Chief priority

Two heads are better than one, except at LSU.

After winning college football's national championship in 2007, the Tigers lost defensive coordinator Bo Pelini to the head-coaching vacancy at Nebraska. LSU head coach Les Miles employed co-defensive coordinators last season with Doug Mallory and Brad Peveto, only to watch the Tigers get gashed repeatedly before finishing a disappointing 8-5.

LSU gave up more than 50 points to Florida and Georgia and allowed 31 points three straight November weekends to Troy, Ole Miss and Arkansas.

"I don't know what happened behind the scenes, but there could have been some confusion," middle linebacker Jacob Cutrera said. "You're talking about two different minds, so there should have been. They're not going to think alike.

"It's good to have one mind in there now telling us what to do."

That mind belongs to John "Chief" Chavis, who was Tennessee's defensive coordinator the past 14 seasons. The Volunteers ranked among the league's top four defenses 10 times under Chavis, including last season, when they tied for the top spot with Alabama (allowing 263.5 yards per game).

Tennessee, which went just 5-7 a year ago, and Alabama tied for third nationally in that defensive category.

Miles believes the Tigers showed noticeable improvement this spring and expects that to continue throughout the season. He added that the structure and desire of a Chavis defense are well understood by those who played under Pelini.

"His experience in this league and his comfort with a dominant defense met very comfortably with those men on our campus, where we have played dominant defense for a long time," Miles said.

LSU has the potential for an about-face from last year with Al Woods, Charles Alexander and Rahim Alem up front, Perry Riley and Cutrera at linebacker and Chris Hawkins, Patrick Peterson and Chad Jones in the secondary. The Tigers avoided complete wreckage last season with a stunning 38-3 rout of Georgia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

Tech's triple-option offense rushed for 164 yards, which was 120 yards below average.

"After we lost to Arkansas, we had the mindset that we were going all out," Cutrera said. "We worked so hard, and then we had a special meeting the night before the game. It was something you had to be there for. Every guy on the team pretty much stood up and said something, and it came from the heart.

"I hate to say it, but it was the first time in a while that everyone stepped up and came together. In my opinion, Georgia Tech lost that game the night before."

LSU's offense returns quarterback Jordan Jefferson, tailback Charles Scott, receiver Brandon LaFell, tight end Richard Dickson and three starting linemen, including standout left tackle Ciron Black. Scott rushed for 1,174 yards and 18 touchdowns last season, while LaFell had 929 yards and eight scores, but Jefferson is clearly the key to this season.

After replacing Jarrett Lee, who was plagued by 16 interceptions, Jefferson completed 25 of 46 passes against Arkansas and Georgia Tech for 285 yards, with three touchdowns and no pickoffs.

"The experience that he had in his true freshman year will benefit him tremendously," Miles said. "He's had a great summer. He's stronger and he's bigger."

LSU is expected to battle Alabama and Ole Miss for the West Division title, and the Tigers play both of those games on the road. They also are the only team of the three that has to play reigning national champion Florida.

Last season's slide followed a five-year stretch in which the Tigers went 56-10 and won two national titles.

"Right now, we're really hungry," Black said. "We ended the season on a great note with the Chick-fil-A Bowl, but that wasn't enough."