New Texas A&M DC John Chavis Has Ability to Upset SEC Power Structure

If you look at new Texas A&M defensive coordinator John Chavis' salary, the figure jumps off the page.

"The Chief" is making $1.5 million in 2015, according to Kate Hairopoulos of the Dallas Morning News.

Saturday night in the AdvoCare Texas Kickoff in Houston against the potent Arizona State Sun Devils, he proved that he's worth every penny.

The Aggies held Arizona State to just 291 yards of total offense in the 38-17 win, and proved to the world that just a little bit of defense will go a long way toward propelling the program into SEC West contention. 

According to 1150 The Zone in College Station, this was all part of head coach Kevin Sumlin's plan.

It wasn't the budding superstar who did the majority of the work, although stud defensive end Myles Garrett did show up big and made a living in the backfield. Fellow defensive end Daeshon Hall looked every bit like a superstar, with four sacks and two forced fumbles—one of which was recovered by the Aggies.

"I think we have two of the best defensive ends in college football," Chavis told ESPN's Sam Khan Jr. last month.

Bold, but probably more plausible now than it seemed at the time. As Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports noted on Twitter, he's a perfect fit for what Chavis looks for in defensive ends.

The Aggies got to Sun Devil quarterback Mike Bercovici nine times on the night, had 14 tackles for loss and forced five fumbles (two lost).

It wasn't just the pass rush ruling the day. 

De'Vante Harris, who has had an up-and-down career as a cornerback in College Station, looked good at the back end of the defense. The senior had a huge pass breakup in the red zone when Arizona State had fourth-quarter life. The result was a short field goal that brought the Sun Devils within one score—a margin that quickly disappeared thanks to the Aggie offense hitting its stride.

The Aggies were aggressive off of the edge, Chavis brought pressure from linebackers from everywhere and the secondary was solid all night. 

As Chris Low of ESPN.com noted, it's a familiar storyline on Chavis-led defenses.

That sound you hear is the rest of the SEC shaking.

A competent Aggie defense, when combined with what the offense is capable of under Sumlin and his stable of weapons, can absolutely upset the SEC power structure.

Year	YPG	TFLs Per Game	Sacks Per Game
2012	390.2	5.77	2.39
2013	475.8	5.15	1.62
2014	450.8	5.85	2.69
2015	291.0	14.00	9.00

This is a team that was already capable of putting an immense amount of pressure on teams with its offense, and Chavis just proved that his new-look defense is capable of not only keeping the Aggies in games, but dominating games.

It's been awhile since Texas A&M could boast something like that.

Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

So what does this mean for the rest of the SEC West? 

It means that the Aggies are a real player to win the division.

In years past, Texas A&M was a one-trick pony. It was an offensive juggernaut that really wasn't capable of winning anything but shootouts. Sure, when you have Johnny Manziel, a deep and talented wide receiving corps and an offensive genius in Sumlin, that's a solid foundation. 

But the defense was far too much of a liability.

Chavis made the season opener with Arizona State a slug fest and never even took so much as a body blow. Can that be repeated against bigger, more physical teams like Alabama, Auburn, LSU and Arkansas—all of which are known for their work up front?

That's impossible to say with certainty now, but in years past you could write "no" in ink.

Chavis changes the game at Texas A&M and makes it an immediate contender in the SEC West.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Statistics are courtesy of cfbstats.com.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.