STARKVILLE — Not too many football coaches have built the kind of career Bubba Davis has during the last 41 years.
Except maybe Jeff Terrill.
Tuesday, Starkville Academy announced Davis would join Terrill”s staff effective in January, giving the program one of the most knowledgeable and successful coaching duos in the state.
Davis spent last season as an assistant coach at Immanuel Center for Christian Education after a two-year stint as head coach at Columbus High.
Davis, who has coached at New Albany and Wayne County, won two state titles at West Point in the 1980s.
Terrill, who spent eight years as head coach at Itawamba Community College, took over the Volunteers” program this season and guided the team to a 3-8 record. The Vols snapped a 20-game losing streak this season and won two of their last three games.
Davis” arrival should bolster a program looking to regain its state title form of 2005.
“I think that Bubba Davis coming to Starkville Academy really gives legitimacy to us really working toward turning this program around. The public will view it as a big commitment to get the job done.”
Terrill and Davis have a relationship that dates back to the early 1980s when the latter was head coach at West Point and former was an assistant at East Mississippi Community College.
The two became re-acquainted when Davis coached at New Albany and Terrill was at ICC.
Then last year, Davis and Terrill became neighbors in a Starkville subdivision and broached the topic of coaching together at SA.
“At the time, they didn”t have anything at Starkville Academy so we kind of left it at that,” Davis said. “It just happened to work out this year. The Lord always has a way of working things out.”
Davis” daily commute is lessened by the move to SA, but his desire to remain in the coaching ranks without having the daily responsibilities of leading a program was fulfilled by the decision to join SA.
“I enjoyed being at Immanuel last year and had the time of my life because that”s the first time in a long time I was just a pure coach,” Davis said. “A whole lot of people don”t understand what all comes with being a head coach, especially at the bigger schools. You don”t coach as much as people might think you do.”
Davis” role has yet to be determined, but he”ll immediately help the Volunteers in the weight room, he said.
SA athletic director Glenn Schmidt, a fan of high school football, grew to appreciate Davis” coaching talent when she started coaching basketball at Starkville High in 1976.
Schmidt said she didn”t hesitate to make a move for Davis.
“I guess you can say we”re old school,” Schmidt said. “We”re all kind of in the same mindset and philosophy. Bubba is an excellent football coach who teaches fundamentals.
“From a football standpoint, we”re going to have some consistency.”
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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