ESPN article on Chavis

quote:

---

“You hear some of the things being said about why I left and my character being attacked, that it was about money or the offense there,” Chavis said. “That’s disappointing because it was never, ever about any of those issues. And let me tell you this: Coach Miles and I had a great relationship, and we still do. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him as a coach and as a man.”

Sources told ESPN.com that Miles made a last-ditch effort to get Chavis to stay. But by that time, Chavis’ mind was already made up.

“In the end, you look at it and what’s best for me at this point in time in my career, and it was a no-brainer,” Chavis said. “It was disappointing that we didn’t win a national championship. I certainly felt like we could have. We were close and had some of the better defenses I’ve ever been around even though we had some great ones at Tennessee.

“That’s the thing I’ll miss most, the relationship you had with those kids. I enjoyed that and enjoyed my six years there. What made it even harder was that in my whole career I’d never left a job where the sitting head coach was coming back. But in this case, it was time to move on.”

---