Chavis says he will stay with Vols

KNOXVILLE — John Chavis told University of Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer that he will remain the Volunteers’ defensive coordinator, both men confirmed Monday afternoon.

Several sources in the UT athletic department confirmed that Chavis was in Atlanta last weekend interviewing for a defensive assistant’s position with the NFL’s Falcons.

“I told Coach Fulmer last night I am staying at Tennessee,” Chavis said Monday. “There are a lot of opportunities for our team this season — certainly some challenges as well — but I’m looking forward to helping Coach Fulmer and the staff reach our goals.”

Chavis, 51, has coached at his alma mater since 1989, serving as defensive line and linebackers coach before his 1995 promotion to defensive coordinator. He is still the Vols’ linebackers coach, and all of his primary linebacker starters since the 1997 season have made it to NFL training camps. Most played at least one season in the league.

UT has had four Associated Press All-American linebackers since 1997 — Leonard Little, Al Wilson, Raynoch Thompson, Kevin Burnett — and Jerod Mayo was named a Rivals.com All-American after his sophomore season in 2006.

Chavis was named the 2006 Division I-A assistant coach of the year by the American Football Coaches Association. He said last season that several NFL organizations “have approached me with opportunities over the years. Even some that y’all (in the media) don’t know about.”

A Dillon, S.C. native, Chavis was a middle guard for the Vols from 1976 to ’78 and began his coaching career as a UT graduate assistant in 1979. He was the defensive line coach at Alabama A&M from 1980 to ’83 and defensive coordinator at Alabama State in 1983 and ’84 before returning to Alabama A&M for the coordinator’s position in 1985.