page_title: John Chavis (American football)
section_title: Tennessee
hierarchical_section_title: John Chavis (American football) / Coaching career / Tennessee
caption_attribution_description: English: John Chavis in 2007
context_page_description: Johnny Chavis, nicknamed "The Chief", is an American Football coach, who most recently served as defensive coordinator for the Arkansas Razorbacks football team and former defensive coordinator, linebacker coach, and associate head coach at the Tennessee Volunteers football, LSU Tigers football, and Texas A&M Aggies football programs.
context_section_description: Chavis returned to Tennessee in 1989 as defensive line and linebackers coach under his former college coach, Johnny Majors.  He was promoted to defensive coordinator under Majors' successor, Phillip Fulmer, in 1995.  Under Chavis' watch, Tennessee gained a reputation for fielding some of the stingiest defenses in the nation.
  Following the national championship season of 1998, Chavis was named the SEC's outstanding linebacker coach. Tennessee's defense led the SEC in 1996 and ranked in the top three five of the past seven years.
  In addition to supervising linebackers and the overall defense, Chavis in 1999 was named assistant head coach.
  Following the 2006 season, Chavis was named as the Assistant Football Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association.
  Chavis and other members of the staff saw increased pressure after a slow start to the 2007 season, including double-digit losses to California and Florida. Yet, the 2007 Tennessee team competed in the SEC Championship game against an LSU team that won the National Championship that year.
  In that SEC Championship game against LSU, the final score was 21 to 14, with 7 of LSU's points coming from an interception return for a touchdown. A year later Les Miles reached out to Chavis to become the defensive coordinator for LSU largely due to how impressed Miles was with Chief's defensive performance at the SEC Championship game.
  Chavis' career at Tennessee came to an end in the 2008 season. Following a 3-6 start and a  loss to Steve Spurrier and South Carolina, Phillip Fulmer announced the following Monday that he, at the University's decision, would step down as head coach. Fulmer's resignation would ultimately oust Chavis as defensive coordinator. Chavis' final three games would bring confidence but major disappointment to his final days with Tennessee, starting with an embarrassing 13-7 loss to Wyoming which would keep Tennessee from making a bowl for the second time in four years. Though disappointing, Wyoming only had to move the ball 7 yards for those two scoring drives. Remarkably, Chavis' 2008 defense finished 3rd nationally and 1st in the SEC in Total Defense despite the 2008 Tennessee Total Offense ranking of 115th. Chavis would win his final game at Tennessee against the University of Kentucky, 28-10, continuing a 24-game win streak against the Wildcats.
  "I look at their defense. Coach Chavis, he's done a great job for a long time." - Charlie Weis (Notre Dame Head Coach).
caption: Chavis in 2007
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