Why Texas A&M Aggies Will Have the Most Improved Defense in 2015

Texas A&M Aggies coach Kevin Sumlin doesn't need to answer questions about his offense. By bringing on defensive coordinator John Chavis—unofficially, that is; A&M hasn't actually announced the hire which has been reported by Yahoo Sports' Graham Watson—Sumlin hopes he won't have to answer questions about his defense, either.

The reality for Sumlin is that A&M has declined in the win column in the past two seasons and not for a lack of offense. The Aggies have averaged at least 35 points per game each season under Sumlin.

The Aggies were subpar, if not outright bad, in essentially every major defensive category in 2014. Keep in mind that was one year removed from a season in which A&M was even worse on defense.

Thus, defensive coordinator Mark Snyder was rightly let go in November.

Category	SEC Rank (2013)	National Rank (2013)	SEC Rank (2014)	National Rank (2014)
Scoring Defense	14th	96th	11th	77th
Yards Per Rush Allowed	14th	114th	13th	103rd
Yards Per Pass Attempt	11th	91st	T-11th	69th
Opponent 3rd Down Conversion	11th	77th	11th	67th
Red Zone Conversions	14th	101st	9th	94th
Long Plays (10+ yards)	14th	113th	12th	92nd

The good news for A&M, though, is there isn't a lot of room to regress. On the contrary, with Chavis running the show, the team should see a dramatic improvement on defense next season.

Chavis, who comes to A&M from divisional foe LSU, can elevate the Aggies to a legitimate SEC contender. These days, it's not enough to have a big name as a head coach. Programs need a one-two punch with head coaches and coordinators, a la Nick Saban/Lane Kiffin at Alabama and Gus Malzahn/Will Muschamp at Auburn.

For six years, LSU coach Les Miles had one of the best in the business. To be sure, it's not an easy loss: 

The parts are in place for Chavis, who will reportedly earn $4 million over three years, to transform the Aggies defense quickly. For one, Chavis runs the same 4-3 base as Snyder, so there's not a lot of adapting that has to be done personnel-wise.

Secondly, Snyder might have had two poor seasons, but he didn't leave the cupboard bare, as noted by Sam Khan of ESPN.com: 

"

Young talent does exist across Aggies' current defensive two-deep, led by true freshman defensive end Myles Garrett. Of the 29 players on the Aggies' final 2014 depth chart, 15 were freshmen or sophomores, and seven true freshmen—Garrett, defensive tackle Zaycoven Henderson, linebackers Otaro Alaka and Josh Walker, and defensive backs Armani Watts, Nick Harvey and Donovan Wilson—started at least one game for the Aggies this season. 

"

These freshmen and sophomores weren't your garden-variety rotational players. Garrett, who broke the SEC sack record for a freshman previously held by Jadeveon Clowney at South Carolina, was a second-team All-SEC selection by the coaches and media.

Garrett will only get better as he improves as a tactician.

Ideally, though, he won't be the Aggies' only pass-rushing option, as he accounted for roughly one-third of the team's sacks. Two others, including Myles' backup Daeshon Hall, were second on the team with 4.5 sacks. That's a steep drop off.

Then there's the matter of stopping the run.

Giving up five yards per rush is unacceptable because it tells opposing offenses that, in theory, they could pick up a first down on two plays. Until last year, LSU gave up fewer than four yards per rush each year under Chavis.

With most of the defensive front seven returning, A&M certainly isn't lacking experience. There should be no more excuses for poor performances against the run.

The SEC West remains a division of run-first offenses—five West teams ranked among the top six teams in the conference in yards per rush—so there is an importance in at least slowing the run.

Whereas the defensive front seven should be a strength, the secondary sustains more losses.

A&M loses a handful of seniors, including its top two tacklers: safety Howard Matthews and corner Deshazor Everett. Additionally, Matthews and Everett ranked first and second, respectively, in passes broken up.

That's a lot of production to replace, but it's where Watts should step in with relative ease.

Watts didn't get the all-conference love Garrett did, but there's an argument to be made that he was every bit as important as a freshman. At safety, Watts is the last line of defense. When things go wrong and big plays erupt, the secondary can—fairly or unfairly—absorb a lot of the blame.

However, Watts led the team with three interceptions and tied for first with eight passes broken up. One of his highlight plays came in his first game against South Carolina:

A&M has done an astounding job on the recruiting trail. The Aggies are not lacking athletes. What they were lacking was a direction and a coach who could maximize potential.

Chavis promises to rectify that.

If there's one area of concern for Chavis, it's time of possession. While it's an overrated (if not irrelevant) stat for wins and losses, it's important for defenses.

In 2014, LSU ranked second in the SEC in time of possession (33:08 per game) while A&M averaged nearly seven minutes less in that category. That adds up over the course of the season if a defense doesn't have great depth.

Sumlin won't stop using tempo to his advantage, but it will be interesting to see how much he modifies it to help Chavis and this new-look defense. With plenty of talent, a highly regarded coordinator and perhaps a few more minutes to rest, A&M can be the most improved defense in major college football in 2015.

At the very least, A&M is investing the money to make it so.

Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All stats courtesy of cfbstats.com and Texas A&M.