A Look At Bo Davis
By Chris Hale
I think it could have been the fact some analysts were suggesting that Ed Orgeron was all but a done deal. I was even having some fun with it on my personal Twitter myself. After the hire of Bo Davis was announced yesterday afternoon, there were mixed signals on it from fans of the Tide. I think some were expecting that “celebrity” splash hire of Orgeron and not the safe and dependable hire of Bo Davis. The truth be told, Orgeron would probably be looking for a head coaching job possibly next season. Folks have said the Coach Saban wants some continuity on this staff after he makes the changes that he sees fits. Now, this one is probably a cliche’ reason on why you should be excited for Davis and that reason is because Saban chose him. He must have seen something in 3 spots where Davis has been a part of the same staff (Alabama, LSU, and Miami Dolphins). I have seen some fans say in regards to the Lane Kiffin hire “Trust Saban. He knows what he is doing”. We need to think the same way here in my opinion. Sure, Saban makes mistakes but he doesn’t have all of the hardware, rings, and highly rated recruiting classes from making too many of those mistakes.
Photo Courtesy of AL.com
From a recruiting standpoint, Davis was a top notch recruiter. He pulled several recruiting victories in Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana along with some that were not that highly rated but yet contributed to the Tide’s play on the field and even in the NFL. Two of his first big wins after a full season were JUCO Defensive Tackle Terrence Cody and Defensive End Damion Square out of Texas. During the 2009 recruiting season, names like WR Kenny Bell, WR Kevin Norwood, and Offensive Lineman Anthony Steen were among his pulls. He also gained the commitment from WR DeAndrew White in 2010. Current Tide player and defensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson was recruited by Texas during his time in Texas. Robinson had this to say to BamaOnline during his recruitment when asked about Davis. “It was hard for me to tell coach Davis I wasn’t going there. That was part I dreaded. I wanted to play for him because I liked him so much and all my people did but I just couldn’t see myself at Texas anymore with everything going on.” From all accounts, the kids really like and connect with Davis. That’s a major part.
Here is a look at his bio from RollTide.com
"Davis’ 2009 defensive line was again the key in setting the tone for an Alabama defense that ranked second nationally and led the SEC in four major categories – rush defense (78.1 ypg), pass efficiency defense (87.7), total defense (244.1) and scoring defense (11.7 ppg). Senior nose guard Terrence Cody earned consensus All-America honors for the second straight season and was a finalist for the Lombardi, Nagurski and Bednarik Awards. Seniors Lorenzo Washington and Brandon Deaderick anchored the defensive end positions while sophomore Marcell Dareus emerged as a pass-rusher and led the team with 6.5 sacks. Dareus had a breakout game against Texas in the National Championship as he earned defensive MVP honors.The Alabama defensive line saw great improvement in 2008, which helped the Crimson Tide develop into one of the top defensive units overall nationally. Davis added Cody to the starting lineup at nose guard and the junior was named an All-American in his first season. Alabama ranked second nationally in terms of rush defense, allowing just 74.1 yards per game on the ground. UA also ranked among the top seven in the country in total defense (263.5 ypg) and scoring defense (14.3 ppg)."
In 2011, the Longhorns were 11th in the nation in total defense, sixth in rushing defense and 10th in pass efficiency defense while leading the Big 12 in each category. Tackle Kheeston Randall won All-Big 12 first team honors that season and was drafted by the Miami Dolphins. Texas was fifth nationally in sacks in 2013 (3.1) and 22nd in tackles for loss (7.0). The Longhorns played in the 2011 Holiday Bowl and 2012 and 2013 Alamo Bowls. The only thing that caught my eye on his stats at Texas were the rushing defense stats. The Longhorns were ranked 83rd with 183 yards a game. As we all know, sometimes the stats don’t tell the whole story especially if there is some turmoil in the program. Great example of that would be Auburn’s season last year. I believe there were some great players on that team but when a few start to give up, it starts causing trouble throughout the program and even on the field. If Davis can duplicate those statistics the Tide had in 2009, he will definitely hear no complaints from me.
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