Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Chavis, Bobo no strangers
FAYETTEVILLE — Colorado State Coach Mike Bobo and Arkansas defensive coordinator John Chavis, long-time SEC rivals, will square off for the 22nd time Saturday.
Bobo was a quarterback at Georgia, then a graduate assistant and assistant coach for the Bulldogs the last 21 times his team went against Chavis at Tennessee and LSU.
“I’ve known coach Chavis for a long time,” Bobo said. “Obviously, I knew about him when I was a player and his reputation. Then facing him as a coach, and having a chance to get to know him, he’s just a great guy. Very personable. Going against him, it’s always a challenge.”
Bobo was 0-4 against Chavis’ teams as a player from 1993-1997, then 0-2 as a graduate assistant in 1998-1999, and finally 6-5 as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator from 2001-2014.
“I think a lot of his philosophy is the same,” Bobo said. “He’s going to play some man-to-man, he’s going to try to disrupt the quarterback, he’s going to have guys running hard.
“The thing with Coach Chavis’ defenses are they’re sound, but they play extremely hard and extremely tough. There’s an element of toughness when you play a John Chavis defense.”
Chavis also speaks highly of Bobo.
“He’s a great competitor, a great football coach,” Chavis said. “And I know for a fact a great man.”