KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- This is about two long drives -- one when John Chavis was behind the wheel, the other when he was behind the eight ball at Florida.

Tennessee's defensive coordinator can largely be defined by those snapshots of his career.

His strengths. His weaknesses. His deepest feelings.

It could easily be different for Chavis this week. He could be preparing to play an NFL team instead of Florida. Seven months ago, the Indianapolis Colts made him an offer to coach their defensive line.

He was undecided what to do. He got in his car in his driveway and headed down the highway to sort out his thoughts.

He had no destination. He says he "just ended up at the dorm" where many of UT's football players live.

He talked well into the evening to some of the young men on the squad. Chavis began to realize he wasn't ready to leave Knoxville, where he played college football and has been an assistant coach since 1989. His loyalties were too strong.

But the drive he took that day isn't the one most people remember about Chavis.

This drive or that drive by Florida are those by which Chavis is judged. This week, he was asked a half-dozen times about the 1995 Florida game when the Vols' defense wilted.

It was Chavis' first year in charge of the Vols' defense. UT was humiliated 62-37.

The Gators controlled the ball 19 of the last 20 snaps in the first half. The killer was an 11-play touchdown drive at the end of the half.

When he came home from Florida, Chavis joked that his dog wanted to bite him.

It's funny now. It wasn't then.

Even though the Vols lost four fumbles, Chavis was the UT assistant coach who was vilified. Call-in shows were full of angry fans who wanted to know why he had been promoted when UT coach Phillip Fulmer had interviewed the likes of defensive assistants Mike DuBose of Alabama and Mickey Andrews of Florida State.

"I wouldn't say (the '95 Florida game) was the low point, but certainly it wasn't one I'm very fond of," Chavis said.

"It caused me a lot of misery, not just me, but everybody involved. You'd like to get those things behind you, but those are things you never forget. Whenever you give up 62 points you aren't going to be very happy. But obviously there are lessons you learn."

Gradually, the team's weakness became a strength.

UT finished the '95 season 11-1. By the end of the year, Chavis says his defense was playing as well as anyone in the country.

You could have said the same thing about his defense last year. Chavis looked Florida State's Bobby Bowden in the eye and didn't blink in the national championship game.

This week, the conversation has turned to the tricks coach Steve Spurrier might have up his sleeve. Will Chavis have any tricks for Spurrier?

"We've thought about playing with 12 guys if the officials will go along with that," Chavis joked.

He's smiling, but looks tired.

"Chief," as he's known to his players, isn't getting much sleep these days. He gets to his office at the UT football complex about 6:45 a.m. and leaves maybe 16 hours later. Even when he's home, his head is swimming with thoughts about the Gators.

"I don't know that anything can drive you any harder than the fear of losing," he says. "I think that's what drives most people in this profession."

Chavis has watched film of Spurrier's teams from the last four or five years. He has referred to notes of past seasons. Still, he knows he's going to see things he hasn't seen before.

"He (Spurrier) has so many trick plays you don't know what he's going to show you," he said. "So you have to prepare for what you know they're going to do, and then expect some different wrinkles."

That's basically the same thing Chavis was saying before the game in 1995. But one thing has changed. No longer is Chavis vs. Spurrier perceived as a gross mismatch.

"We're going to present them with some problems, too," said first-year Vols' secondary coach Larry Slade.

"After winning the national championship and beating Florida last year, things change. Now, the shoe's on the other foot a little bit and they are wondering if they can beat you."

That feeling wouldn't exist if Tennessee had a new defensive coordinator.

The key drive in this game?

Could be the one Chavis made to UT's dorm in early February.

(Gary Lundy writes for The Knoxville News-Sentinel in Tennessee.)