John Chavis left LSU in January looking for a new challenge within his own division, as did Alabama’s Kevin Steele, leaving for Baton Rouge with the promise of a new title and salary bump.

The hires garnered varying levels of reaction, but both Kevin Sumlin and Les Miles feel their respective staffs were upgraded, essential additions toward competing for a Western Division championship this fall.

It won’t be peaches and cream for both coaches, however. That’s just not how it works. By mid-October, we’ll be reflecting on the first half of the season while putting Chavis and Steele, along with fellow new DC hires Manny Diaz and Will Muschamp, under the microscope.

Spring practice should give us some indication of how alignments will look for each new play-caller with specific player personnel packages and altered schemes.

Judging both coaches on what we do know in February, who wins?

Chavis was an elite-level acquisition for Texas A&M, perhaps the sexiest hire the Aggies could have made outside of Will Muschamp, and provides a much-needed veteran presense on a team without expertise — and an identity — on defense. Most importantly, Chavis strengthens Sumlin’s chances at building something special and sustainable in College Station.

Thanks to a front four that will feature Myles Garrett and Daylon Mack, Texas A&M will contend in the West if a youth-laden secondary and inconsistent linebackers produce.

By comparison, most seem to think LSU settled on Steele, now the SEC’s sixth highest-paid assistant at $1 million per season, who got the gig over Kirby Smart, Mike Stoops, Brick Haley and Bob Shoops, among others. Steele owns an impressive resume and is a respected evaluator of talent, but hasn’t coordinated a defense since 2012, fired after his final year at Clemson following an embarrassing 70-33 Orange Bowl loss to West Virginia.

He has rebounded in the two seasons since as a member of Nick Saban’s staff during a second stint in Tuscaloosa and has removed most of the remnants of that ordeal in Miami. Steele is LSU’s fourth DC since Miles arrived in 2005.

Both coaches are fantastic recruiters with an encyclopedic knowledge of scheme and opposing offensive tendencies, and proved it in crunch time last month, but how will the Aggies and Tigers look on the field with new play-callers defensively?

On the surface, Steele will have more pressure to succeed on a preseason Top 25 team with a talent-rich defense while Chavis’ primary focus is to make sure Texas A&M doesn’t finish last in the SEC in total defense for the third consecutive season. Baby steps for Chief directing a unit that’s still learning how to tackle and play physical without giving up big plays.

Backtracking isn’t an option for an LSU team that has finished in the SEC’s Top 3 in total defense since 2010, a testament to Chavis’ preparation and the plethora of NFL-level playmakers at his disposal. The Tigers are once again decimated by early departures, but Steele does have a few newcomers waiting in the chamber, notably five-star cornerback Kevin Toliver II.

Chavis owned Johnny Manziel twice during his career with exotic blitzes and tight man coverage, then tightened his grip again last season on Thanksgiving at Kyle Field when his LSU defense held the Aggies to 17 points.

Will the Tigers have the same success defensively with Steele in charge when the two teams square off in November? Can Chavis reconfigure a putrid Texas A&M rush defense and contain Leonard Fournette?

We’ll be watching.