Doesn’t anybody want to be Georgia’s defensive coordinator? (UPDATED)

Excuse Mark Richt if he's wondering what's going on.

(UPDATE BELOW)

At some point, Mark Richt will hire somebody as Georgia’s new defensive coordinator and he will assure the entire Bulldog Nation that he got the man he wanted all along, because that’s the way these things are done.

But it can’t be too comforting for Richt to know that all he really has accomplished so far is to get significant raises for coaches on other teams.

First, Virginia Tech’s Bud Foster turned down the job. As a reward, he was given an annuity worth up to $1 million. Now, it’s pretty apparent LSU’s John Chavis was offered the offered the job and turned it down because athletic director Joe Alleva said, “We did what we needed to do to keep him.”

That meant a significant raise: from $450,000 a year to a reported $600,000. And Chavis has been at LSU for only one season.

There is no telling where Richt turns now.  Dallas Cowboys defensive line coach Todd Grantham, who coached under Foster at Virginia Tech, remains a possibility. But Grantham, who also coached for three years at Michigan State, has been in the NFL since 1999 and it’s not known if he would want to come back to college. His only tenure as a coordinator came with the Cleveland Browns (2005-07) and had mixed results.

Regardless, it’s never a good sign when a program is turned down multiple times by job candidates, and Richt doesn’t seem any closer to hiring a defensive coordinator today than he was when he fired Willie Martinez.

(UPDATE: I thought you folks would chuckle at this. LSU put out a press release on Chavis but never referred to Georgia, only an unspecified SEC school. So Vanderbilt offered him a job?)

LSU SPORTS INFORMATION
For Immediate Release                                                                                  December 31, 2009

CHAVIS TO REMAIN AT LSU

BATON ROUGE – John Chavis, who was pursued by another school in the Southeastern Conference, will remain at LSU as the defensive coordinator, head coach Les Miles announced on Thursday.

“John has done a great job and he’s a key member of this staff,” Miles said. “John is a man of great character and a tremendous football coach. We’re glad he’s staying.”

In his first year with the Tigers, Chavis coached an LSU defense that rated No. 3 in the SEC and No. 12 in the nation in scoring at 16.0 points per game. The Tigers have allowed just six rushing touchdowns all season, the second-lowest total in college football this year.

“I’m staying at LSU and I’m excited about remaining here,” Chavis said. “LSU is a great place. This is an outstanding football program and I’m happy and honored to be a part of it.”

Chavis joined LSU last January after spending the 14 years as the defensive coordinator at Tennessee.

“We think John Chavis is one of the best defensive coordinators in the country,” LSU Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Joe Alleva said. “We felt like it’s important for the future of the program that we make this investment.”

Chavis will receive an increase in compensation, which will be announced at a future date.