Why Oklahoma DE Coach Miguel Chavis Thinks He Can Get More Productivity This Year

Ethan Downs and Reggie Grimes put up decent numbers in 2022 but often were non-factors. Now Chavis believes more time and increased competition can fix that.

NORMAN — Nobody at Oklahoma played with more precision, passion and purpose last year than the Sooners’ starting defensive ends, Ethan Downs and Reggie Grimes.

One P word occasionally seemed to be missing, however: production.

When the 2022 season began, Grimes and Downs looked like front-runners for All-Big 12 honors and contenders for All-America accolades. Instead, they tapered off to a pedestrian 4.5 quarterback sacks each.

Both were first-year starters, and both were learning a new defense under Brent Venables. So some degree of learning curve should have been expected.

But many games, particularly over the middle of the season, OU’s defensive ends were too often simply non-factors.

Miguel Chavis believes he can change that.

Chavis, OU’s second-year defensive ends/edge rusher coach, approaches every task with a relentless positivity, and that includes maximizing defensive end play by getting more out of Downs and Grimes.

“Get more out of them by staying faithful,” Chavis said. “Beat the drum with the same message you had before. If the message is bad you got to change the message.”

Miguel Chavis  / STEVE SISNEY-USA TODAY NETWORK

It certainly wasn’t all bad. Downs seemed to fix some things at midseason and picked up his production late, finishing with a team-leading 13.5 tackles for loss and 38 total tackles. Grimes compiled 7.5 total TFLs and 18 total stops.

Those aggregate numbers aren’t awful — especially for for first-year starters in a new defense.

But according to Pro Football Focus, Grimes’ junior year — with a higher volume of snaps on defense (515) — produced the lowest grade of his career. He graded out at 57.0 for the season, with just one game (a 76.8 at Iowa State) of 70 or better.

Downs’ sophomore season also saw more snaps (584) and was a slight improvement over 2021, as he raised his PFF grade from 76.9 to 78.2 Downs posted six games with a grade of 70 or better, including a season-best 85.4 at Nebraska.

But consistent playmaking is what Chavis wants.

Downs had 4.5 TFLs the first four games, then went five games with a total of two. Then he totaled seven in a three-game stretch. Likewise, Grimes had six TFLs in his first three games, then went five games without one. He had 1.5 over the next two games, then zero in the last three.

“We know what it looks like,” Chavis said. “And we know what elite defense — defensive speed, defensive toughness, defensive effort, defensive efficiency — we know what it looks like.”

When Venables was at Clemson, he frequently put his edge guys in the NFL with All-ACC or All-America accolades. Downs earned second-team All-Big 12 honors last year, but Chavis is confident both guys can take elevate their game in 2023.

“It’s another year in the program,” Chavis said. “The guys learning a new defense and offense on both sides of the ball, it’s just growing pains. And it’s transition. And I think it’s consistency as a coach, showing up every day. The world isn’t burning. The sky isn’t falling. Gotta be faithful and stay true to the process.

“My guys — they know. It’s fun seeing them putting in a new call or the same verbiage is used — they’ve been using the same verbiage for 15 months. It’s not the first month. It’s not the eighth month. That’s why some of our guys progressed throughout the season. We got better and better and better and they played their butts off. … Every week the last half of the season they just got better.”

Now, improved talent and more depth at the position will increase competition. That will allow Downs and Grimes to rest more and be fresher late in games — but it will also cost them snaps as transfers Trace Ford, Rondell Bothroyd and maybe even cheetah linebacker Dasan McCullough get reps on the edge.

Ford isn’t going full speed at spring practice right now, but Chavis can’t wait to coach him.

“I was praying to Jesus that we could get him once he entered the portal,” Chavis said. “For me, I appreciate the rivalry. And I appreciate the bad blood. I kind of like it. I really like it. We had that with Clemson and South Carolina and all the special rivalries around college football. But I think for Trace it was making a decision that was best for him. You know, he’s an Oklahoma kid. He loves Oklahoma. He loves fishing. He loves his family. He's got a big family. And he wanted to be close to them. Sometimes you need a fresh start.”

Sophomore R Mason Thomas is bigger and stronger after playing 230 defensive snaps last year and will get plenty of action in 2023.

“He's busted his butt,” Chavis said. “He's pushing, now. He's special. But just more maturation. Maturation in my technique, maturation in the weight room, strength and conditioning, and he's almost 240 pounds. That's good weight. He always has to eat something in my meeting room. Literally, ‘Where's your peanut butter sandwich at?’ ”

And don’t be surprised if 6-5 freshman freshman P.J. Adebawore gets some looks, too, as his length and explosiveness can instantly impact an offensive backfield.

“He’s longer than Monday afternoon,” Chavis said.

Players shouldn’t need motivation, per se, after going 6-7 last year, Chavis said. But even if the Sooners had been 15-0, they shouldn’t need external motivation at this level.

“If we recruited guys that ain’t motivated, then we missed,” he said.

But, he said, that added competition is never a bad thing.

“I think competition always creates — it’s good, man. Iron on iron. Iron sharpens one another,” he said. “There's gonna be sparks flying. And it's all good. Look at the best teams across the country — you ain't going to one of those teams without competing.

“At the end of the day, I want to have a very, very competitive room. I tell my guys all the time, ‘You decide if you play or not. I don't decide the depth chart. You guys decide it.’ So there's great awareness, but the motivation and inspiration is really good.”

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