stallions defensive coordinator john chavis once again has birmingham at top of standings

APRIL 16, 2024 - BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA

By Steve Irvine

John Chavis is a football coach.

In fact, it’s the only adult job that Chavis, who is currently the architect of the best defense in the UFL, has ever had. Most of that time was spent in the college game with the bulk coming at four different SEC programs. He was long considered one to the top defensive coordinators in college football and had the results to show for it.  He is now in his third season as the defensive coordinator for the Birmingham Stallions.

None of this, other than coaching football in general, was included in his original plan.

“I thought I’d go back home and coach high school football,” Chavis said.

Home, for Chavis, was Dillon, South Carolina. At the time of his decision, Chavis was coming off a year of being a graduate assistant, working with the defensive line, at the University of Tennessee. Chavis, who had gone from walk-on to starter on the defensive line for the Volunteers, was working for defensive line coach Jim Dyar.

After the 1979 season, Dyar asked Chavis about his future plans. Chavis told him that Dillon High, where Chavis played football and graduated from, was bringing him back to coach.

“He said, ‘No, no, no. That’s not going to happen, you got too much talent to do that,’” Chavis said. “I never looked at myself as having too much talent or anything like that. He said, ‘I will get you a job.’ And he did.”

Chavis was hired to coach the defensive line at Alabama A&M, where he spent four seasons. He followed that with two seasons as the defensive coordinator at Alabama State before returning to Alabama A&M to serve as the Bulldogs defensive coordinator. He had the country’s top defense at Alabama A&M in 1987 and 1988.

He returned to his alma mater in 1989, coaching defensive line and linebackers, and was promoted to defensive coordinator in 1995. He eventually had stops at LSU, Texas A&M and Arkansas as the defensive coordinator. He was named the Assistant Football Coach of the Year by the American Football Association in 2006 and was a Broyles Award winner in 2011.

Chavis was out of football after being let go by Arkansas after the 2019 season. It wasn’t until the Stallions opportunity was presented to him by Skip Holtz, that Chavis got back in the coaching world.

“I kind of had a relationship with Skip’s dad because (Lou Holtz) tried to hire me at South Carolina,” said Chavis, who had never met Skip at the time. “I think some people had talked to Skip about me. I didn’t ask them to or whatever. When he reached out, I was excited.”

Chavis was in professional football for the first time but a NFL program early in coaching helped shape his career.

“Believe it or not, I had a lot of (NFL) experience at Alabama A&M,” Chavis said. “The NFL, what they were doing, they were bringing in coaching staffs from historically black institutions all over the country. We got a chance to go in and spend two weeks with them. They were very open to giving us information, showing us how they did certain things and allowing us to sit in their meetings. That helped me grow tremendously.”

Chavis brought his playbook from college football with him when he came to the Stallions. He has tweaked some things along the way – by addition and subtraction – but it largely remains the same. His coaching style, he says, hasn’t changed.

“With certain people, I’m sure it is (different),” Chavis said. “With me, I’m going to treat them fairly. I’m going to be demanding. If they want to play, then they will respond. If they don’t, then they don’t want to play. My answer is I’m going to be fair to them. I always have been and I’ll continue to do that. Because they’ve been a pro athlete, already, it doesn’t mean I’m going to treat them any different.”

Times have certainly been good for Chavis, who also coaches the linebackers for the Stallions. He has a pair of championship rings to show for it and the Stallions are currently the lone unbeaten team in the UFL. Chavis’ defense is ranked first in the UFL in total defense (226 yards per game), rush defense (42 ypg), first downs allowed (14.3 pg), sacks (17), interceptions (3) and breakups (15).

Now, Chavis is quick to note that great players make great coaches. And his defense is filled with talent. Every area is loaded with talent and depth. The defensive front is dominating opponents through three games and there is not much difference in the starters and reserves throughout.

Becoming satisfied with early success isn’t part of the plan for Chavis, though. He said he is constantly striving to improve his team’s defense and the players are responding.

At some point, the coaching carousel will end for the 67-year-old Chavis. But, he’s not ready for that to happen just yet and he’s still coaching at a high level.