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. "I look at their defense. Coach Chavis, he's done a great job for a long time." - Charlie Weis (Notre Dame Head Coach). LSU On January 5, 2009, Chavis was named the defensive coordinator at LSU. While with the Tigers, his defenses were consistently ranked among the nation's best. The 2011 LSU team finished the regular season undefeated