Johnny Chavis (born October 16, 1956), nicknamed "The Chief", is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for the Birmingham Stallions of the United States Football League (USFL). He previously 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.
Playing career
Chavis joined Tennessee's football squad as a walk-on defensive lineman. He played sparingly in 1976, picking up two tackles. He delivered an explosive performance in the 1977 Orange-and-White Game, and briefly pushed future All-SEC lineman Jim Noonan for the starting spot at middle guard. Playing as a backup to Noonan, Chavis registered 40 tackles (26 solo) and two sacks, and was awarded a scholarship at the end of the year. Prior to the 1978 season (his senior year), Chavis switched to defensive tackle, and was vaulted into the starting slot after Bill Christian suffered a season-ending knee injury. He finished the year with 32 tackles (19 solo).
During his playing career at UT, Chavis had 74 tackles (46 solo) and two sacks. He lettered in 1977 and 1978 and received his degree from the College of Education in 1979. He was initially served by coach Bill Battle, but spent his final two seasons served by Battle's replacement, Johnny Majors. His position coach was former Atlanta Falcons lineman Jim Dyar.
Chavis is a native of Dillon, South Carolina. He played high school football at Dillon High School under long-time coach Paul Chapman.
Coaching career
Early career
Before returning to Tennessee (where he had briefly been a graduate assistant), Chavis had been defensive coordinator at Alabama A&M, a historically Black university. There he led the defense of the Division II school to the best defensive record in the nation. The Bulldogs ranked first in total defense in 1987 and 1988.
Before taking the defensive coordinator job at Alabama A&M, Chavis coached as a graduate assistant at Tennessee in 1979, as defensive line coach at Alabama A&M from 1980 to 1983 and then as defensive line coach and defensive coordinator at Alabama State in 1984-85.
Tennessee
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.