He is 6 feet 3 inches, 237 pounds and runs 40 meters in 4.5
seconds.
He is one of the starting defensive ends on a team that is third
in the nation in total defense and has put terror into opposing
offensive tackles with his game-breaking speed off the snap.
He has recorded 3.5 sacks and six tackles for loss this season.
He has recovered one fumble and even broken up a pass.
And last year, defensive end Bruce Davis was seconds away from
transferring.
In a meeting last year between Davis and the coaching staff,
Davis expressed his frustration with what he saw as misuse of his
talents ““ or, perhaps more accurately, the lack of use of his
talents. Although Davis had been told he would be switching between
defensive end and linebacker to better utilize him during games, he
was still seeing little playing time, which made him question why
he was working out at both positions.
“I was playing two positions, but I wasn’t really
playing much of either one,” Davis said. “I was only
getting nine snaps a game, but I had all the headaches of shuttling
back and forth between positions.
“I just wasn’t happy. I wanted to be on the
field.”
In the meeting, with his parents there in support, Davis told
coach Karl Dorrell and the defensive staff how frustrated he was
with the little playing time he was getting. He had expressed
interest in a number of positions, including tight end, if it meant
he would be getting more playing time, but nothing came of it. All
in all, it had pushed him to the brink of transfer.
“When you’re in that office, when you’re
sitting there talking to the whole coaching staff, that’s
about as close as you come to transferring (without actually
transferring),” Davis said. “I was actually a lot
closer (to transferring) than people realize.”
Coming out of the meeting, Davis was still unhappy and
frustrated. It took seeing teammates Trey Brown, Marcus Cassell and
Marcus Everett immediately after for Davis to realize that he
needed to stay for one reason: the guys on the team.
“As soon as I saw them, I just broke down in tears, and
they were like, “˜What’s wrong?'” Davis
said. “I was like, “˜I’m not sure how long
I’m going to be at this school.’
“After that, I realized that I didn’t want to leave
them, and if it was the other way around, I don’t think
they’d leave me.”
Davis decided after that day that even if he failed to get the
playing time he desired, he would be fine. Coming from a family
where his dad played football and his mom ran track for UCLA, he
realized this was his home as much as anywhere else and the support
system here was not something he could readily leave.
“I’ve known (linebacker) Eric McNeal since I was
really young,” Davis said. “There are probably pictures
of us in the bathtub together. I’ve known Trey Brown for a
while.
“My dad also has a lot of connections out here with people
he knew from his playing days. I just had a nice support system in
the area.”
That support system helped him get through the rough patch. When
he was thinking about transferring, he talked it over with his
roommate Brown and former linebacker Justin London.
“I just tried to tell him it’s a process and that
good things are going to come from it,” Brown said.
“He’s too good of a player for someone to just throw
him under the mat.
“I just wanted to let him know we were here for him as
teammates, whatever he wanted to do.”
After the trying times of last year, Davis surrounded himself
with his teammates and dedicated himself to earning playing time at
some position. Luckily for him, he was issued a clean slate this
year with the addition of an almost wholly revamped defensive
coaching staff, led by coordinator DeWayne Walker and line coach
Todd Howard. Not only did they assign him to a firm position at
defensive end, they taught him the techniques necessary for an
undersized guy to succeed at that position.
“With coach Howard, it’s like the techniques he
teaches us are so good that they always work,” Davis said.
“Everybody I play is going to outweigh me by 70, 80, or even
90 pounds. He tells us that if you use technique it’s not
going to matter.
“Every week, they’re all big. They’re all
300-pounders. I look at a couple of the guys (I’m playing
against) and it’s like, “˜You’re big, but
you’re slow.'”
Davis is not slow. He declined to name names when asked if he is
faster than any of the guys on the team at the skill positions, but
he said there are a few. When the team recently did their 40-meter
races, he clocked in at 4.5 seconds, surprising to him because he
feels he could have run faster.
“I think eventually I can run a 4.4,” Davis said.
“Coming out of high school, I was faster and some teams
recruited me at safety, because I was around 220 pounds.”
With that speed, Davis has established a goal for this year of
not only intercepting a pass as an end but also returning it for a
touchdown.
“Coach Howard tells us to visualize ourselves making
plays,” Davis said. “When I’m sitting there, I
always see myself tipping the ball straight up at the line of
scrimmage, catching it and running it in for a touchdown.
“I see film of guys doing that and then getting tackled. I
tell myself, “˜If you ever get an interception, you’re
not getting caught from behind.’ You’re going to see
something highlight-reel.”
If Davis sounds happier now, it’s because he is. With a
solidified position and the knowledge that he has the support of
his teammates, Davis can go out and actually enjoy playing
again.
“You can tell right on the field,” McNeal said.
“He’s more of a leader, more of a vocal leader. Guys
look to him to see how he practices and how he plays. He’s
out there laughing and flying.”