Adams: Dyar put in motion path for Chavis

Chavis knew he wasn't good enough for the NFL. It had taken all his toughness and hustle to make it as a linebacker and an under-sized nose guard in the SEC.

He wasn't thinking about college coaching, either. He just hoped to get a job teaching and coaching high school football back home in South Carolina.

"I had no illusions about being a college coach," UT's longtime defensive coordinator said. "I came from a modest situation. I thought it would be great to go back and coach at the high school level."

His position coach had something else in mind. He wanted Chavis to consider coaching college football.

If someone else had made the same suggestion, Chavis might have shrugged it off. But he already was accustomed to listening and trusting Jim Dyar, who came to UT with coach Johnny Majors in the middle of Chavis' college career.

So Chavis listened and thought about a career he once considered unthinkable.

More than a quarter of a century later, Chavis is regarded as one of the best defensive coordinators in the country. He's beginning his 17th consecutive season as a UT assistant coach and 11th as a defensive coordinator.

And he's beginning his first season of coaching without his career-long mentor and friend.

Chavis and Dyar, the player and coach, hit it off right away. Chavis had a passion for the game that helped him overcome a lack of size and speed. Dyar was an enthusiastic young defensive coach who already had helped Majors turn around programs at Iowa State and Pittsburgh.

Dyar's enthusiasm apparently permeated every UT practice and drill in the late 1970s.

Chavis was often paired against fellow nose guard Jim Noonan in drills. Noonan was a better player who eventually would become a starter and an All-SEC player. But he couldn't beat Chavis when they wrestled on the mat -- much to the frustration of Dyar, who shouted encouragement and criticism from a few feet away.

"Coach Dyar kept telling Jimmy he had to win," Chavis said. "Finally, Noonan said, 'You want to beat him that bad; you try it.' "

Even pregame warm-ups were challenging. Chavis remembers one player suffering a bruised sternum during warm-ups and missing the game.

"He was demanding," Chavis said. "But he was very sincere. That was the kind of people I wanted to be around."

Chavis' playing career ended with a broken hand his senior season. That's when Dyar began encouraging him to consider a career in coaching. He later helped Chavis get a graduate assistant's job at UT, then a full-time coaching job at Alabama A&M.

Dyar stopped coaching the same year Chavis started. He went into the insurance business at the age of 35 and never looked back.

One was out of coaching, and the other was out of Knoxville for awhile. But their relationship only grew stronger.

"We were in constant contact," Chavis said. "We were on the phone all the time, and I never came to Knoxville without seeing him. I lost my parents quite awhile back, and he became like a second dad to me."

Chavis even considered leaving coaching and joining Dyar at State Farm Insurance.

"I was actually hired for one day," Chavis said. "But I decided I didn't want to get out of coaching."

Chavis called back Dyar, who had recommended him for the job.

"It was a tough call," Chavis said. "He just told me not to worry about it, that I had to do what's best for me."

Through the years, Chavis never stopped confiding in his former coach or seeking his advice.

"Jim had the ability to reason things very carefully and he was such a good listener," Chavis said. "He wouldn't always give you the answer you were looking for, but 99 percent of the time he would give you the right answer. Sometimes, he would tell you to 'stop your bellyaching and get some things done.' "

Chavis said he never heard Dyar bellyaching the last year and a half. Not after he was diagnosed with a rare, virulent form of cancer. Not after the odds mounted against him.

"He told me, 'We've got this obstacle,' and we're gonna attack it and do what we have to do,' " Chavis said.

Dyar went all the way to Seattle for cancer treatment. Chavis visited him there twice. The second time was to say goodbye.

Dyar, 61, died three weeks ago. His wife, Charlie, said she is still getting calls and letters from people whose lives were impacted by her husband.

A single mom called to say how Dyar had encouraged her son to stay in college. Another woman called to say how much the kids loved Dyar as a Sunday school teacher. And another called to say what a positive impression Dyar made on her son in his one season as a volunteer football coach at Sacred Heart Cathedral School.

"He had a giant heart," Chavis said. "He was there for a lot of people."

In a way, he will still be there for Chavis.

"It will be difficult because I won't be able to pick up the phone and call him," Chavis said. "But I'll focus on all those memories we shared. They will be with me forever."