Cherish the Moment
December 23, 2002 09:43 AM | General
December 23, 2002
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Senior defensive tackle Jason Davis will be the first one to admit that he’s done a lot of growing up since he arrived on the West Virginia University campus as a freshman in 1999.
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| Defensive tackle Jason Davis has come to appreciate his career at West Virginia University. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
“I liked to clown around a lot but sometimes it’s not about that,” he said. “Sometimes you’ve got to grow up and be a man and own up to what you’ve done or what you haven’t done.”
Until this season, the issue with Jason Davis has always been what he hasn’t done on football the field.
Among the team’s most physically gifted players, Davis was regarded as one of West Virginia’s top recruits in 1998 but his early development didn’t quite match his impressive prep credentials.
The 6-foot-5, 295-pound tackle was ranked among the top defensive linemen in Florida and former Mountaineer coach Doc Holliday won a tough recruiting battle for his services.
“I saw West Virginia a couple of times on TV, but I was always a Colorado fan,” he said. “But Doc came into my life and he began to tell me all about West Virginia. I came up here on a visit, saw how great the fans were, and this is where I wanted to play.”
At the very least, it was expected that Davis would become a four-year starter. Then-coach Don Nehlen said as much during Davis’ freshman season in 1998. However, things didn’t quite work out that way.
Jason played seven games as a true freshman in 1999, making four tackles and a sack. A year later in 2000, he earned a spot in the starting lineup and logged 30 tackles, two sacks and nine tackles for losses.
Those numbers weren’t great, but they were at least a step in the right direction.
It was midway through the 2000 season when Nehlen announced his retirement and the coaching duties were transferred to Clemson offensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez.
Davis was one of several veteran players caught in the middle of the transition and his performance during Rodriguez’ first season was far from inspiring.
In the meantime, Davis also had to adjust to the departure of Holliday in 1999 to North Carolina State. It was Holliday who took a special interest in WVU’s Florida players.
“When Doc left I was still young,” said Davis. “He recruited me and I had one year with him. I could adjust to that, though. He’s a man, he’s got a family and he had to do what he had to do. I don’t fault him at all for leaving.”
Even though Jason put up a brave front, his football world was dramatically changing by 2001. Many of his Florida friends were leaving the program and his play fell off considerably.
“At the time we had like 21 guys from Florida and all of them came through Doc,” he said. “I could relate to them when I had problems. There were other guys I became friends with too, but being from Florida you tend to go to the people you grew up around.”
Davis started only two games during West Virginia’s miserable 3-8 season last year, producing 30 tackles and just three tackles for losses. Bothered by his play, Davis made up his mind that he was going to give 100 percent effort during the off-season to make sure his senior season wasn’t a carbon copy of 2001.
“Last year really let me know more about myself,” he admitted.
There were many reasons for West Virginia’s remarkable turnaround in 2002 and hidden within them was the maturation of Jason Davis.
One of three down linemen in West Virginia’s new 3-3 stack defense, Davis started every game at defensive tackle this year. Although his totals were actually lower than last year’s (28 tackles, one sack and one tackle for a loss), it was his play at the line of scrimmage that enabled all-Big East linebackers Grant Wiley and James Davis to roam free and make plays.
West Virginia’s defense went from one of the nation’s worst against the run in 2001 to a very respectable 24th at the end of this season.
“We went from being 105th or whatever in the nation against the run last year to the top 30 this year,” said Davis. “That’s great when in one season you can change the program around like that. We just bought into the system and good things happened.
“This year everybody enjoys coming to practice, working hard and the coaches love us and we love the coaches. We do everything they ask us to do,” he added.
The Mountaineers won back-to-back games against nationally ranked teams on the road for the first time since 1983, and Davis is hoping to cap off the year with a victory against a very good Virginia team in the 2002 Continental Tire Bowl this Saturday. That would give the team a rare 10-win season.
“We’ve got a chance to go down in history, and how better to go out than on top?” he asked.
Like all Division I players Davis has NFL aspirations, but he maintains it will not be the end of the world if he doesn’t make it in professional football.
“If it happens, it happens. If not, I’ve got to move on with life. My college career will help me in the future,” he shrugged.
Even when things were going bad last year for Davis, Rodriguez held firm in his belief that Jason could one day become a productive college player.
Davis rewarded his coach with his best season in 2002. During the team’s awards banquet in early December, he was honored as the team’s “Coaches’ Contribution Award” winner for his rejuvenated play this year.
Being recognized touched him.
“He’s been a good coach to me and I appreciate him so much,” said Davis of Rodriguez. “If there is anything he needs from me I’ll do it and I’m pretty sure he feels the same way about me.”
As he counts down the days until his final college game at WVU, Davis has some parting advice for his younger teammates: “Your years will come and go. Enjoy yourself but stay out of trouble. There are many people who come to college and can’t experience the things that we do. Take advantage of this, get your degree, and cherish the moment.”
