<
        >

          SEC Blog

          A glimpse of John Chavis' attack drill

          • Sam Khan Jr., ESPN Staff WriterApr 13, 2015, 09:30 AM ET
            Close
            • Covers Texas A&M and the SEC.
            • Joined ESPN in 2012.
            • Graduate of the University of Houston.
            Follow on X

          COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- There's no hiding and that's the way John Chavis likes it.

          Texas A&M wrapped up its first spring practice under its new defensive coordinator last week and from all accounts, the Aggies' much-maligned defense made positive progress under the man they call "Chief."

          One tactic Chavis implemented in his first spring in Aggieland was an attack drill that he said he has long used. In the drill, a player must get to a tackling dummy by shedding three blockers, one-by-one. It's a drill meant to measure toughness and competitive fire.

          "It's a tough drill; there's nowhere to hide," Chavis said. "You've got to be a man, and you've got to go through it. You've got to work, and like I said, there's nowhere to hide."

          Chavis said he began using the drill 26 or 27 years ago. He said he's pleased with how the Aggies responded to it.

          "After we've done it a couple times, we've got guys who want to do it," Chavis said. "They look forward to it. They're not running away from the drill. That's the response that you want to get and to be honest with you, everywhere I've been, that's been the response. Because they understand it's football, and that drill is all about football. If there's just one drill that you've got that's going to help you with defensive football, in my opinion, that's as good as it gets."

          Senior defensive end Julien Obioha said the drill lit a fire in the defense.

          "[We] were invigorated," Obioha said. "We're hungry. We have a chip on our shoulder. We haven't been the defense we wanted to be the last couple of years. Everybody responded to it the right way. Coach Chavis ... he's one of the greats out there, so whenever he comes in and says 'This drill is going to help us get better,' we responded."

          Here's a glimpse of the Aggies doing it last month in the first week of spring practice:

          Here's a look at LSU performing the drill in 2013 when Chavis was the Tigers' defensive coordinator.