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The latest name to show up on Mark Richt’s radar in his search for Georgia’s next defensive coordinator is LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis.

In talking to several people close to the situation, Richt has serious interest in Chavis and is prepared to throw some serious money at the veteran defensive coordinator, who headed up Tennessee's defense for 14 seasons prior to joining Les Miles’ staff at LSU for this past season.

Chavis makes a lot of sense. He’s a proven commodity and knows the SEC well. The Tigers were 12th nationally this season in scoring defense, allowing 16 points per game. They gave up just 18 touchdowns in 12 games. Only five teams nationally yielded fewer touchdowns this season.

Chavis has also had considerable success against Georgia over the years, particularly in Athens. Since his promotion to defensive coordinator at Tennessee in 1995, he's 7-3 against the Bulldogs in Sanford Stadium. That includes LSU's 20-13 win over Georgia this season.

LSU wasn't the only school that came after Chavis last year. Clemson also offered him its defensive coordinator's position.

Whether Chavis would leave for Georgia after just one season at LSU remains to be seen. He’s an extremely loyal guy and turned down numerous opportunities to go to the NFL when he was at Tennessee.

However, he still has family in Knoxville, and Athens, Ga., would be a lot closer.

LSU coach Les Miles has acknowledged that he’s aware that Georgia may have an interest in Chavis, whose salary was $450,000 this season.

The word out of Georgia, though, is that the Bulldogs may go to $600,000-plus annually and offer a three-year contract.

There was a Baton Rouge television report (WBRZ Channel 2) on Monday that quoted LSU linebacker Kelvin Sheppard as saying that Chavis pulled him aside at practice and told him he wasn’t going anywhere.

Either way, this one will be worth watching over the next few days. LSU faces Penn State on Friday in the Capital One Bowl, so nothing would get done until after that. Chavis may shed some light on the matter later Wednesday when he's scheduled to meet with the media in Orlando as part of the coordinators' news conference.

Richt has already made pitches to Alabama’s Kirby Smart and Virginia Tech’s Bud Foster and also had discussions with Vic Koenning, who recently was hired as Illinois’ defensive coordinator.

Two NFL assistants to keep an eye on are Todd Grantham of the Dallas Cowboys and Bob Sanders of the Buffalo Bills.

Making the rounds in the SEC:

• Auburn has come a long way, but it still hasn't caught up to Alabama, writes Paul Finebaum of The Mobile Press-Register.
• It hasn't been a fun last two weeks for Florida's Urban Meyer, reports The Gainesville Sun's Pat Dooley in an exclusive interview with the Gators' coach.
• Eric Wolford's departure could impact South Carolina's recruiting, writes Joe Person of The State newspaper.
• After a wait of nearly two years, Alabama signee Brandon Lewis plans to enroll in January, reports Chase Goodbread of The Tuscaloosa News.
• Virginia Tech's Bud Foster says no thanks to Georgia /a> and is staying put with the Hokies.
• LSU returns to practice without its two newly hired coaches, Frank Wilson and Billy Gonzales.
• Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin says the allegations of NCAA rules violations against the Vols aren't affecting practice.

Georgia can scratch Virginia Tech’s Bud Foster off its list to be the Bulldogs’ next defensive coordinator.

It was a long shot at best that Foster would leave Virginia Tech, where he’s been for so long under Frank Beamer, and make a lateral move to Georgia.

But here’s what is significant about the whole deal: Foster acknowledged that Georgia made a strong push for him. But he’s staying at Virginia Tech after having his deal sweetened. Remember, he was already making $402,000 at Virginia Tech.

So what that tells me is that Georgia is prepared to pay some serious cash to get the right guy in their attempt to restore the edge to the Bulldogs’ defense.

Kansas State’s Vic Koenning is another name connected to the Georgia defensive coordinator job, but he’s also apparently in play at Illinois.

Georgia coach Mark Richt understands how important this hire is for the program, and so does athletic director Damon Evans.

The Bulldogs won’t go the budget route.