Cardinal Coaches Salute Ronnie Davis

Coaches Get Along, Work Together, Try To Help Each Other

Editor’s Note — This is a behind the scenes look at the role local coaches have played as mentors as part of a Father’s Day tribute series. FARMINGTON — According to retiring longtime Farmington coach Ronnie Davis a lot of time coaches don’t know who they’ve had an impact upon until maybe 20 years later.

“Somebody will come up and tell you something that happened that you didn’t think was a very big deal, turns out it was a big deal to them,” Davis said.

Over the course of a 32-year coaching career, Davis has made quite an impression on his peers.

Davis said he enjoyed a really good working relationship with former girls basketball coach and current Farmington athletic director, Brad Blew.

“I was his assistant when he first started and he was my assistant. He started the year after I became the head coach,” Davis said.

Blew said it’s hard to sum up what a man like Davis means in light of their long time working relationship. Blew said Davis has developed lifelong relationships with young people during his tenure and described Davis’ contributions to the school as “astronomical.”

Farmington head football and boys track coach Mike Adams called Davis the Farmington version of E.F. Hutton, saying Davis doesnt speak very often, but when he does everybody listens because they know what he says has a lot of value.

“Ronnie is always the guy who keeps his cool when everyone around him is going nuts and always seemed to have a great idea of how to overcome whatever situation you were in,” Adams said.

Randy Osnes, Farmington head softball coach, said he has enjoyed a long association with Davis working together in various Cardinal athletics.

“Ronnie was my football coach when I was in high school,” Osnes said, adding he later coached football with Davis on the Cardinal staff.

Davis recalls Osnes being a senior in his first year back at Farmington. Davis didn’t get to coach Osnes a whole lot because Osnes blew out his ACL about the second or third game of the season.

“He was just a tremendous kid with a good work ethic,” Davis said.

Davis said he knew Osnes had a good thought of knowledge of the game, worked hard, and was a leader on the team. Davis said when Osnes volunteered to work for him on the Cardinal staff after graduating from college, one could tell then he was going to be an excellent coach.

“He was very well organized and just fair with the kids, strict with the kids. The kids all respect him and listen to him,” Davis said.

Eventually Davis got out of football and Osnes coached basketball with him. After serving as head boys basketball coach, Davis served as assistant to both Rodney Self and Beau Thompson. “He’s a good guy,” Osnes said. Farmington head girls basketball and girls track coach, Brad Johnson,

looks up to Davis, saying as good of a coach as Davis is, he’s an even better person.

“It’d be nice to keep him. I know he’s going to enjoy retirement.

He’s as good a guy as I’ve ever been around,” Johnson said.

Beau Thompson, Farm- ington’s head boys basketball coach said he learned something every day from working with Davis over the past seven years.

“I learned a little bit every day, I learned a little bit every game,” Thompson said, adding, “You know, he is one of the most patient, cognitive people that I’ve ever been around.”

Davis said at Farmington, coaches have kind of a unique situation with all coaches getting along, working together and trying to help each other out.

“There’s not a whole lot of bickering, trying to steal athletes from each other. It’s not that way at every school but it’s a very good situation here at Farmington,” Davis said.

To sum up the day to day objective of a coaching career, Davis said he thinks what it’s all about is getting the kids to work together and making the team better than any one person as a whole.