Sorry if it's already been posted.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3797839

John Chavis, whose attacking defenses were the backbone of some of Tennessee's best teams under Phillip Fulmer, is trading Rocky Top for the Bayou.


SEC blog

ESPN.com's Chris Low writes about all things SEC in his conference blog.

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Multiple sources have told ESPN.com that Chavis has agreed in principle to become the new defensive coordinator at LSU and that the deal is expected to be finalized later this week.

Sources told ESPN.com that Chavis' deal is for multiple years and will pay him more than $500,000 annually. Chavis earned $340,000 last year at Tennessee.

LSU faces Georgia Tech on Wednesday in the Chick-fil-A Bowl at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

The Tigers (7-5) struggled defensively this season and head into the bowl game ranked 11th in the SEC in scoring defense and ninth in total defense. They gave up 30 or more points in each of their last three games.

LSU coach Les Miles has maintained that there wouldn't be any changes to his defensive staff until after the bowl game, but he has openings. One of the Tigers' co-defensive coordinators, Bradley Dale Peveto, has already been named the head coach at Northwestern State, while the other co-defensive coordinator, Doug Mallory, is reportedly leaving to become the defensive coordinator at New Mexico.

Chavis, 52, spent the last 14 seasons as Tennessee's defensive coordinator. The Vols, despite their struggles on offense this season, ranked fourth nationally in total defense.

In nine of Chavis' 14 seasons as the Vols' defensive coordinator, Tennessee ranked among the top three in the SEC in total defense. Miles got an up-close view of Chavis' work during the 2007 SEC Championship Game when Tennessee held the eventual national champion Tigers to just one offensive touchdown.

Chavis, a Tennessee graduate, remained extremely loyal to Fulmer and turned down several opportunities to leave Tennessee, including NFL jobs with the Indianapolis Colts, Houston Texans and Atlanta Falcons. He also was wooed by former South Carolina coach Lou Holtz earlier this decade.

But with new Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin bringing his father, Monte Kiffin, along to coordinate the Vols' defense, Chavis was not retained and he immediately became a hot commodity on the open market.

New Clemson coach Dabo Swinney also offered Chavis the Tigers' defensive coordinator position, but LSU came through with a more lucrative offer.

There is a chance Chavis will bring either Dan Brooks or Steve Caldwell with him to LSU. Brooks coached defensive tackles at Tennessee and Caldwell defensive ends.

College football blogger Chris Low covers the SEC. Information from ESPN.com college football writers Mark Schlabach and Ivan Maisel was included.

Local radio saying he has accepted the dc job.

ESPN reporting it as well.

Great hire for LSU. I know for a fact that he interviewed twice @ Clemson but there some $$ issues.


RTR

the "issue" is that he wanted to bring an assistant with him from UTk, Clemson said no, LSU said yes.

It appears to be a pretty good hire, but Lesster is still the head man there.

I'd much rather him end up at LSU instead of chumpson

I'm just taking a wild guess and saying it doesnt work out, but it could be really good.

I would guess the opposite. Chavis is a solid coach who asks for zero credit and takes the blame when he guys don't play well. He stays so much behind the spotlight that I have very little idea about his personality, but I do know that the players love him and most years he fields fast, aggressive defenses. He ain't much for recruiting, but at LSU, he'll still end up with as good or better athletes than he had in Knoxville and that bodes well for the Bayou Bengals.

Best hire of the off season in the SEC by far.


RTR

Congratulations LSU on getting a hell of a defensive coordinator. John Chavis has proved he is one of the top defensive coordinators in the country. Hope that he doesn't bring the Mustang package with him though. Things could get frustrating.


I wouldn't go that far. The Monte Kiffin hire is right up there.

And so is the Malzahn hire

Please explain "Mustang Package" please. Inquiring minds want to know.

I agree its a smart hire by LSU, they go out and use their resources to get top notch OCs.

The D should be better next year, though I don't know if we'll see the full effects of the hire due to the change in 1 year.

I'm just happy they didn't get Walker from UCLA

This is a great hire for LSU. I expect LSU's D to look like an old UT defense from the 90's. He will have better athletes than he has had a UT in a long time.

If he can get LSU's defense whipped into shape, and any semblance of discipline then LSU should be right back in business next season. They still need a definitive QB.