Seeing players succeed in life drives Davis to keep coaching
FIU football coach Butch Davis, who turns 69 in November, shows no signs of slowing down.
Asked how long he will coach, Davis joked:
“I hope they don’t fire me tomorrow.”
There’s little chance of that, considering that Davis is 3 for 3 in getting FIU to bowl games. Prior to his arrival, FIU had been to just two bowl games in its history, which began in 2002.
Davis said he greatly appreciates the impact he has on the lives of his players.
“I do love coaching,” Davis said. “From the time I left college and started coaching a high school team, I’ve absolutely loved being around kids.
“The football part is very important. But seeing kids who have come out of environments where they had dirt floors, kids who didn’t have food, kids who didn’t have a father — unbelievable adversity — and seeing them get a college education [is gratifying].
“Twenty years later, they’ll call and say,
‘Coach, thank you for helping me get a college education.’ Even if they didn’t play a minute in the NFL, but they’re married and [doing well]. I’ve had former players call and say, ‘I’m the mayor of the town where I live’ or ‘I’m working for a good corporation.’
“That fills your heart up. There is no way you can have that kind of impact and that doesn’t make you happy. So, I’m going to [coach] until they say I can’t do it, I guess.”
Davis was also asked about his playing days as a defensive end at the University of Arkansas.
“Back in those days, teams didn’t throw the ball much,” Davis said. “You had to play the run. Teams would throw maybe 10 times a game.”
Davis’ college playing career lasted just through his freshman year, and he was forced to quit following five knee surgeries.
Even so, he did have at least one glorious moment at Arkansas.
“Probably the best game I ever had there was [in a win over] SMU,” he said. “I punted, I made three extra points and two field goals, and I think I had six tackles playing outside linebacker.
“But after five knee surgeries, I was lucky just to be a graduate assistant coach there.”
THIS AND THAT
Due to COVID-19 concerns, FIU announced Thursday that it is postponing all intercollegiate sports through Sept. 16.
FIU’s 2020 football schedule, which originally had 12 opponents, had already lost two rivals when Old Dominion and Massachusetts decided to skip the fall.
Pushing the season back until at least Sept. 16 could mean that scheduled football games against Jacksonville State (Sept. 3) and UCF (Sept. 12) would be lost. Unless rescheduling occurs, that would leave FIU with just eight games.
FIU has allowed the fewest sacks in Conference USA two consecutive years — eight in 2018 and 14 in 2019. But the Panthers lost outstanding offensive line coach Allen Mogridge to the South Florida Bulls and starting right tackle Devontay Taylor as a transfer to Florida State. In addition, team leader Dallas Connell graduated.
The new offensive line coach is former Miami Hurricanes blocker Joel Rodriguez, and his leaders are senior center
Shane McGough, who has played 35 games and made 23 starts at FIU; and senior left tackle D’Antne Demery, who is an NFL Draft prospect.
After two FIU running backs signed as undrafted free agents — Anthony Jones (Seattle Seahawks) and Napoleon Maxwell (Chicago Bears), senior D’Vonte Price will now finally get a chance at being the full-time starter.
Price has six career starts and 960 total rushing yards. His 6.2 yards per rush is on pace to become a school record, but his 5.0 average last year reflected an overall disappointing season (just 249 yards).
Maleek Williams, a transfer who rushed for
144 yards (5.3 average) with two touchdowns in two years at Arkansas, is an intriguing running back option for FIU. The other challengers are sophomores Lexington Joseph, Shaun Peterson and Demarcus Townsend and freshmen Kejon Owens and Eric Wilson.