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Report: Former SEC defensive coordinator John Chavis takes youth football coaching job in Knoxville, Tennessee
By SDS Staff
Published:
The Chief is reportedly back on Rocky Top.
Ken Lay of Vols Wire reports that long-time SEC assistant John Chavis is back in Knoxville, Tennessee as an assistant at West High School coaching a team competing in the Knoxville Area Middle-School Age Conference. Former Tennessee quarterback Jeff Francis is the head coach of the team.
Chavis, 63, spent decades in the SEC as a coach and player. He played nose tackle at Tennessee from 1976-78 and then started his coaching career as a Vols graduate assistant in 1979. From 1980-89 he was a defensive line coach and defensive coordinator at Alabama A&M (1980-83; 1986-88) and Alabama State (1984-85) before he returned to his alma mater in 1989. Chavis coached Tennessee’s defensive linemen and linebackers from 1989-94 before being promoted to defensive coordinator on Phil Fulmer’s staff, a position he held from 1995-2008.
Chavis left UT in January 2009 to become the defensive coordinator at LSU under Les Miles. He remained on Miles’ staff through the 2014 season until he left for Texas A&M, joining Kevin Sumlin’s Aggies staff in 2015. Chavis was at Texas A&M until 2017. He was not retained by Jimbo Fisher and became the defensive coordinator at Arkansas under Chad Morris, a position he held through the end of last season. Morris was fired during the 2019 season.
Saturday Down South reports and comments on the news around the Southeastern Conference as well as larger college football topics.
