Ex-DC Chavis told Miles LSU treatment reminded him of UT and Fulmer
Per court records obtained as part of a lawsuit involving LSU, former LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis thought the drama surrounding LSU and Les Miles reminded him of another SEC school and its successful coach.
In November 2014, Chavis, now the defensive coordinator at Texas A&M, told Miles “This kind of reminds me of [former Tennessee coach] Phillip Fulmer,” according to the Baton Rouge Advocate. Chavis was referring to clauses in contracts that allowed the school to make staff adjustments without full contract obligation if Miles was removed as the school’s head coach.
You likely remember all of the nonsense that surrounded Miles throughout the 2015 season. As it was apparent many at LSU made moves to potentially remove Miles, the national title-winning coach ended up keeping his job at the end of the season.
The depositions are part of the lawsuit that involves the two schools’ regarding Chavis’ contract. Chavis left LSU at the end of the 2014 season to join Kevin Sumlin’s staff at A&M. LSU believes Chavis owes the school his $400,000 buyout while Chavis feels he’s owed over $200,000 in unpaid vacation. Sumlin also gave a deposition as part of the case.
Coincidentally, LSU said Miles would be keeping his job after the Tigers beat A&M.
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Another person also noted that Chavis made the Fulmer reference. From the Advocate:
“I would say coach Chavis felt that there was more than one thing being done at the university that the treatment of coach Miles was disrespectful,” said Dean Dingman, LSU’s assistant director of football operations, in his deposition. “He actually used the term that it reminded him of what happened to coach Fulmer at Tennessee.”
Fulmer was the full-time head coach at Tennessee from 1993-2008 and parted ways after Tennessee went 5-7 in his final season with the school. He left the Vols with a 152-52 career record as head coach and Tennessee won the first BCS championship in 1998. In the seven years since Fulmer left Tennessee, the school has employed three coaches and has a record of 44-44.
With Miles’ career 112-32 record at LSU, there weren’t too many better options available had LSU been irrational enough to get rid of him.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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