LSU Tigers

Even for a coach who’s been around the block as many times as John Chavis, the mass exodus of talent from LSU’s defense last season was jolting.

Gone are seven starters, and six of those were underclassmen. All six are projected to be selected later this month in the NFL draft.

Experience won’t be in abundance on LSU’s defense next season. Chavis, one of the best defensive coordinators in the business, glances at the depth chart on the wall in the Tigers’ defensive meeting room and points out that only three seniors are listed.

“That’s what happens when you lose as many good juniors as we have the last couple of years,” Chavis said.

Cornerback Morris Claiborne and tackle Michael Brockers both came out early a year ago and were drafted in the first round. Cornerback Tyrann Mathieu was also sent packing and didn’t play at all last season after failing too many drug tests.

Anybody thinking Chavis is sitting around mourning all the talent the Tigers lost on defense doesn’t really know him.

This is the kind of challenge he relishes and the kind he’s met head-on his entire career, going all the way back to his days as the defensive coordinator at Alabama State and Alabama A&M in the early 1980s.

Plus, it’s not like the Tigers are void of talent. It’s just young talent.

“Listen, it’s where we are right now, and nobody’s more excited about coaching this group than I am,” Chavis said. “We don’t have any choice but to grow up in a hurry. I can promise you we’re not going to fold up our tents and say, ‘Come get us.’

“We’re going to get there. It may not happen overnight, but we’re going to be a good defense.”

The Tigers have been better than just good defensively under Chavis. They’ve been dominant. Since he arrived in 2009, they’ve finished in the top 12 nationally in scoring defense all four seasons, and were in the top 10 nationally in total defense each of the past two seasons.

The year before he arrived, LSU had dipped to 56^th nationally in scoring defense.

Without question, this will be his most daunting rebuilding job since that first season in Baton Rouge. But the standard has been set.

“There are a lot of guys on this defense who’ve just been waiting their turn,” said senior linebacker Lamin Barrow, who has been working both outside and in the middle this spring. “We know what people are saying about us because of the players we lost, but we can’t wait to get out there and let this beast out.”

The LSU offense put up big numbers against the defense in last Saturday’s scrimmage, but several starters on defense were out.

One of the biggest challenges will be finding finishers at end, although Jermauria Rasco had shown a lot of promise before having his spring cut short by shoulder surgery.

In the middle of that defensive line, the Tigers are set with Anthony Johnson and Ego Ferguson, and Chavis thinks both are future pros.

He also wouldn’t trade his young group of linebackers for anybody. Kwon Alexander was one of the best true freshman defenders in the league last season until he broke his ankle in the Florida game. He returned to play in the bowl game, which should help him mentally going into next season.

The Tigers also get senior Tahj Jones back at linebacker. Jones missed all of last season because of academic issues. The other senior who will play a big role next season on defense is safety Craig Loston.

Three sophomores who played last season as freshmen in the secondary -- cornerbacks Jalen Mills and Jalen Collins, and safety Corey Thompson -- are poised to take big steps in 2013. Mills started all season at cornerback.

Six defensive linemen were part of the Tigers’ 2013 signing class, and Chavis said it’s likely that several of those will have to play, particularly at end. Something says it won’t take long for talented incoming linebackers Kendell Beckwith and Melvin Jones to get on the field, either.

“When you sign great players, you do so knowing they may leave early,” Chavis said. “You go back and look, and we’ve always played a lot of freshmen. That’s for a reason. You’ve got to have those guys ready, and we will be.”

Chris Low discusses the challenge facing LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis after losing seven starters off last season's defense.

As LSU prepares to begin spring practice March 14, GeauxTigerNation will take daily looks at aspects of the spring camp. This is the fifth in the series:

BATON ROUGE, La. -- With LSU bringing in a new offensive coordinator in Cam Cameron, the question is, how will it affect the offense?

Over the years, Tigers teams under Les Miles have had strikingly similar offensive identities. The power running game has been a staple. The downfield passing game has usually been there. Since defensive coordinator John Chavis brought a dominant defense to town in 2009, the willingness to play conservatively and exchange field position with superior special teams has been part of the identity.

With Cameron and his Air Coryell background things might be tweaked. Cameron made his name as the offensive guru of the San Diego Chargers and the Baltimore Ravens and served as head coach of the Miami Dolphins and Indiana University.

Here are some common threads that might continue to be traits of his offense at LSU:

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It's hard to say about a 10-2 season, but LSU's 2012 campaign is going to be remembered for missed opportunities. The Tigers were top contenders for a national championship and instead finished second in the SEC West and were relegated to the Chick fil-A Bowl. It's not necessarily fair, but that's the level LSU football has reached during the tenure of Les Miles.

So it's only fitting that the most memorable moment of 2012 was a disappointment -- one in which the Tigers let one of the biggest wins of Miles' tenure slip away in just less than a minute of gameplay.

A Herculean, 298-yard night from Zach Mettenberger, coupled with a defensive performance that limited Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron to 1-of-7 passing in the second half, had lifted LSU to a 17-14 lead against the No. 1 Crimson Tide with 1:34 remaining in regulation. McCarron wasn't the only member of the Alabama offense to suffer in the second half of a classic, as freshman tailback T.J. Yeldon fumbled at the end of the third quarter to set LSU up to take the lead on a 90-yard touchdown drive.

None of that mattered when McCarron took over at his own 28-yard line after a missed LSU field goal. The junior, who burned the Tigers in the 2011 BCS Championship Game, guided the Crimson Tide effortlessly compared to his struggles from earlier in the game. McCarron found junior receiver Kevin Norwood three times in a row for gains of 18, 15 and 11, respectively. LSU fans will forever bemoan defensive coordinator John Chavis' conservative defensive gameplan to allow such easy completions, especially given the way the Tigers had limited McCarron to just 93 passing yards before the final drive.

The completions to Norwood set Alabama up on the Tigers' 28-yard line, and the rest is history. LSU freshman cornerback Jalen Mills tore in from the near sideline on a 2nd-and-10 blitz. McCarron fired a short screen pass to Yeldon right in the gap created by the blitz, and after the freshman dodged a tackle by linebacker Kevin Minter, he was off to the end zone and a 21-17 Alabama lead.

It took LSU the better part of a half of football to overcome a 14-3 halftime deficit. Even worse, the Tigers had two chances to seal the deal on a crucial victory, but they were stuffed on a 4th-and-1 attempt, and Drew Alleman's 45-yard field goal attempt missed just before McCarron took the field.

In just five plays, McCarron and the Tide erased all of that progress. LSU's last-minute drive fell well short, and Alabama earned the win. Had LSU held on, it would have grabbed a second consecutive SEC West championship and been alive in the national title discussion.

Which is why all conversations about LSU's missed opportunities in 2012 will begin and end with "The Drive."

GeauxTigerNation and ESPN will bring you an extended look at LSU football today as the Tigers prepare to face Alabama in a rematch of last season's BCS Championship Game.

The started with coach Les Miles, naturally. ESPN's Jenn Brown rode shotgun as the coach drove to work Tuesday morning -- and was sure to fasten her seat belt.

"I've received the worst-driver award on several staffs that I've coached," Miles quipped before getting down to brass tacks about his day's agenda.

"A series of meetings, offense, special teams, defense, kind of view the game plan to this point," he said. "A Tuesday practice. A work-day practice."

Though events are subject to change, others on the schedule include defensive coordinator John Chavis, quarterback Zach Mettenberger, defensive end Barkevious Mingo and safety Eric Reid.

Check back with GeauxTigerNation and tune in to all day long for the kind of updates fans don't often get to see!

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- It was late in the third quarter Saturday when Barkevious Mingo finally got a hold of the ever-elusive Johnny Manziel.

Mingo threw him down for a 6-yard loss on a first down, one of three LSU sacks in the Tigers’ 24-19 win over Texas A&M, a figure one might have thought would have been higher.

Manziel, the SEC’s leading rusher leading into the night, bobbed, pivoted, ducked, skipped and sprinted out of trouble all night.

“It wasn’t fun chasing Manziel all day,” Mingo admitted. “We did a good job of it, but it wasn’t fun.”

As usual, it was really LSU’s defense that had all the fun. Even playing against perhaps the hottest young player in college football in Manziel, the Tigers defense took the first punch while falling behind 12-0, but after the adjustments were made, LSU controlled the Aggies most of the rest of the day.

“We felt like it was only a matter of time before we got on track,” LSU coach Les Miles said.

That is, after all, LSU’s track record.

Even in its only loss, the 14-6 loss at Florida, the Tigers defense was mostly solid, but wore down on a hot day where the LSU offense could not stay on the field. LSU, which was second in the nation in defense coming into the game, continued its solid play although it did give up a season-high 410 yards.

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