COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M defensive coordinator John Chavis played football in the SEC (Tennessee) in the late 1970s and has been an assistant in the SEC for 26 years. In all that time one thing has never, ever changed.
“If you can’t run the ball and stop the run, you’re not going to win a championship,” said Chavis, affectionately known as “The Chief.” “And last year we were simply not able to stop the run.”
The numbers were ugly. Last season, opponents ran the ball 555 times against the Aggies. No defense in the SEC was run against more times than Texas A&M.