Hi Tiger fans....

I'm a lifelong Tennessee fan - and also a big fan of LSU football from my days of listening to John Ferguson late night growing up in the Nashville area. No kidding....

This topic may have been covered already, if so I'm sorry, but it has to do with John Chavis.

Coach Chavis is a really good position coach, his guys play hard. They always liked coach Chavis personally.

But Tennessee fans were frustrated - FOR YEARS - with his play calling on 3rd down and plus 5 yard to go. As many Tennessee fans would probably agree, I'd rather have a team in 3rd and 3 than 3rd and 12.

I'm not astute enough as a football observer to know exactly what it is - but Chavis has some sort of tendencies based on down and distance that must be extremely easy to scout by watching film of his games at Tennessee....there's no other way to explain his futility on third and long. As some have posted here, it is true, Tennessee fans referred to 3rd down as '3rd and Chavis'. Frank Wycheck, formerly of the Tennessee Titans and now on a morning radio show in Nashville, has wondered aloud for the last two or three years - 'what in the world are they doing on 3rd down'.

Example - Statistics - Coach Fulmer would often say, for example, that we held Florida (last fall) to 6 of 18 on third down conversions....and that's pretty good....well, that was true....but in the first half of that game, Florida was 5 of 6 and built a 20-0 advantage and spent the entire second half trying to run out the clock. So a lot depends on when a team is able to convert their third downs....Chavis statistical successes were usually very misleading. Like last fall, Tennessee's defense ranked third nationally - well, take a look at the offenses we faced - All of these opponents were ranked 90th or worse last yr on offense - UCLA, Auburn, No Illinois, Wyoming, Kentucky, Vanderbilt. Heck, that's half of our schedule and I left off powerhouse UAB....and South Carolina didn't exactly tear it up last season. So again, the statistical success was misleading.

While the third down situation at Tennessee was maddening, just as ridiculous was how often Chavis coached defenses gave up a 'game-winning' drive on an opponents final possession....or, the opponent scored to take the lead on their final drive and the Vol offense would manage to drive back downfield and score to win the game....overshadowing the fact that when the game was on the line, Chavis seemed to give it up. We used to say, when the game was on the line, Chavis would give it up. But for most of his Tennessee career, we had offenses that were so potent that it didn't matter....you can't win every last drive scenario, but you should win your share.

He's not a good play caller - Unfortunately, the trend continued last weekend. Look for him to fatten up his stats on the inferior teams, do well enough to beat the middle of the road teams like Washington provided your offense does well....but when it comes to equally or superior teams talent-wise, no, he will not get it done. He does not make adjustments well at all - he has a plan and if it works, great....but if an opponent makes an adjustment, forget it. He gets schooled by creative offensive coaches routinely who can make changes on the fly.

Maybe things will change - maybe Coach Miles can get something out of him that Coach Fulmer could not.