Davis shifts gears to coach

July 26, 2019 at 12:00a.m.

Former YSU QB now leads Madison High

Whistles and Advil beat selling knee and hip implants any day for Ricky Davis.

The former Youngstown State quarterback had a job as a medical device salesman in Texas lined up after graduating in 2017.

But after nine months, he made a U-turn back to Ohio for a meteoric rise in the high school football coaching ranks.

At 25, Davis is the head coach at Madison High School in Middletown near Cincinnati.

Davis said he takes some of his cues from his former coach, Bo Pelini, but hasn’t quite developed his ability to yell at players like Pelini can.

“I’m still working on that,” Davis said. “I don’t know how he does that every day and doesn’t have a headache, because I got Advil waiting on me after practice.”

Last fall, Davis, a Middletown native, joined the Mohawks as a volunteer just as they were entering the Division V playoffs, calling on his playing experience to help run the offense.

“I think the coaches realized I could help them a lot and we finished the season two games away from the state championship,” Davis said. “After that, the coach resigned and the job came open. I applied and here we are.”

Steve Poff, Madison’s former coach, stepped down as head coach, but remains a part of Davis’ staff as a defensive line coach.

Because of his age, referees and opposing coaches are among the people that have often mistaken Davis for an assistant coach and sometimes a player. Davis said it’s happened “at least 10 times.”

As for Davis’ coaching style, in addition to Pelini, he considers former YSU offensive coordinator Shane Montgomery, Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury and Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley his coaching influences. He plans to make the Mohawks’ offense — the wing-t — more passing centric as that’s what suits his expertise.

He inherits a team that graduated 19 seniors from last year’s regional final run.

“We probably had the best class to come through here graduate. It’s something where I’m not putting a lot of pressure on myself,” Davis said. “I’m making my own dynamic and just moving forward.

“I might not win as many games [as last year], but I can still help these kids with football and with life. That’s ultimately why I coach.”

In early July, Davis pulled a prank on his players. He made it seem like he was angry with the entire team after he kicked a few players off the team for sneaking into a local pool.

He gave a freshman on the team one of his old cellphones while the whole roster was summoned to the locker room. The freshman was busted for “texting” while he was speaking. Davis smashed the phone with a hammer, yelling “text now!”

There was pause, then he told the team to get on a bus bound for Land of Illusion Adventure Park. The trip was a reward for the team’s work in the offseason.

“They were pretty shook up. It was cool,” Davis said. “Bo did that when he was at Nebraska and I thought it was hilarious.”

Davis will make his coaching debut on Aug. 30 against Franklin, completing the sudden transformation from player to head coach.

“I was notorious for getting flags in Youngstown. I flipped into the end zone. I spiked the ball and did all this stuff. Now I’m gonna be the one other end of it,” Davis said. “I’m gonna be the one on the other end of it this year when the kids are screwing up. I’m going to be the Bo Pelini yelling and screaming.

“It’s funny how that all works out.”