Hail To The Chief

[NuttinItUp]

Go Hogs

[Pig in the Pokey]

LET'S GO!! Finally we'll play press coverage. Finally we'll get after the QB. Finally we'll play aggressive defense instead of bend-and-still-break.

[Atlhogfan1]

LET'S GO!! Finally we'll play press coverage. Finally we'll get after the QB. Finally we'll play aggressive defense instead of bend-and-still-break.

Morris Claiborne, Honey Badger and Eric Reid going to come play for the Hogs?

[HogFaninMemphis]

Morris Claiborne, Honey Badger and Eric Reid going to come play for the Hogs?

Well, that's the hope. The positive spin is that he's had awesome defenses, and the negative spin is they weren't very good at A&M. We shall see what he does here. I'm excited and think it's well worth the risk.

[porque]

Morris Claiborne, Honey Badger and Eric Reid going to come play for the Hogs?

We actually have some talent in the DB room.

[Swinefeld]

I like the hire.  With offenses getting the bulk of the athletes and rules giving the edge to the offensive players, not a whole lot of schools are holding teams to 13 points a game anymore. Fewer and fewer teams are having "elite" defenses.  If Chavis could just get Arkansas to middle of the pack defensively in the SEC to go with CCM's offense, I'm on board.  It's not like things could be any worse (my famous last words)

[Pig in the Pokey]

Morris Claiborne, Honey Badger and Eric Reid going to come play for the Hogs?

sure, why not? 2 4*s and a 3*? sure.

In case you havent noticed we already have a secondary full of 4*s. And they now have some experience. You Chicken Littles need to GTFO. Why are you even on here?

[Atlhogfan1]

We actually have some talent in the DB room.

Probably so.  Just not the level Chavis has had on some of his defenses at LSU or Tenn.  This will be a much different job than he has had since he was an assistant at Alabama A&M in the 80s in terms of talent available.  We are assuming what he will do and his schemes based and on his time as DC where they weren't lacking. 

We haven't had a first or second round pick from our D since the 2007 draft.  We've only had 3 first round picks on D in our SEC era. 

Our last first round DB pick was Batman in 2004.  Houston was a 2nd in 2007.


But unlike the rest of the staff Morris is assembling, at least Chavis is experienced. 

[colbs]

Morris Claiborne, Honey Badger and Eric Reid going to come play for the Hogs?

To be fair you could say that about almost all of the DCs that are considered good.  Would you take Kevin Steele over Chavis? 

[opineonswine]

To be fair you could say that about almost all of the DCs that are considered good.  Would you take Kevin Steele over Chavis?

Certainly not.

[Atlhogfan1]

To be fair you could say that about almost all of the DCs that are considered good.  Would you take Kevin Steele over Chavis?

No. 

The press coverage comments are based on Chavis when he has had these types of DBs to go with pass rushers and athletic LBs.  Pointing out he may not have the same type personnel here so his D's and how he schemes and coaches at Arkansas isn't being unfair or negative. 

[colbs]

No. 

The press coverage comments are based on Chavis when he has had these types of DBs to go with pass rushers and athletic LBs.  Pointing out he may not have the same type personnel here so his D's and how he schemes and coaches at Arkansas isn't being unfair or negative. 

Ah gotcha.  The key will be developing and getting some ball hawks.  The honey badger wasn't highly rated.

[pigture perfect]

This is huge. What is being overlooked is that this is a big name hire as well as being a solid one. Chad Morris is not a big name (yet). But by surrounding himself with big names gets every bodies attention. I just hope they bring Caldwell back as well.

[CPO Hog]

FWIW I work with a hard core Ag who claims all kind of insider info. He's usually right with Ag stuff.
Anyway - he said Sumlin limited Chavis's execution in practice so the O could be successful. Perhaps  the old saying applied to the Ag D, "You play like you practice".

[RaisinHog]

In order for any DC too be successful he is gona have too have tallent .. now weather he gets that tallent through 4 and 5 star recruits or gets lucky on some underated 3 stars doesnt matter.   At least it gives a big name and I'll turn 30 in May and it's the biggest name / best defensive coordinator we have hired in my lifetime I'm pumped!

[Hoggish1]

LET'S GO!! Finally we'll play press coverage. Finally we'll get after the QB. Finally we'll play aggressive defense instead of bend-and-still-break.

Yes.  Pants on fire defense with intelligence!  Bring it on!!

[rzrbackramsfan]

This is a huge upgrade over anything we've ever had at DC.

[Hoggish1]

Well, that's the hope. The positive spin is that he's had awesome defenses, and the negative spin is they weren't very good at A&M. We shall see what he does here. I'm excited and think it's well worth the risk.

But, he was trying to do it in Aggieand.  Big negative!

[Atlhogfan1]

An optimistic view is Chavis is so experienced.  And all of his DC experience is in the SEC.  He is familiar with opponents, their personnel and what they want to do.  He has nearly 25 years of evaluating talent to play in an SEC defense.  Hopefully, he would take this experience and knowledge and be able to adapt to being DC at Arkansas.  He won't have defenses like he had at Tennessee or LSU.  Saying he will play press coverage or be aggressive sounds great although we have no idea what he will try to do with Arkansas' D.  He may have success at Arkansas.  And this staff is so lacking in experience so far, this would be a good addition for that.

As far as the "name" part, I have my doubts he would have had the career he has if he had not have ridden Fulmer's backstabbing coattails to DC and been a part of two of the best recruiting programs - Fulmer's Tennessee and LSU - in our SEC era.  But again, will hold out hope. 

[Hog Fan...DOH!]

Chavis has draft picks to work with at every level: DL (Agim), LB (Scoota and maybe Greenlaw), and DB (Pulley).  There's also Ramirez along with Curl and Calloway and we'll see about Montaric Brown.   

Now, getting everybody else to go to the right place?   We shall see...

[aloha_kid]

LET'S GO!! Finally we'll play press coverage. Finally we'll get after the QB. Finally we'll play aggressive defense instead of bend-and-still-break.

Hopefully we will finally make halftime adjustments.

[DeltaHog66]

Awesome hire if true

[SooieGeneris]

To be fair you could say that about almost all of the DCs that are considered good.  Would you take Kevin Steele over Chavis?

Ask a Clemson fan that question and have someone hold your beer... many Hogvillains have it in their head that Chavis is too old and has lost whatever gravitas he ever had.

Chavis and Steele are within a year or two of being the same age and the same people would celebrate like we won a NC if we hired Steele.

Steele was run out of Clemson after giving up 70 points to WVU in a Bowl game. Holgorson kept running the same screen pass to Tavon Austin and it went for well over a hundred yards and 4 TDS and Steele never figured it out.

WVU had some talent in Geno Smith, Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey but Clemson had Tahj Boyd, DeAndre Hopkins, Sammy Watkins, Andre Ellington, Martavis Bryant and Duane Allen. All but Boyd still playing in the NFL.

Clemson scored 33 but couldn't keep up, Steele's defense was so bad. The Chavis naysayers say Chavis has to have elite talent. My question to them is: what about Steele? When has he ever done anything without elite talent?

One could argue that Clemson didn't have elite talent on defense when Steele was there, but it's safe to say it was better than what we have now probably. You could say that about ANY DC. None of them could take 2-3 stars and play like the '85 Bears.

The question we should be asking is this: who gives us the best chance to maximize the talent that we have, knows the SEC, has had success in the SEC and can bring some really good recruiters with him to put on the staff?

Name names! If there is someone better than Chavis in those categories, let it rip! And it needs to be someone who would come here, NOT Alex Grinch who had the chance and passed on it or someone else who would not come here...

[TeufelHog]

Tell me again how many points the ARKANSAS OFFENSE has scored on a Chavis led aTm defense the past 5 years? . . . hire could have been a lot worse, but it could have been a lot better.

[Pig in the Pokey]

Tell me again how many points the ARKANSAS OFFENSE has scored on a Chavis led aTm defense the past 5 years? . . . hire could have been a lot worse, but it could have been a lot better.

there are literally no names better that would have taken our job.

[opineonswine]

there are literally no names better that would have taken our job.

Of course, and my bet is, if true, we will have to pay Chavis big bucks.

[LawyerHog50]

Name names! If there is someone better than Chavis in those categories, let it rip! And it needs to be someone who would come here, NOT Alex Grinch who had the chance and passed on it or someone else who would not come here...

Stupid question, anyone would come here with the 3.5 million budget we had leftover from gus's 7m offer. And he wasn't even worth that.

Grinch could have come here and gotten us a top 15 defense without 4 and five 5 star talent, he would have been perfect. Of course you want to eliminate him.
Pete Golding would have come.
Bud Foster would have too.
Insert name of any DC in the country.
TPTB done screwed this up. "Best DC in the country", yeah right, not even close.

[HOGINTENNESSEE]

Tell me again how many points the ARKANSAS OFFENSE has scored on a Chavis led aTm defense the past 5 years? . . . hire could have been a lot worse, but it could have been a lot better.

Well he has only been at A&M for 3 years. 21, 24 and 43 points. He also held us scoreless in 2 OT periods

[HOGINTENNESSEE]

Stupid question, anyone would come here with the 3.5 million budget we had leftover from gus's 7m offer. And he wasn't even worth that.

Grinch could have come here and gotten us a top 15 defense without 4 and five 5 star talent, he would have been perfect. Of course you want to eliminate him.
Pete Golding would have come.
Bud Foster would have too.
Insert name of any DC in the country.
TPTB done screwed this up. "Best DC in the country", yeah right, not even close.

The 7 mill was only for Gus. Those same donors didn't put out even close to that for Morris and his staff

[Inhogswetrust]

Morris Claiborne, Honey Badger and Eric Reid going to come play for the Hogs?

Only if they still have eligibility...................

[LawyerHog50]

The 7 mill was only for Gus. Those same donors didn't put out even close to that for Morris

They didn't have to. A 13-22 coach comes cheap.

[HogNTX]

Stupid question, anyone would come here with the 3.5 million budget we had leftover from gus's 7m offer. And he wasn't even worth that.

Grinch could have come here and gotten us a top 15 defense without 4 and five 5 star talent, he would have been perfect. Of course you want to eliminate him.
Pete Golding would have come.
Bud Foster would have too.
Insert name of any DC in the country.
TPTB done screwed this up. "Best DC in the country", yeah right, not even close.

Bud Foster .... the man isn't leaving Virginia Tech ... He's more unreasonable than Venables.
Grinch ... looks like he preferred Ohio State.
Golding... looks like he prefers Alabama.
Unless of course you're on friendly terms with all three and know their desires.

[Tim Harris]

Bud Foster would have too.

This is laughable.....

[HOGINTENNESSEE]

They didn't have to. A 13-22 coach comes cheap.

The point is we didn't have blank check for anyone. The people you say were gettable in reality were not

[Kevin]

i am all for it.  love to see what this guy can do for agim, and the other young d linemen.  let's get after people.

[PonderinHog]

Morris Claiborne, Honey Badger and Eric Reid going to come play for the Hogs?

We might end up with Delores, Boo Boo and Stoltz if we're lucky...

[IronHog]

Meh.

[ricepig]

The 7 mill was only for Gus. Those same donors didn't put out even close to that for Morris and his staff

Funny how some fail to understand this.....

[Atlhogfan1]

We might end up with Delores, Boo Boo and Stoltz if we're lucky...

What about Tara? Trainwreck befitting of our defense. 

[HogPharmer]

Stupid question, anyone would come here with the 3.5 million budget we had leftover from gus's 7m offer. And he wasn't even worth that.

Grinch could have come here and gotten us a top 15 defense without 4 and five 5 star talent, he would have been perfect. Of course you want to eliminate him.
Pete Golding would have come.
Bud Foster would have too.
Insert name of any DC in the country.
TPTB done screwed this up. "Best DC in the country", yeah right, not even close.

Yeah let's pay $7M between a HC and a DC. The same people calling for that are the same ones that are pi$$ed about how much we paid CBB in his buyout.

[Scott7703]

Morris Claiborne, Honey Badger and Eric Reid going to come play for the Hogs?

Nah, but pulley, curl and Calloway are they are more than capable of press covering.

[mj4president]

Go Hogs

Is this officially announced now?

[hobhog]

They didn't have to. A 13-22 coach comes cheap.

Good grief. Hater can't wait to bring down the staff before one practice. 3 weeks in and this guy has decided to bitch all the way thru winter, spring, summer and will go completely ballistic in fall.

[snoblind]

Stupid question, anyone would come here with the 3.5 million budget we had leftover from gus's 7m offer. And he wasn't even worth that.

Grinch could have come here and gotten us a top 15 defense without 4 and five 5 star talent, he would have been perfect. Of course you want to eliminate him.
Pete Golding would have come.
Bud Foster would have too.
Insert name of any DC in the country.
TPTB done screwed this up. "Best DC in the country", yeah right, not even close.

Stupid response.  If you knew what you were talking about you would know that several of the Gus Cult took their $ and went home after he pulled the rug out from underneath them.

[hawgmasta]

If he could just keep us on the right side of 40 nationally on defense and in the upper half of the SEC that would be a VAST improvement over the last decade. It's not too much to ask of him either; we won't get the recruits that LSU and A&M will get but I don't think anyone is expecting him to come in and have top ten defenses right away.

[Albert Einswine]

I'm still not seeing any real evidence Chavis is the next DC. I'll wait for the official announcement.

[Hog Fan...DOH!]

If he could just keep us on the right side of 40 nationally on defense and in the upper half of the SEC that would be a VAST improvement over the last decade. It's not too much to ask of him either; we won't get the recruits that LSU and A&M will get but I don't think anyone is expecting him to come in and have top ten defenses right away.

If we could get guys good enough to know where to go, that would be a start. 

[rljjr]

we won't get the recruits that LSU and A&M will get

This is such a false narrative and a self-licking ice cream cone. LSU sucked donkey balls for the better part of the modern era before Saban. Coaching turned them around.

The Aggies have never used their alleged recruiting prowess to prove anything -- ever.

If people give the guy (Chavis -- if it's him) some time and if CCM can start winning consistently we're going to turn the tide and win more and more recruiting battles.

Sorry, but I get tired of the old, cliche' narrative of "you can't better yourself so you just need to learn your place in the pecking order." History proves that's not true.

[NuttinItUp]

This is such a false narrative and a self-licking ice cream cone. LSU sucked donkey balls for the better part of the modern era before Saban. Coaching turned them around.

The Aggies have never used their alleged recruiting prowess to prove anything -- ever.

If people give the guy (Chavis -- if it's him) some time and if CCM can start winning consistently we're going to turn the tide and win more and more recruiting battles.

Sorry, but I get tired of the old, cliche' narrative of "you can't better yourself so you just need to learn your place in the pecking order." History proves that's not true.

Also, people are forgetting how Morris saved Dabo's job at Clemson.

If he could orchestrate a Clemson-esque turnaround here, I think (almost) everyone would be happy with that result.

[BOAR_N2BWILD]

I'm still not seeing any real evidence Chavis is the next DC. I'll wait for the official announcement.

^^^^ what he said