By Staff
A man among boys
By Chandler Myers
All coaches are different in how they prepare, motivate and even how they teach their athletes how to become better human beings.
Coach Kyle Davis is coming into his fourth season as head football coach and athletic director at Escambia County High School and has shown efficiency in every aspect of coaching.
Last Week I had the honor of hearing Coach Davis speak at the Atmore Rotary Club meeting and I left that meeting with one impression of him, he is a great coach.
He is a man who not only cares about winning and teaching his athletes the art of competition, but more than that, he cares about his players and the bright futures that he knows they are going to have.
Hearing him speak so fondly of the players on his team will make you wonder why are there so few coaches like this today?
Coach Davis places his players in front of his own goals to ensure that they do well in school, are good people off the field and, lastly, that they become stellar athletes on the field to bring it all full circle.
In his first three years at ECHS anywhere from eight to 10 players would have to sit out because of academic ineligibility.
Last year only two players did not play due to poor academic standing and if compared to other schools in the state, that would be an extremely tough number to beat.
This acknowledgment of education is important and Coach Davis shows initiative in making sure his players are able to perform on the field.
Improvements in education are just the first step he sees to having a successful football team.
Second in the process, I see how Coach Davis cares for his players like a father with several sons.
He wants to make sure that each player is enjoying life and has the same opportunities as anyone else.
Davis seems like the type of coach who will make sure that if a player did not have the money to get something to eat, he will give him a few bucks to grab lunch or even invite the kid over for dinner.
The third step is to show his team that he appreciates them and the effort that they put forth in order to achieve victories on the field.
He is currently making any improvements he can to the field house, equipment and stadium to help boost the morale of the Blue Devils simply because he feels they have earned it.
The field house was given a fresh coat of paint inside and out with new lockers being built to house each player’s jerseys, pads and helmets.
Brand new weights are being added to the weight room so the players can pump up and destroy the competition this fall.
Davis also added new furniture to the field house to reward his coaching staff for the job they have done in his time at ECHS.
Lastly, the Blue Devils performance on the gridiron has improved with every season that Davis has been coach.
Before he arrived, the Blue Devils had won 12 games in 10 years, but have now gone 16-16 in the last three.
For the first time in 18 years the Blue Devils made back-to-back playoff appearances and last season hosted a playoff game, also a first in 18 years.
The improvement in play is shown also by the nine players who have signed letters to play college football with five of them coming last season.
All in all when you take the time and look at Coach Davis you see more than a football coach, you see a man among boys.
Chandler Myers is sports editor of the Atmore Advance. He can be reached at 368-2123 or emailed at sports@atmoreadvance.com