Texas A&M Recruiting: Aggies DC John Chavis Already Making an Impact

The Texas A&M football coaches are trying to put the finishing touches on the 2015 recruiting class. Newly hired defensive coordinator John Chavis has already made his impact felt on the defensive side of the ball.

When head coach Kevin Sumlin hired Chavis away from LSU, he was making a statement to all of the other teams in the SEC. Sumlin and Texas A&M are saying that defense matters to them and they are intent on building a championship program in Aggieland.

When Chavis was at LSU, he consistently produced some of the top defenses in the country. He is an elite defensive coordinator who will produce a defense that will allow the Aggies to compete for championships.

That will include bringing his kind of player into the program. Chavis has begun to leave his imprint on the Aggie program with his first recruiting pledge on defense.

Addressing a Need

The Aggies' biggest issue on defense is at the linebacker position. The linebacker play was very poor in 2014, although it did improve at the end of the season as the coaches relied on younger players.

Rising sophomores Otaro Alaka and Josh Walker displayed the ability to be quality linebackers in the SEC in the future.

Alaka finished the year with seven tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss in the Liberty Bowl. He appears to be the Aggies' future at the middle linebacker position. Walker had 27 tackles with half a sack on the year. He missed the last three games of the season with a broken leg.

Along with Shaan Washington, they are the future at the position for the Aggies. Even if all three develop into quality starters, the Aggies still have a need for depth at the position.

A.J. Hilliard coming back from surgery should help in that area, but they still need to fill out the two-deep. The Aggies will be counting on members of the 2015 recruiting class to fill out the depth chart.

Chavis watched Dwaine Thomas perform at the LSU football camp in the summer of 2014. He invited Thomas to Aggieland for an official visit over the weekend and the 3-star prospect from Hahnville, Louisiana committed to the Aggies.

Thomas resembles a Tasmanian devil on the football field. He shows great instincts and plays football with a controlled rage. His quickness and attitude on the field make him perfect for what Chavis is looking for in a linebacker.

If Chavis can continue to bring in linebackers of Thomas' ability, then Aggie fans should be very excited about the future of the linebacker position.

Added Credibility

The hire of Chavis lends credibility to Sumlin and the A&M program. College football fans, coaches and recruits have to recognize that the Aggies are serious about putting an elite defense on the field.

When Chavis was hired at A&M, top defensive recruits took notice. Daylon Mack cancelled his visit to LSU and instead took an official visit to Texas A&M.

"

Daylon Mack has cancelled his official trip to LSU and will now OV to Texas A&M on Jan 23rd after news that John Chavis is the new A&M DC

— Erick McClendon (@Aggie_E) December 31, 2014"

Mack is one of the top defensive recruits in the country. He was previously committed to A&M but opened his recruitment back up after the Aggies fired Mark Snyder.

Mack is the type of player who can step in and play immediately in the SEC. He would be in the two-deep at nose guard in 2015 and could be the anchor of the Aggies' run defense going forward.

Chavis has eight of his defensive tackles from LSU currently in the NFL. His ability to develop NFL-level defenders is very attractive to prospective recruits.

If you come to A&M now, you can play for an elite defensive coordinator who has a great track record of sending players into the NFL. That is as big of a draw as any school in the country has when it comes to recruiting on the defensive side of the ball.

Chavis has a history of identifying and developing under-the-radar recruits like Tyrann Mathieu. This bodes well for the future of the Aggie defense.

The bottom line for Texas A&M football fans is that the Aggies hit a home run when they hired John Chavis to be the new defensive coordinator. He has already made an impact on the 2015 recruiting class, and that impact will likely continue through signing day on February 4.

Recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.