Along with a new face in the coaches box will come several new faces in the secondary for Texas A&M. Those new faces will be crucial in beginning a turnaround on defense for the Aggies.

John Chavis comes to Aggieland from LSU, home to the best crop of defensive backs in the conference over the last decade. Aggies fans hope Chavis brought some of the “Defensive Back U” magic with him to College Station to impart on Texas A&M’s secondary.

Texas A&M ranked near the bottom of the conference in pass defense in 2014, slightly improving on its 2013 performance. From that secondary, the Aggies are losing a lot of seniority; Howard Matthews, Deshazor Everett and Floyd Raven are all gone heading into 2015. That removes the team’s top two tacklers from a year ago.

Who will lead the secondary in 2015?

Cornerback De’Vante Harris returns as a senior after struggling in pass coverage for much of 2014. The 5-foot-11, 175 pound Harris can run with the fastest receivers, but doesn’t have the size or physicality to contend with bigger players. After him, there are plenty of options for Chavis to look to.

Harris will have several other veterans competing for playing time alongside him: sophomores Nick Harvey and Victor Davis and junior Tavares Garner. Noel Ellis is on his way back from medical issues and could find himself rotating in as well.

Safety Armani Watts led the Aggies in interceptions as a freshman, but struggled with other aspects of the game as well as his consistency, as freshmen are prone to do. He earned the starting job and held it down for most of the season, and despite playing well in coverage he was a reluctant tackler. Chavis will be tasked with getting rid of that tentativeness in A&M’s most talented defensive back.

Devonta Burns is likely to join Watts at safety after spending much of 2014 as a nickel back. He’s got good size and is one of the strongest tacklers A&M has in the defensive backfield, although he needs to improve upon his coverage skills. There’s also JUCO transfer Justin Evans, as well as incoming freshman Justin Dunning and Larry Pryor.

Chavis traditionally likes bigger, rangier defensive backs. Guys like Burns, Davis and Garner could benefit from his defensive schemes. Chavis’ defensive backs have traditionally been more physical than your average secondary as well, and that’s something the Aggies desperately need.

The secondary has plenty of talent; many of the players who will be counted on to step up in 2015 were four- or five-star recruits coming out of high school. If Chavis can mold them to fit his defense and have them playing up to their potential, the secondary could help lead the Aggies’ turnaround on defense.