BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - LSU's new defensive coordinator said he
wasn't the least bit embarrassed by the tears he shed after a
game-saving goal-line stand earlier this season.
"When I stop feeling the emotion and the excitement about what
those kids got done, man, when I stop feeling that way, then
somebody else needs to be doing this," John "Chief" Chavis said
this week, referring to the final minutes of a victory at
Mississippi State earlier this season.
"When I'm walking down into that stadium, if the butterflies go
away, then I need to go away."
Half way through Chavis' first season at LSU, it appears that
the No. 9 Tigers are responding well to their new defensive
coordinator's scheme, as well as his passionate coaching style.
Although LSU yielded 478 yards and 23 points in a season-opening
victory at Washington, the Tigers (5-1, 3-1 Southeastern
Conference) head into this Saturday's clash with Auburn (5-2, 2-2)
having allowed averages of only 291.4 yards and 12.8 points in
their last five games. LSU also has intercepted at least one pass
in every game.
"We haven't been as good as we'd like, but we've gotten better
each week," Chavis said. "There's no question about that."
Chavis spent the previous 14 years overseeing perennially tough
defenses at Tennessee, so he was expected to get quick results. For
the most part, the statistics indicate his unit is getting a lot
tougher to score against.
One of only a few figures that really chafes Chavis is LSU's
five sacks, which ranks last in the Southeastern Conference. Yet
quarterbacks still have had trouble completing passes or putting up
points against LSU.
"Certainly, when you've played six ball games, you need to have
more than five sacks, but I think we've had good steady pressure,"
Chavis said. "If you get good pressure and you look at the
(opponents') completion percentage (50.5 percent), you're pleased
with that. I'll take steady pressure any day and we've been
fortunate to have that."
Defensive pressure was something LSU routinely lacked last
season, when the Tigers twice gave up more than 50 points in losses
to Florida and Georgia, then gave up more than 30 points each in
losses to Mississippi and Arkansas.
For the 2008 season, the Tigers gave up averages of 24 points
and nearly 326 yards. Those results led 2008 co-defensive
coordinators Bradley Dale Peveto and Doug Mallory to seek work
elsewhere, and head coach Les Miles acted decisively to bring in
Chavis, who was ready to leave the Volunteers when he found out his
longtime boss, Phillip Fulmer, wouldn't be back as head coach.
In its 13-3 loss to Florida two weekends ago, LSU held the
undefeated Gators to their lowest scoring total - by 10 points - in
any game this season.
Chavis said his players were nonetheless disappointed by that
performance, which the coach saw as a good sign.
"We try to sell our guys on the fact that defensively, what we
want to do is outplay the other defense," Chavis said. "We want
to be the best defense on the field and our guys didn't think they
did that against Florida. They feel like they could have been
better. That let me know that these guys have bought in completely
to what we've talked about."
Chavis had the benefit of taking over a group looking for
redemption and ready for new direction.
"We heard a lot of good things about him and the way he
interacts with us, we love that," LSU linebacker Jacob Cutrera
said. "We were just frustrated with how last year happened and we
used it as a learning experience and went into this season
motivated and ready to show what we could do, show that we are
different."
Cutrera described Chavis as someone who hollers in a player's
ear when a mistake has been made, and insists on repetition until
they get it right. Off the field, and even sometimes one the
sideline, Cutrera added, Chavis is like a father figure, hence his
emotional response to the goal-line stand in Starkville, Miss.
"He was so happy - happy with the way we played," Cutrera
said. "He takes care of us, really, and we do love him. He's a
great person."
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
