Miguel Chavis is ready for this opportunity at Oklahoma. After serving in an off-the-field defensive player development role for the past five years at Clemson, Chavis now gets his first crack as a full-time assistant coach.
“Just excitement more than anything. I don’t think anybody has more pressure. I don’t feel anybody’s pressure [other] than my own pressure that I put on myself. But just excitement. I’ve been preparing for this opportunity for a long time,” Chavis said.
Like new co-defensive coordinators Ted Roof and Todd Bates, Chavis brings familiarity with Venables’ defensive system with him to Norman.
“You know, played football under Coach [Dabo] Swinney at Clemson and was in the NFL with the Steelers and the Chiefs long enough to have a cup of coffee, and for the past five years I’ve been in the Brent Venables school of defense, and was coached by a couple of legends in Chris Rumph and Dan Brooks and got to work very closely with Todd Bates. And my first year I had to learn what the heck Coach V was just saying as a support staff person, and then by year three I had a pretty good grasp of the defense. By year four, I felt like a lion in a cage. I was ready to go,” Chavis said.
He turned down other chances to be a full-time position coach before saying yes when Brent Venables offered him the OU defensive ends assistant coaching job. Now, it’s the Sooners that get to see the lion unleashed.
“So, I turned down some job opportunities and was patient, and I just had great counsel, and from Coach Swinney and other people in my life that said, ‘Man, that’s not the one. Just wait. That’s not the one. Just wait.’ And it was God’s perfect timing. And so when Coach V said, ‘Will you go with me?’ It didn’t take me long to say yes,” Chavis said.
All Chavis knew about Oklahoma beyond…
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