What Are the Realistic Expectations for New Texas A&M DC John Chavis?

It's been known since New Year's Day that John Chavis is Kevin Sumlin's new defensive coordinator for Texas A&M.

On Friday, it finally became official. 

Texas A&M announced its 2015 staff responsibilities, with Chavis being listed as the new defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in College Station.

"John Chavis has a long, highly successful career as both a defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in the SEC," Sumlin said in the release. "He has already brought new insights and a great level of intensity to our staff and players as we begin preparing for the 2015 season."

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Chavis' work at LSU was nothing short of impeccable. 

His Tigers finished no worse than third in the conference in total defense every year since 2010, led the conference in 2014 (316.8 yards per game) and became one of the top defenses in the SEC.

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Needless to say, Chavis' arrival has raised the expectation level of an Aggie defense that's finished last in the SEC in total defense in each of the last two seasons. It wasn't due to lack of talent, though.

Defensive end Myles Garrett emerged as a star during his freshman season in 2014, notching 53 tackles, 14 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks. Otaro Alaka looked like a budding star in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl win over West Virginia, safety Armani Watts showed flashes of brilliance as a freshman and incoming defensive tackle Daylon Mack could be the piece that finally gets this defense to click.

As Billy Liucci of TexAgs.com notes, the combination of Garrett and Mack up front could present major problems for opposing offenses:

An immediate turnaround for the Aggies should not only be the goal, it should be expected.

No, they're not going to miraculously become one of the SEC's best defenses in terms of yards per game. That should never be the expectation for a team that runs a tempo-based offense that doesn't place importance on time of possession and leaves the defense out on the field more than ball-control teams.

Middle of the pack in total defense and under five yards per play would be nice and shouldn't be that difficult for Chavis' new crew to attain.

The pieces are in place, they're finally going to be coached by a coordinator who knows what it takes to be successful in the SEC and the combination of Mack and Garrett should force plenty of negative plays and get offenses behind the sticks.

What would that do to Texas A&M's SEC West title hopes?

Since finishing third in the division and upsetting Alabama on the road in 2012, the Aggies have regressed in the standings every season, culminating with a sixth-place finish last year (8-5, 3-5 SEC). Even with a slightly competent defense, bouncing back into SEC West contention shouldn't be a problem.

"Will it be turn key? No," said Gabe Bock, host of TexAgs Radio on Sports Radio 1150 in College Station. "But 'Chief' has a lot of pieces to work with already on campus and even more talent on the way. Not to mention competing in an SEC West that may be even more wide open in 2015 than it was in 2014. If Chavis can do what he has done for the better part of the past two decades and bring a tough, physical brand of football back to a once-storied defense, the Aggies could make a serious push for the West title this season."

It's a new era in College Station.

The arrival of Chavis should signal to the rest of the SEC West that Sumlin isn't going to settle for anonymity anymore. He has the players and resources to win immediately, and Chavis could be the final piece of the puzzle.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and college football video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on Sirius 93, XM 208.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of CFBStats.com unless otherwise noted, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports' composite rankings. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.