushing the passer.
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All of those little things that become big things in the big picture, when it’s third-and-9 in the fourth quarter and you’re down a score and the defense has to get off the field. All of those things Texas A&M hasn’t been able to master since Sumlin’s arrival in 2012.
Think about it this way: the Aggies won 28 games (and three bowl games) in three seasons in the SEC, and in two of those seasons may have had the worst defense in the league. What happens when Chavis and his play fast approach is firmly entrenched?
What happens when the philosophy of speed supersedes all; when defensive ends are moved inside to interior linemen (see: Julien Obioha), when linebackers become ends and safeties become linebackers and everyone on the field can run?
When offenses can’t game plan away from a dominant end (Myles Garrett) because it leaves holes all over the field with fast defenders — and here’s the key — playing fast.
“If you’re too busy thinking about what you have to do, you’re not playing fast,” said Aggies cornerback De’Vante Harris. “With Chavis, it’s here’s your responsibility, that’s all you have to worry about. Attack it. It didn’t take long to see just how big a change this is going to be.”
Long ago in Knoxville, when a scrappy walkon defensive lineman was outworking scholarship players on the Tennessee roster and earning playing time, Chavis earned the nickname The Chief — partly because of his heritage, but more so because of his infectious, no frills personality.
Anyone can jump up and down and scream and get in the face of players. That energy only lasts so long.
Not everyone can teach and lead and promise, with proven results, that listening and learning and following will lead to sustained success.
“A born leader,” said legendary Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer. “If I’m starting a football team right now, the first guy I hire is John Chavis.”
The Chief never imagined he’d wind up in the state of Texas. Shoot, he’d have been just as happy going back home to Dillon, S.C., and coaching high school football. Who knows, he might stay around this game for another decade — all of it, he says, in College Station.
“Because if I’m still here in 10 years,” Chavis says, “that means we’ve won championships.”
And that means the snowball of an evolution will be complete.