The LSU football program is a mess right now. After three straight losses, the fans are in an uproar and the administration is looking long and hard at making coaching changes to deal with this dumpster fire.

And now John Chavis is strolling into town, with both hands full of gasoline containers to throw onto the fire.

Chavis is the new defensive coordinator at Texas A&M. He left LSU in a huff last year over some unacceptable contract language and the divorce is so bad that – like every nasty divorce – it’s being fought out in the courts, with both sides digging in for a lengthy fight over money and reputations.

The biggest irony? Chavis could have a profound effect on LSU coach Les Miles getting fired if his defense can play well enough to help A&M beat the Tigers Saturday night. Certainly, there is no way Miles can survive a season-ending four-game losing streak.

Miles’ murky situation is exactly what caused all the contract problems for Chavis in the first place. According to court documents filed earlier this year, Chavis claims that his contract offer included a clause that if Miles got fired, he would be fired as well and the remaining terms of the contract would not be honored. He refused to sign the deal and eventually bolted for Texas A&M instead, despite Miles wanting to keep him.

And now he can have a say in whether Miles get the boot after all.

Chavis’ presence certainly adds some spice to this new end-of-year rivalry game. It’s a rivalry the SEC is hoping to rekindle since the manufactured LSU-Arkansas matchup never really materialized into anything more than a battle for “The Boot.”

And given Texas A&M’s fallout with natural rival Texas, the Aggies and Tigers seem like a logical fit.

Plus, long before Texas A&M joined the SEC it engaged in some heated early-season battles with LSU. The two teams played each year from 1960-75 and again from 1986-95.

The highly-publicized rift between Chavis and LSU should turn up the heat on this old rivalry. Constantly under the microscope despite consistently producing some of the top defenses in the country in his six years at LSU, Chavis surely grew weary over time of increasing criticism.

LSU’s defenses ranked among the top 15 in the country over his final four years in Baton Rouge. Last season, the Tigers ranked fourth nationally in passing yards allowed per game – yielding an average of just 162.3 yards.

Yet Chavis caught flak for LSU defenses giving up last-minute drives that led to losses when they should have been wins salted away much earlier by a competent offense. So, it appears, he’d had enough, with both the attitude surrounding the program and his contract situation.

Chavis insists he holds no personal grudge against Miles, whose job appears to be teetering on the edge. Chavis’ defense, which has struggled at times in his first year, is coming off its best game of the season, a 25-0 shutout of Vanderbilt.

Another strong performance by his group will make everyone uncomfortable in Baton Rouge.