March 2, 2025 • 66 mins
A fantastic Husky Talk with former UConn star DB Jemal Davis. A local star in Connecticut from Norwich Free Academy who stayed in state to be a 3-year starter for the@UConn Football. He dominated as a Safety and Cornerback with his speed, athleticism that teams could not contend with.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Hi, I'm Pete Finch from the Finch firm.
I've been a lawyer in Connecticut for eight years now.
I go to war for my clients when they're injured in an accident,
serious accidents like dog bites, slip and falls, car
accidents. I go to war for my clients.
I get them everything that they're deserved, and then I go
the extra mile. Always remember, in a pinch,
(00:25):
call Finch. I'm gonna do that.
Hi. I'm Pete Finch from the Finch
firm. I've been a lawyer Connecticut
for eight years. I love when my clients call me
because that means that they trust me.
Although they're in a crisis, I know that they're relying on me.
(00:46):
So I stepped my game up. My clients are injured in slip
and fall accidents, serious dog bites and catastrophic car
accidents. I battle these insurance
companies like David battled Goliath.
I leave everything on the field.I go to war for my clients just
like I did back in the day playing football and just like I
(01:07):
will for you if you become a client.
And just like I do every day formy clients.
And remember, in a pinch, call Finch the.
Top 8 answers on the board fill in the blank.
If it were up to me, I'd never blank again.
(01:37):
Hello and welcome to Husky Talk.I am your host, the best podcast
host in the universe, Steve Cully.
I would like to thank our sponsors at Procyon Partners.
Procyon Partners, they specialize in employee benefits,
wealth management, retirement planning and are one of the top
(02:00):
50 fastest growing companies in the nation.
You will hear more from them coming up next.
Greetings, this is Julius Williams, former UConn Husky and
now CEO of Trench Mile Football.On the field, I was a force to
be reckoned with, and now I'm using that same drive to help
(02:21):
the next generation of athletes dominate in the trenches.
At Trench Mob, we're not just about building football players,
we're building champions. We've helped over 250 athletes
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through intense training in our nationally ranked 5V5
competitions. We give alignment the national
(02:43):
exposure and deserve competing against the best in the country.
But it's more than football. At Trench Mob, we prepare
athletes for life beyond the game.
We teach financial literacy, NILbasics, and mental well-being
because success off the field isjust as important as what
(03:06):
happens on it. If you're ready to compete, gain
exposure, most of all, thrive. This is your moment.
We are Trench Mob. We don't just play the game, we
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(03:53):
And finally, the man of the hour, former UConn football
player now working in the world of academia.
He's a principal, I believe. Mr. Jamal Davis.
How are you, Sir? I'm doing well, thank you for
having me. Oh, it's a pleasure.
It's a pleasure. You were a tremendous player and
(04:14):
I'm excited to hear more about your journey.
I connected with you through Coach Human and he just, he said
you were, you were the man. And I know you also coached as
well, so that's crazy too. Where are you from initially?
I'm originally from Connecticut.Oh, you were.
(04:37):
Yeah, born and raised in Connecticut.
And so I had an opportunity to, you know, continue my academic
as well as my my football careerat the University of
Connecticut. OK.
Where did you did you start playing at an early age?
Yeah, I think, you know, for themost part is prior to
traditional path, you know, I played youth football started at
(04:58):
the age of 8 and then, you know,progressed on in Connecticut, we
just basically have youth football.
It does vary between regions, but it's youth football and so
once you get to. The high school age.
We don't have a middle school league, so you you're staying
youth football until the age of 12 to 13 and then you move on to
(05:22):
high school. And and my path was going to
North Tree Academy, which is a semi private school, you know,
Academy and he thinks it's more of a private school, but no,
it's a semi private, which meansthat it has a board of trustees
rather than a local Board of Education that over has
oversight. And so I went there.
(05:42):
It's one of the largest schools in the state of Connecticut.
So we had to compete in the large division or class double
L, double L when I went there and I was there for actually
three years. My first year was interesting
because I actually decided to goto a vocational school which was
Norwich Tech in which did not have football.
(06:04):
So I had a a period of time which I did not play football.
And so up until, like I said, about 13 played and then had a
time off as I transitioned into to high school.
And then from there, the last three years were at Norwich Tree
Academy before I had the opportunity to go play
collegiate football. So what's the difference between
that and like a charter school is like Norwich Tech is like a
(06:26):
charter school? Because I keep hearing more
about charter schools. Yeah.
So that's a good question. So a charter school does have a
board of trustees. They are not under the the
local. Educational board a system so
they are privately run and so organizationally you you still
(06:51):
would have your administrators in terms of your principals,
assistant principals and usuallythe head of school has oversight
of the budgetary works obviouslyclosely with the board of
trustees in a in a charter school, but it's privately owned
versus a public school like in aFAE or nor tree Academy.
(07:16):
I would say they are required tomeet you know public regulations
provide free and appropriate education for all students.
So Norris Tech on the other hand, is a vocational school, so
it is run by the state of Connecticut and that is designed
for students. Once they graduate, they have an
(07:37):
opportunity to pursue a career in a particular field and that
feels those fields range depending on the institution
itself. Right, right.
Because I hear the buzz about charter schools.
Do they design their own curriculum?
Yeah, yes, they do. Yeah, you know, and, and again,
(07:58):
the process, it's very similar, but the idea is you don't have
some of the bureaucracy that youmay find in a public setting
with a charter setting. I got you.
I got you right there. When you were playing early on,
what What did they have you play?
Because I mean, you were a tremendous athlete, so I'm sure
(08:19):
they move you around. Or did you stick in one spot?
For the most part, I I I played running back and.
On the defensive side, because of speed and and you football,
you know they're going to put your athletes.
You know, typically. At the linebacker position, you
know they're not going to move them into the secondary, which I
eventually moved. To.
(08:40):
When I got to high school and then college, but they just, you
know, want you to be able to getto the ball and, and stop the
rump because primarily at the youth Football League, they're
they're running the football. And so I played linebacker and
and running back on the offensive.
Side and and it was interesting because I always wanted to play
quarterback, but for the Youth League they, you know, felt the
(09:04):
best, you know athletes, you know, needed to have a.
Ball in their hand and so they would put, you know, those guys
at the running back position andI guess they thought I was good
enough to play there, so they put me there.
Yeah, for sure, for sure. So when I mean you, you took a
year off and then you went because I, I, I, I coached it.
(09:25):
I coached it, Windsor and I. Remember, like the.
JV and varsity were together, which and I'm from upstate New
York, that's completely different.
The JV and varsity used to be separate.
Did you guys practice together? Were you immediately on JV or
were you right to to varsity? So, yeah, so that's a good
(09:47):
question because I did go to. Norris Tech my first year, my
9th grade year when I came to NFA as a 10th grader, we
actually have 3 levels. So we have freshman, JV and
varsity due to the number of students that we had in the
school. But no, I never played JVI,
(10:08):
played varsity as soon as I wentto to NFA to play football.
In fact, when I was at Norris Tech, because they didn't have
any, any football, I actually ran cross country and played
basketball. And both of those, obviously,
you know, cross country, you're a varsity athlete if you make
the time. But basketball seemed to be the
(10:30):
sport that I was going to pursue.
But things changed and when I got NFA had success on the on
the football field as a sophomore, you know, been able
to play one of very few being able to play on the varsity
team. Yeah, it's it's pretty rare as a
sophomore. Did you play both ways as well
(10:51):
or is that where they focus you more defensively?
Yeah. So they had me as a running
back, as I, as I stated, you know, for youth.
And then they they moved me to safety and I think.
That's where I really got noticed on the field playing
safety was able to obviously kind of.
(11:15):
Be the the play caller on the defensive side in terms of
coverages and making sure peopleare aligned in the in the right
alignment for for our run defense at at the safety
position. So I played free safety and had
a lot of success there. And then it was really my junior
year. That really put me on the map
(11:38):
locally and they moved me in fact from running back to
quarterback. Oh, you play.
You did play some quarterback. OK, So could you throw the ball?
Could you throw the ball pretty well?
You had a good arm. I had a pretty good arm, but
back then at, you know, everyonewas running the wing T in our
conference and so it was a lot of bootlegs kind of, you know, a
(12:04):
little Sprint out pass that we would do nothing to.
Yeah, exactly. I.
Remember. Yeah, exactly.
So you know the wing T? Very well.
I played in the Wing T Yeah, I remember that.
So they because they want their best athlete at quarterback.
It's kind of now like what they do in the spread offense and
they try to, you know, for the zone read stuff.
(12:26):
So but getting moved to safety, were you guys more of a one high
team or A2 high team? And did you play multiple
coverages? That's that's a very good
question as well. We did.
We did not go a lot too high safety.
I'm the best podcast host in theuniverse.
That's that's why. There are no bad questions.
You know it right? So because a lot of teams were
(12:49):
playing basically wing T football, you know, we would
play and I'll share a little bitabout we play New London because
it's. Important.
To kind of share that that wouldNFA and and New London are the
oldest high school Rotary in thenation.
So being a part of that, but they were only other team
(13:11):
really, well, I should say not the only other team, but they
were really the only team that really ran the I formation.
So we replayed a lot. Of cover 3 to be totally.
Honest. But because if we, if we want to
go, man, it was just an easier, yeah.
(13:32):
Adjustment, but I, I really was asked to kind of be all over the
field if it was being in the in the run game as a fit player or
being able to make sure nothing got behind.
So I was able to cover the fieldpretty well.
And then on special teams, I actually never came off the
field. So I, I had to, you know,
(13:55):
receive punts and kick offs. And so when I was being
recruited, I think a lot of it had to do with my junior year
where I had returned, I think itwas like 3 kickoff returns for a
touchdown. Maybe four part returns for a
touchdown. It had 10 interceptions.
So, so that was where I think the recruiters came in, not
(14:20):
necessarily looking at me as an offensive player, but more of
its defensive player or, or an athlete.
Yeah, yeah. I mean, those are those are some
outstanding numbers. Who would you say kind of pushed
you or mentored you the most in football?
Was it your coaches? Was it your family?
Was it a combination? I I would say it was my.
(14:42):
Coaches, you know, particularly my my head coach Brian Mignock
coming. From where I came from, you
know, football was, you know, anopportunity to, to get outside
the house and kids nowadays are,you know, on the Playstations
or, or video games. And so they're not out as, as
(15:04):
frequently I think as my generation.
So I mean, you, you name it, I was involved with it with
regards to athletic athletics. I did travel basketball.
I would do football, obviously Iwould be involved in they had
(15:25):
this kind of, it wasn't cross country, but it was like it was
tracked, but it was called the Roadrunners program.
So I remember traveling or really walking probably about 6
miles to the track to, to complete compete in the track
and field that was available in the neighboring town and then
(15:47):
found out that it kind of went from town to town.
And so I signed up for that. So I was, I was involved.
You did everything. Wow.
And and because at that time forrecruiting, it's not like it is
now where, you know, you go to camps.
Usually the colleges have one day camps and that's the best
way to get evaluated. It was sending out tapes.
(16:10):
I mean, I remember I had to sendout VHS tapes.
Did you? Did you?
Do that. Did you like start sending out
game tapes or did coaches come to the school to see you mostly?
Yeah, I did not send out any VH tapes.
I didn't, I didn't have the the financial means to send out the
VH tape. However, my my coach did that.
(16:32):
Brian Minaj. Was able to.
You know copy. You know the game films.
Excuse me and send them out to coaches or coaches when they
came to the school, you know, obviously would give them a copy
camps and things of that nature.At that time, there wasn't
something that I was really involved in.
(16:53):
However, I remember I got a scholarship and just tell you
about the times that got a scholarship to go to Joe
Namath's camp, which was out in New outside of New Haven in, in
Hamden at Quinnipiac College. And that was a pivotal moment
in, in for me in my career because again, not really
(17:17):
knowing how talented you are or even, you know, what the
opportunities are out there. He's out there.
So Joe Namath is out there and he comes up to me and, and
really kind of, you know, individually speaks to me and
just says, Hey, you know, you know, you got some talent.
You know, what are your interests?
(17:37):
And that was kind of the the spark for me to kind of say
maybe, hey, this is something I can, you know, do in the future
beyond high school. Broadway Joe pulled you aside
and had a conversation with you at his camp.
Wow. That is, that is awesome.
That must have been a great experience that that's got to be
like what the the Manning camp is like now for the for the
(18:00):
quarterbacks. So that's crazy.
Were there were there college coaches at the camp as well?
Yeah, there were a few few. Colleges there that began to
show some interest. Syracuse and BC probably being
the most predominant and well known programs at the time.
(18:22):
You know, at that point they were independents.
And so locally, if you were looking to play at that level
regionally, you know that. Was, you know, the opportunity
that you had for you. Right, Right.
Syracuse, BC I mean, I remember Holy Cross and then you
(18:43):
obviously had Yale, UConn. So did UConn come in the picture
a little bit later or more afteryour junior year?
Still so right? Yeah, so right after my junior
year, there's is there's that window in which because of the
bowl games and things like that,they can get out and do a little
bit of recruiting. So, you know, after our
(19:05):
Thanksgiving game, we didn't we didn't move on.
We weren't good enough to move on to the.
Playoffs point system. That point system's crazy.
Right. So we, we at that point began to
receive a lot of cultures comingin where we are located.
(19:27):
We've got probably within an hour and a half or two hour
range, the Yankee Conference teams in the region began to
come. So we're probably from Norwich
to, you're right, probably about45 minutes.
BBU it's probably an hour and a half.
(19:51):
UMass probably probably about anhour.
UConn is 45 minutes. And so you start in New
Hampshire was probably the longest.
So, you know, all those Yankee Conference schools came in and
offered a scholarship. You know, at that time, you
(20:11):
know, I was looking and hoping that BC.
Syracuse, BC, which I did a visit with Syracuse would come
and then I actually went to Armyfor a moment, you know, saying,
hey, you know, let's look at it.Beautiful, beautiful, amazing
there on the Hudson. And at that time, both Syracuse
(20:35):
and BC were going through coaching changes so that that
recruiting was kind of very inconsistent.
Where the consistency lied was with with UConn from day one.
And so I became very, very interested just with the
(20:58):
proximity, my family dynamics. Were one in which being close to
home was going to be very important to me.
We had to get home and be there for my mom and my because my
brother is 13 years younger and my sister's 16 years younger.
So having me present, I thought would be very important.
(21:22):
And so UConn and Uri kind of came down to those two.
New Hampshire was too far away. UMass, my my mom really did not
like to head coach, so she told me I wasn't going to go there.
And so it was really with Coach Bagnola when I sat down with him
(21:45):
on my. That's amazing.
And what he said to me at that time was very, very fundamental
in my decision because he had made a statement.
He says, you know, speaking to my mom, which was, you know,
very important figure in my lifeand still is, you know, said,
you know, your mom is in Connecticut and who do you want
to, you know, in case of, you know, me, the analogy of a kind
(22:08):
of a war, who would you want to be on the side of, right?
Right. You know, as a young kid, you
know. They're.
Resonating to spilling to those strings, I was like, yes, let's
do it. Wow, Steve Spagnol, I, I still
can't believe that he was at UConn.
(22:28):
Now, I I've heard from other guys that even back when you
were playing, they were told that at some point they were
going to be making the move to Division One.
Hey FCFBS, did they tell you that when you were being
recruited as well? Yeah, yeah, we were probably the
one of the first class. So so I finished playing my high
(22:52):
school football 89. So I think, you know, once UConn
had made a name for itself through the basketball and I
think the winning the NIT, I believe it was in 89, really
kind of put them on the map because in the following, it may
again, it could have been a couple years before that.
But the following year when I was recruited and had basically
(23:20):
signed, they got to the final eight right, right with with
Tate charges, you know, famous shot and then obviously they
lose, lose to Duke. And so part of the conversation
was at that time was that eventually there was going to be
(23:42):
a Big East Football Conference. Now at that point, for those who
who are familiar with the history of the Big East, it was
just a basketball conference, but it but it did have Syracuse
in it. It did have obviously BC in it,
which again were independents and they were looking to join
and be a part of a conference which, you know, they didn't
(24:05):
have it. And so part of the recruiting at
that time was that, you know, they were going to and they were
hoping that Penn State would be a team that would join, but Penn
State was not in the Big East for basketball.
But they were hoping that that would one day happen.
And so it seemed to start to come fruition probably my junior
(24:28):
year at at UConn, where we started to get monies for being
part of the biggies in the push to eventually, because football
eventually did come. Yeah.
And so they, we knew that eventually was going to happen,
but, you know, they were saying it's going to happen.
(24:49):
You know, we were going to be there, but it didn't happen
until about 10 to 15 years after.
Right, right. Because I, I was surprised when
I was talking to guys from your class that they had even
mentioned going 1A back then andit, you know, it didn't happen
until 2000. So did you take all your
(25:10):
official visits or did you just commit to UConn on your visit?
Yeah. So we, so we were allowed five
official visits, right. And I did four, really, 3,
because I did not get on the train to go to New Hampshire the
(25:34):
day I was supposed to go up there.
You bailed on that one. Don't worry.
You didn't miss anything up there.
There's nothing to go to New Hampshire.
I did. I I I was just like, I'm never.
Going to go to New Hampshire. In the middle of nowhere to the
New Hampshire and The Maine werethe two ones in the middle of
nowhere when so Spagnola was there in coach Jackson, right?
(25:59):
Yes, Coach Jackson, rest in peace.
He he was the head coach at the time, yes.
And you clicked with him. You got along with him.
And he, he was great. I mean, I hear I heard so many
stories about him. Yeah.
You know, no, no, he, he, he would, he would come in.
You know, he had, by the time wegot in my class, got there, I
(26:21):
mean, he had been there for several years and had won the
Yankee Conference a few times. And he really relied on his his
coordinators. He, you know, he really kind of
allowed them to really put theirstamp on, on the program.
(26:43):
And so one of those individuals who as you mentioned was Coles
Bagnola. And so because Coach Jackson was
more of an offensive guy, he he just kind of gravitated to that.
Side of the lone, yeah. Right.
So the defense, he kind of left us alone, you know, and allowed
us, but you know, obviously he would provide his input when
(27:05):
needed. But in terms of knowing the
players, he knew everyone, right?
He, he definitely worked to develop a relationship and he
and he was a guy that could get you rolling, you know,
particularly if we're watching film, right?
He'll call some guys out and youjust would hope, hey, that I
hope that eye in the sky is not going to be you.
(27:26):
Because it doesn't lie. It doesn't never lies.
So you, you came to UConn, did you?
Did you red shirt or did you endup playing as a freshman?
No, I I redshirted. I redshirted.
Yeah, the majority of us that came in did Red shirt and for me
it was, it was good. I was, I was undersized and
(27:48):
height wise 61, but I I came in at probably about 155.
So I was undersized. But Coach Spagnola really liked
tall corners. Yes.
He was really looking for guys, you know, 6 foot or above and
that could basically run. And so that's what he was
(28:10):
looking for. And his system, and you still
see it today with Sand City was very sophisticated.
And so as, as a safety, you really had to have the mental
ability to, to really understandwhat he was trying to do because
you were asked to make sure people were, were aligned.
(28:31):
And and so we would do some things that I think were a
little bit at that time not traditional.
And I think he was just ahead ofhis time.
And so we're very happy for him now and in the success.
But he had began that a long time ago in in the early 90s at
(28:55):
UConn. And were you guys more of a 2
high system or A1 high or would he roll the coverage down?
He did it all. We did it all, so we did it all.
We would have, you know, the single high safety.
We would go to two high. We run bracket, right?
We'll we'll come, we'll come running a little bit of robber.
We might run a little bit what we call a little bit of like a 2
(29:15):
read concept where the out the corner is kind of reading, you
know, 2 to 1. So we would do a lot with
coverages and, and, and a lot oftimes he'll bring that strong
safety down into the bodies to give, give an extra defender in
in the run game. So we we really had to know
exactly what we were asked to doand we'll play some off man or,
(29:37):
you know, we might play some little trail techniques.
So he he would have us do a lot.So you played multiple
coverages. It wasn't just like 2 coverages
that you focused on like he did.He did everything there.
Was he a Blitzer back then? Did he bring pressure?
Not a lot, not a lot of pressure.
So what he would try to do is try to mix up.
(29:58):
And if he would do, he would do a lot of zone blitzes, right?
Yeah. So he would do that.
And, and for me, I was a guy that was able to kind of
transition from being a safety to playing corner.
So I played safety and corner. Wow.
So you did. So you did both depending on
situations or whatever, and the years you were there, you played
(30:21):
both. Yeah, yeah.
Corner. What did you like better?
I'd like them both to be totallyhonest.
My senior year they I my junior actually was more my sophomore
and junior year. So it'll be my red so sophomore
year and junior. I played a lot more corner.
(30:45):
Because Spagnola ended up leaving and then we had a
transition with Greg Williams that came in and I heard about
Greg Williams kind of moved me the corner more, also me play a
corner and kind of kept me there.
And then my senior year we had ahe moved me back because I was
actually slotted as a Co starredat safety and then he moved me
(31:10):
back to to safety my senior year.
Who did you like better? Oh, who do I like better?
They were different. You know, I don't think it was.
I don't think it was better. I, I would say in my early
years, I did not realize how talented of a coach Coach
(31:35):
Spagnola was, right. So for me, I'm, I'm fighting to
get in the starting lineup. I'm feeling I, you know, I could
definitely be a starter at that time.
And then right when I felt I was, I made that transition.
He was gone. He was fired and he got fired.
(31:58):
Wow, I didn't know. I didn't know he got fired.
Yes. And then Greg Williams came in
and he had a different approach.He changed our technique
completely. We had to do a shuffle technique
at the corner position versus a backpedal.
So you had to change that around.
It definitely put a little bit more strain on the body,
(32:19):
particularly in the groin everywhere when you're
shuffling. So we saw a lot of guys injured
because of that transition. And then again, he's trying to
figure out, you know, who, who wants to play.
And so he was he was more more demanding coach in terms of how
(32:40):
he approached it. But looking back, I I think they
both brought, you know, something to the table.
I mean, you know, Greg Williams ends up going leads, you can I
believe ends up going down to Georgia and he's coaching, you
know, the top VBS in the country.
And Bailey, Yeah, both, both of our talents.
(33:02):
So it's not really which one I'dlike to just, you know when I
had tremendous respect for both of them, but they came at two
different times in my. Career and when did you start
from your red shirt sophomore year on or did you start as a
red shirt freshman? So I I ended up starting so my
last three years there. OK, so red shirt, sophomore,
(33:24):
junior, senior year. And me, me and another guy
rotated in to starting positions.
Got you, got you. And that back then, man, the
Yankee Conference was as tough as they come.
I mean, it was, it was Murderer's Row with Delaware,
New Hampshire, Maine, BU Northeastern, all those schools,
(33:49):
Nova, Nova, Nova was the I mean,New Hampshire had a ton of
talent. Who Who is your toughest
opponent? Would you say that you face?
I would say it, it, it kind of it's as you mentioned, there was
a a period of time where you sawsome transition new teams coming
in, Richmond coming in, James Madison ended up coming in, in,
(34:12):
in into the conference. But I would say Villanova and my
first year UMass ended up winning it.
They were Co champs I think withNew Hampshire at that time.
But you know, year in and year out, you knew you were going to
be in a dogfight when you playedVillanova.
(34:33):
Yeah, yeah, they always had. They always had great talent.
I always thought they would havebeen good if they had made the
commitment to football and movedup, which they didn't.
Academically. What did you end up majoring in
at UConn? What was your interest?
So I I was a political science major and so I had taken a lot
(34:58):
of sociology classes which aligned with it.
So I ended up with a dual major,political science and sociology.
OK, just I was, I was, I was sociology as well.
So I I love, I love the sociology classes.
Did you? Did you know that you wanted to
get into education? No, I, I got into well, the
(35:21):
reason I took political science because I thought I was going to
go towards law. OK, Yeah.
So I was going down that path and then obviously because of my
the number of credits, I said, you know, I'm going to take
advantage and pursue a due degree.
As I mentioned, political science and sociology, but I
(35:44):
always had thought that I would get involved in in law or
politics at some point. Education though, when I was
younger was, you know, somethingthat intrigued me.
And so I ended up getting certified after I had left UConn
through Sacred Heart. Because of my.
(36:05):
Yeah, because of my degree, it allied well with history and so
I was able to get a certification as a 7:00 to
12:00. Great history, right, right.
OK, so and I also know you, you coached, you ended up getting
into coaching as well. You did, yes.
(36:27):
When did you do that? Like how far out from UConn did
you coach? So once I lift graduated from
UConn, like many of us, we're not sure exactly what's the next
step. Not at all.
But I I always had felt that I could be a pretty good coach.
(36:49):
I understood the game very well.I picked up concepts.
Well, you had two great coaches.And I had, I had some great
mentors that you mentioned and it was funny.
And This is why you always have a good relationships and you
(37:12):
network. You don't burn bridges.
Yeah. The coach at the University of
New Haven at the time had recruited me to go to BU and
and, and Tony Sparano and Tony Sparano, Yeah.
So I had an opportunity to go tograd school there.
But they had a unique situation as AD 2 program where you
(37:35):
coached you, you weren't a grad assistant.
So I went there and and took classes in public administration
and then was able to coach for two years under Tony Sperano.
Now Tony Sperano rests in peace as well.
Would go on to be, you know, head coach and of the Vikings
(37:59):
and, and, and then I think he was interim and then he was with
the the Miami Cowboys and he was, he was all lie tight ends
coach at the with the Cowboys. But he was able, you know, to
transform. Well, he had played at
university. So he'd bring to bring that
form, that program back to Providence and then eventually
(38:22):
went on to the National FootballLeague because he worked under
Chris Palmer, who was the BU coach who then became the Browns
coach. So had an opportunity, you know,
to work with him, which was a great experience.
Wow, that's, that's just amazingthe number of coaches that you
(38:43):
got to experience that ended up having major success and careers
in the NFL. So you, you, you.
Had expert tutelage, you were like a Navy SEAL going in.
So then after you finished grad school, you got you got your
masters and is that when? You went back to UConn?
(39:05):
Oh, you, you went back to UConn,OK.
And went back to UConn. That's right, that's right.
That's right. That's right.
With Skip, my senior year time, Tom Jackson was replaced by Skip
Holt. Yes, so, so when Skip came, came
in, I played underneath him and then had an opportunity two
(39:28):
years later to go back and coachcoach with him.
That's crazy. OK.
So you were you were at the University of New Haven and then
you got to do 2 years at UConn and then one year at UConn and
then is that when you went transitioned and went to the
(39:48):
high school level? Yeah, yeah.
That's when I So for me, for me,I've seen some things within the
in the coaching that I felt. That it would probably be better
for me to pursue something more local.
Oh, it's a it's a rough business.
(40:10):
I I come. Like business, right?
One of one of the guys who took me under their wings, who was
one of the coaches when I was a player, I saw him be released
for basically no reason. And we put a bad taste in my
mouth because the guy put a tremendous amount of effort and
time and he just, you know, it was a rate regime change and he
(40:33):
wasn't part of that, you know, previous regime.
And so he got let go and obviously he had a family and
and it was just it was just for me difficult to see that.
And so I just felt, hey, you know, let me let me pursue
something else and had an opportunity to come back to my
alma mater, Nora Tree Academy, and you know, coach there for a
(40:59):
number of years to eventually I became the head coach of the
program. Where did you, so did you start
off like is it on defense or a position?
I was the defensive coordinator,you were the DC.
You, you, you. Like I said, you talk about
relationships. So the one of the one of the
(41:22):
coaches at UConn was Steve Robichaud.
And so Steve Robichaud was the old line coach at the time under
Tom Jackson. And when basically Coach Bagnola
got fired, Robichaud as well. And so he became the head coach
(41:43):
at my alma mater in a Fey nor tree Academy.
And then later on when I was done coaching at UConn, he asked
me to come down. I got a a position at the school
and then I joined, I joined his staff and was the the defensive
coordinator. And that was 98, if I'm not
(42:05):
mistaken. So from 98 to 2002, I think
2000, yeah, 2002, I served as kind of the the defensive
coordinator and then started to take on some role as the
offensive coordinator. You did both.
Wow, you called the now? I was trying to think the the
(42:30):
legendary coach, high school coach in Connecticut, was that
Jack Cochran? Yes, he's one of the coaches,
yes. Yes, I heard, I heard, I heard.
He's quite the character as well.
Did you have the opportunity to play against him at all?
Not, not not play, but coach against him.
I'm sorry, you did you have to he was he, he went to, he went
(42:50):
to New London. And as I mentioned earlier that
I'll come back to so in NFA are the oldest high school rivals in
in the, in the nation. And so there's actually a book
out that, you know, covers the the history of the rivalry.
And so when I was a player for those three years at NFA, we did
(43:13):
not beat them. And then when I became the head
coach, he we would have played each other, but he got into
some, in some trouble, I think. Yeah.
So I didn't coach. I don't, I don't.
I didn't coach against him, but for one year right then, then he
was out and then. My.
(43:36):
Friend was when he got out, Lawson, I think, yeah, yeah, he
was who was a Yukon player and then he went out, he became the
head coach there. So we were able to, when I was a
head coach, we were able to kindof dominate him, I like to say.
Yes, yes, I, I, I played with Jeff, I played with Jeff and
(43:57):
Jeff was there and my other friend that I played with UE, UE
his son was. Yeah.
And he became a guidance counselor down there.
Yes, yes, yes, yes. Wow, that's I so I didn't know
that was the biggest rivalry. Did you enjoy being a head
coach? Because that like I was always a
(44:18):
position coach at the college level.
I could never envision being a head coach because it just it,
it just seems like you're just eating bowls of shit all day
from, you know, from the, from the parents, from the kids, from
the, you know, the booster from everyone, you know, it, it,
they're always on you. So I, I, I would never wanted to
(44:39):
be a head coach. Did you enjoy it?
Did was that something that you always aspired to to do?
Yeah. Well, when I was a player at
NFA, we were not very good, right.
My try my sophomore year, I think we won maybe one or two
(45:00):
games. I think we're two games myself
on my excuse me, my junior year we won four and then my senior
we won, we were, we won six, right.
So we had a winning record. And one of my good friends,
Scott Mitchell that you had on. Yeah.
So we went down to play Hamden, which he's originally from
(45:22):
Hamden, but he he played at Xavier, I mean on more game of
of West West Haven, he played there.
And when we played Hamden, now Hamden at the time was the
number one team in the country. Scott Burrell was a quarterback.
They they they had an outstanding program and Scott
Burrell obviously goes on to play, you know, at UConn and
(45:44):
then plays in the NBA. But they called us instead of
NFA for North Tree Academy. They call us no football
ability. So so that was that was a
running joke when I got the Ucot.
Oh, you went to NFA fulfilled me, right.
So you know, so when I became the head.
Coach. One of the things that I really
(46:08):
wanted to do was really bring the sense of pride to the
program and to the community through football because we had
a lot of talented players and some just didn't stay with the
program. And I just felt if we could keep
these guys within the program and and working with Coach
Robinshard, we started to see that and and so his last year in
(46:32):
2000 and like I said in 2000. 2.Two, we had what, 3D1 athletes
right that there. So we had a kid by the name of
JJ Justice who went to play downat Maryland, Matt Shaughnessy,
who was a year behind him who went to play at the University
(46:56):
of Wisconsin, and Dan Ryan who ended up playing at UK.
Yes, yes, I. Remember, so you know, those are
the type of athletes we we wouldsee in our, you know, in our
halls. And so I wanted to continue
that. And so when I got the
opportunity to become the head coach, that was what we we
(47:20):
instilled in. I mean, we had, you know, some
nice runs and so the families and stuff IA lot of them I knew.
So I think we had a really good relationship.
So some of that stuff that, you know, you described, which
obviously does happen. I was fortunate enough not to
really experience. We obviously winning helps.
Yes, winning cures all. You know, we were able to put
(47:41):
together a, a dominant program in a very short period of time
and we competed for, unfortunately we didn't win a, a
state championship, but we were in the state finals, you know,
2-2 years made it to the playoffs as a, as a coach,
probably I was there nine years.So 6 out of the nine years we
(48:04):
made it to the playoffs. And so we had a lot of success.
But to your point, I always felt, you know, comfortable in
that role. Actually, before I became the
head football coach, I was a track coach for a number of
years, for about 10 years where we actually did win a number of
state championships. So, and, and it's funny because
(48:28):
Dan Ryan is actually my brother's boss right now.
Dan Ryan is in my area now and he's he's my brother's boss.
So I always, I always tell him to fire my brother when I see
him. But yeah, so how how would you
say? Because I hate the word, but
everyone uses it as a buzzword culture.
(48:48):
And it sounds like you guys completely transformed the
culture at NFA and because you know, you just said no football
ability or whatever. How did how did you begin to do
that or how did you the Steve start that process?
Well, I, I definitely leaned into my experience at Youcom and
(49:11):
obviously I still kind of lean into that now in, in my role as
an educator and, and really it'sjust, you know, getting people
to, to buy into a shared vision.And that's what we really, we
did, you know, and our shared vision at obviously at that time
was that we, we were not going to allow anyone to outperform us
(49:32):
or out compete us. And it's so it really started in
the offseason in the weight room, something that in prior
years was kind of you do it if you want.
And we made it a priority for the guys that if you want, if
you want to play, regardless of who you are, if you want to
play, first of all, you've got to make yourself a capable,
(49:56):
right. So you have to get in the weight
and get stronger, got to get faster.
You got to be ready to play a grueling sport.
And so the guys in it and we, and we sold that to them that,
you know, anyone can play for us, right?
We didn't have cuts or anything like that.
Anyone can play for us. But it's about commitment.
Are you committed not only to yourself, but to your brothers,
right. And, and to your sisters?
(50:17):
Because you know, we would have females on our team as well.
And so they, you know, we had anopen door, a policy and, and we
were honest with and transparentwith everyone, you know,
families included, right? So if you had a question about
the playing time of of your of your child, you know, we can
(50:37):
have a conversation to to create, you know, the best,
yeah, opportunity that for us tobe successful, right, right.
So I mean, and that's good because you have to be direct
(51:00):
with the parents and that eliminates a lot of the
problems. If you just explain what's going
on and have an honest conversation and tell them the
truth, that will make things a lot easier.
You ended up becoming an administrator, right?
Yes. OK.
So are you still your your principal, right?
(51:23):
I'm an assistant principal in the middle school.
OK, how? Do you like doing that, being an
administrator, going from being a teacher to making that
transition? Because I've, I've heard that's
difficult as well. My mother was a teacher for 30
years and she said she never wanted to be an administrator.
(51:46):
And it's like a assistant principal or Dean or
Superintendent, anything like that.
She was always stayed away from that.
But what drew you to that so? Again, really, as you know,
beginning my, my career as a coach and a teacher, obviously
those experiences and relationships that I was able to
(52:09):
forge within the classroom and then obviously on the playing
field was something that really fulfilled me.
And as, as administrator, I feltthat obviously now I, I, I have
a voice at the table for the decision making and, and how I
(52:30):
coach. It's the same way kind of how I,
you know, lead in the sense of I, I want input from others.
And so for me, it's been a greattransition to being a
administrator. The difference is in is I have
(52:51):
more adults that I have to work with, right?
As a head coach, you have your, your, your staff, but you're
working with adults, right? And so you understand that
adults have needs as well. And you want to be able to make
sure you meet their needs so they can meet the needs of their
students. And so for me, it's really been
(53:11):
about trying to, you know, find ways to be as supportive as I
possibly can, but as, but at thesame time making sure that that
vision that we have, that sharedvision that we have is being
met. And, and so there's points where
you got to hold individuals accountable, just like I did as,
as a head coach, you know, if it, if it was staff or players,
(53:34):
we're doing, doing the same thing as an, as an
administrator. So there's a lot of alignment.
Right, right. Wow.
So you have been the assistant principal.
Do you still follow UConn? Have you been to any games?
(53:55):
Have you been up there? What do you think of the the
current resurgence that we're having?
Yeah. So I'm very excited, very
excited of where the program hasthe potential of going.
I do believe that pivotal step they they have to take as they
did when they first move to kindof the bowl series.
(54:17):
And obviously that's changed in terms of the term.
But what ended up happening is that they got into a conference.
And so it's, I think it's critical for UConn football to
maintain its momentum by gettinginto a conference because if
again, if you can win your conference championship, that
leads to other things down the road.
(54:37):
And if you want to build consistency.
So I I think it's important thatthey do get in that.
But one thing that Yukon has that may be unique and compared
to its situation, it has tremendous amount of of support
and Yukon alum are there and they want the program to do
(55:01):
well. So I, I'm excited about that.
I, I think it's moving in the right direction.
I do believe that the portal hashelped tremendously because they
can get some guys in there who are going to be there for a
short period of time, but can have a significant impact on the
program. So my my thumbs are are up for
(55:27):
what's currently happening. My fingers are crossed in hopes
that it can continue. Yeah, Coach Moore has done a
great job. Mike Burton, obviously with the
NIL and the collective, they built that up and you know, they
are they did a great job in the transfer portal bringing in
really quality pieces. And you know, they're playing a
(55:50):
schedule that they can compete with, which I which I like where
before when they, you know, whenthey first became went back to
being an independent, you know, they're playing Michigan and
Clemson and the Tennessee and those are games they couldn't
compete in. So it's good to see now that
they're on the right path. But your journey, what is just
(56:11):
exceptional, coming all the way from Norwich and going to UConn
and then really the people that you surrounded yourself with and
like you said, not burning thosebridges, learning from everyone.
You know, you take something from everyone that you are
around and you were around some of the best names in the game.
(56:33):
That's so impressive. And then you yourself, you got
into coaching and I think like Idid it the same way.
And I don't think there's anything more rewarding because
you're making a difference in a kids life.
And that's what I always felt like, you know, especially at
the high school level, you're helping to navigate them, give
(56:55):
them guidance. You're helping them look at
colleges. You're, you're really, you know,
being their mentor. You're, you're someone they can
look up to. And especially with your, with
your pedigree, and I didn't knowthis.
Do you you? Do you have a family yourself
now? Yes, yes.
So I have a lovely, lovely wife.We have two children 17 and 13,
(57:21):
and my 17 year old right now does track and, you know,
pursuing hopefully she she wouldlike to pursue, you know,
competing at the collegiate level and.
So is she a senior? She is yes all.
Right. So you're you're waiting on
colleges for her too? Yeah, she's gone into a few now.
(57:43):
You know, she's just coming. Her indoor seasons is coming to
an end. She will be competing in the
National. So we're just waiting to see,
you know, where she wants to go and where she wants to compete.
What's What's her best event? She's a 400 runner and a long
jumper. Wow.
(58:03):
OK, that's amazing. Well, she got it.
She got she got good genes, she got good genes.
She definitely beat me now, that's for sure.
In both events. Well.
I, I have to say this was, this was a really impressive journey
to hear your story coming all the way from, from your hometown
(58:26):
and then going back and, and that's where you are now.
You have a family and you've been successful.
And that's what we're you know, I when I started the podcast, I
didn't know that we had so many successful alumni.
That was the biggest thing for me to know, Like I didn't know
that you can. We we we do have successful.
(58:48):
I'm not. Guys are doing great, and that's
awesome. Yeah, I, I tell you, you know, I
think it's a a point that can't be understated.
One of the things that I feel very blessed about, obviously we
talked about the pride that we have as, as Yukon alum, but for
(59:10):
me, I was the first generation going to college.
I mean, no one else in my familyhad gone to college before or
even thought about going to college.
Now again, it's a little bit different times.
You could obviously make a living without going to college
with with my mom's generation. So but for me being 54, you
(59:34):
know, college was where you feltyou had to go if you wanted to
have an opportunity life, right?And so when I went to UConn, one
of the things that really appealed to me was I was able to
see other people that look like me.
And if if they didn't look like me in terms of, you know, being,
(59:55):
you know, African American and black, they have a similar
experience. One of those, you know,
individuals for example, like you, you talked about Scott
Mitchell, you know, very similar, while we're not, you
know, of the same race socioeconomic.
Experience of just with the family very similar.
So I was able to develop or forge some, some really strong
(01:00:19):
relationships with a very diverse group of people that I
knew had my back and they and westill, even though we don't talk
every day, if we connect, it's just very personal and you know
that, you know, it's very, you know, close knit group of, of
individuals and it goes beyond football.
So it's it's other, you know, athletes who played other sports
(01:00:42):
that connect, you know, to that fraternity that UConn has
created through through its athletic program.
And So what really inspired me was some of those older guys
that I could look up to like a Chris McCall and later on, you
(01:01:06):
know, see like a Lynnwood Vereenwho or Damon Lewis who guys and
you miss and you who go on to not only get their bachelor's
degree but also their doctorate,right?
See. You're talking about individuals
who through the blessings of going to U Conn, we're able to
(01:01:30):
parlay that into something even greater.
And looking back because of, youknow, what we went through, I
feel, hey, it LED them to that, right?
So to persevere, to be accountable, right, to work
hard, to be dedicated individuals that what we learned
(01:01:50):
from being able to play, you know, college football.
Yeah, and the Doctor Sunday is one of my good friends.
He spent pretty much every Easter at my house that always
bring him home for Easter. Is that that became our
tradition. So yeah, you're 100% right.
(01:02:12):
And everyone has that I've talked to has said that, that
either when they went on their visit or when they got there,
they really felt just like a special closeness and a
brotherhood that that family atmosphere that we have.
And, and like you said, it's notjust football, it's just all
sports. Like we all supported each
other. We all went and watched each
(01:02:33):
other's other games. We all wanted each other to have
success. So it's great to see that that
that has happened for you and it's continuing.
It's continuing. I just have to thank our other
sponsors. We have Fresh Fold Laundromat
which is owned Fresh World Laundromat Company down in
(01:02:55):
Carrboro, NC. You will hear more from them
coming up next. And then we also have Marsha
Marsh Real estate. If you're looking for any real
estate in Erie, PA, Marsha Marshis the place for you.
And Mr. Jamal Davis, thank you so much for your time.
(01:03:20):
This was such a great experienceto to talk with you and have you
on and hear hear your story. And I am hoping your daughter
goes on and does well in collegeand you continue to make a
difference with the this generation of kids.
You got to get them off their cell phone.
Get him on the cell phone. And the PlayStation.
(01:03:42):
You're right and tell you said Mars.
Make sure you say lay layman. That said.
Yeah. Yeah, I will.
I will. Yeah, he was one of my recruits.
Oh, he was OK. Yeah, I do.
I do a podcast with Laban too. So I'll.
I'll be sure to tell him. I'll be sure to tell him.
So thank you so much again for Jamal Davis, NFANFA.
(01:04:05):
And now you know they can play football.
I'm Steve Cully, the best podcast host in the universe.
This has been Husky talk. Remember, when life gives you
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(01:04:49):
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I get them everything that they're deserved, and then I go
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(00:25):
call Finch. I'm gonna do that.
Hi. I'm Pete Finch from the Finch
firm. I've been a lawyer Connecticut
for eight years. I love when my clients call me
because that means that they trust me.
Although they're in a crisis, I know that they're relying on me.
(00:46):
So I stepped my game up. My clients are injured in slip
and fall accidents, serious dog bites and catastrophic car
accidents. I battle these insurance
companies like David battled Goliath.
I leave everything on the field.I go to war for my clients just
like I did back in the day playing football and just like I
(01:07):
will for you if you become a client.
And just like I do every day formy clients.
And remember, in a pinch, call Finch the.
Top 8 answers on the board fill in the blank.
If it were up to me, I'd never blank again.
(01:37):
Hello and welcome to Husky Talk.I am your host, the best podcast
host in the universe, Steve Cully.
I would like to thank our sponsors at Procyon Partners.
Procyon Partners, they specialize in employee benefits,
wealth management, retirement planning and are one of the top
(02:00):
50 fastest growing companies in the nation.
You will hear more from them coming up next.
Greetings, this is Julius Williams, former UConn Husky and
now CEO of Trench Mile Football.On the field, I was a force to
be reckoned with, and now I'm using that same drive to help
(02:21):
the next generation of athletes dominate in the trenches.
At Trench Mob, we're not just about building football players,
we're building champions. We've helped over 250 athletes
secure scholarships and take their talent to the next level
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exposure and deserve competing against the best in the country.
But it's more than football. At Trench Mob, we prepare
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We teach financial literacy, NILbasics, and mental well-being
because success off the field isjust as important as what
(03:06):
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(03:53):
And finally, the man of the hour, former UConn football
player now working in the world of academia.
He's a principal, I believe. Mr. Jamal Davis.
How are you, Sir? I'm doing well, thank you for
having me. Oh, it's a pleasure.
It's a pleasure. You were a tremendous player and
(04:14):
I'm excited to hear more about your journey.
I connected with you through Coach Human and he just, he said
you were, you were the man. And I know you also coached as
well, so that's crazy too. Where are you from initially?
I'm originally from Connecticut.Oh, you were.
(04:37):
Yeah, born and raised in Connecticut.
And so I had an opportunity to, you know, continue my academic
as well as my my football careerat the University of
Connecticut. OK.
Where did you did you start playing at an early age?
Yeah, I think, you know, for themost part is prior to
traditional path, you know, I played youth football started at
(04:58):
the age of 8 and then, you know,progressed on in Connecticut, we
just basically have youth football.
It does vary between regions, but it's youth football and so
once you get to. The high school age.
We don't have a middle school league, so you you're staying
youth football until the age of 12 to 13 and then you move on to
(05:22):
high school. And and my path was going to
North Tree Academy, which is a semi private school, you know,
Academy and he thinks it's more of a private school, but no,
it's a semi private, which meansthat it has a board of trustees
rather than a local Board of Education that over has
oversight. And so I went there.
(05:42):
It's one of the largest schools in the state of Connecticut.
So we had to compete in the large division or class double
L, double L when I went there and I was there for actually
three years. My first year was interesting
because I actually decided to goto a vocational school which was
Norwich Tech in which did not have football.
(06:04):
So I had a a period of time which I did not play football.
And so up until, like I said, about 13 played and then had a
time off as I transitioned into to high school.
And then from there, the last three years were at Norwich Tree
Academy before I had the opportunity to go play
collegiate football. So what's the difference between
that and like a charter school is like Norwich Tech is like a
(06:26):
charter school? Because I keep hearing more
about charter schools. Yeah.
So that's a good question. So a charter school does have a
board of trustees. They are not under the the
local. Educational board a system so
they are privately run and so organizationally you you still
(06:51):
would have your administrators in terms of your principals,
assistant principals and usuallythe head of school has oversight
of the budgetary works obviouslyclosely with the board of
trustees in a in a charter school, but it's privately owned
versus a public school like in aFAE or nor tree Academy.
(07:16):
I would say they are required tomeet you know public regulations
provide free and appropriate education for all students.
So Norris Tech on the other hand, is a vocational school, so
it is run by the state of Connecticut and that is designed
for students. Once they graduate, they have an
(07:37):
opportunity to pursue a career in a particular field and that
feels those fields range depending on the institution
itself. Right, right.
Because I hear the buzz about charter schools.
Do they design their own curriculum?
Yeah, yes, they do. Yeah, you know, and, and again,
(07:58):
the process, it's very similar, but the idea is you don't have
some of the bureaucracy that youmay find in a public setting
with a charter setting. I got you.
I got you right there. When you were playing early on,
what What did they have you play?
Because I mean, you were a tremendous athlete, so I'm sure
(08:19):
they move you around. Or did you stick in one spot?
For the most part, I I I played running back and.
On the defensive side, because of speed and and you football,
you know they're going to put your athletes.
You know, typically. At the linebacker position, you
know they're not going to move them into the secondary, which I
eventually moved. To.
(08:40):
When I got to high school and then college, but they just, you
know, want you to be able to getto the ball and, and stop the
rump because primarily at the youth Football League, they're
they're running the football. And so I played linebacker and
and running back on the offensive.
Side and and it was interesting because I always wanted to play
quarterback, but for the Youth League they, you know, felt the
(09:04):
best, you know athletes, you know, needed to have a.
Ball in their hand and so they would put, you know, those guys
at the running back position andI guess they thought I was good
enough to play there, so they put me there.
Yeah, for sure, for sure. So when I mean you, you took a
year off and then you went because I, I, I, I coached it.
(09:25):
I coached it, Windsor and I. Remember, like the.
JV and varsity were together, which and I'm from upstate New
York, that's completely different.
The JV and varsity used to be separate.
Did you guys practice together? Were you immediately on JV or
were you right to to varsity? So, yeah, so that's a good
(09:47):
question because I did go to. Norris Tech my first year, my
9th grade year when I came to NFA as a 10th grader, we
actually have 3 levels. So we have freshman, JV and
varsity due to the number of students that we had in the
school. But no, I never played JVI,
(10:08):
played varsity as soon as I wentto to NFA to play football.
In fact, when I was at Norris Tech, because they didn't have
any, any football, I actually ran cross country and played
basketball. And both of those, obviously,
you know, cross country, you're a varsity athlete if you make
the time. But basketball seemed to be the
(10:30):
sport that I was going to pursue.
But things changed and when I got NFA had success on the on
the football field as a sophomore, you know, been able
to play one of very few being able to play on the varsity
team. Yeah, it's it's pretty rare as a
sophomore. Did you play both ways as well
(10:51):
or is that where they focus you more defensively?
Yeah. So they had me as a running
back, as I, as I stated, you know, for youth.
And then they they moved me to safety and I think.
That's where I really got noticed on the field playing
safety was able to obviously kind of.
(11:15):
Be the the play caller on the defensive side in terms of
coverages and making sure peopleare aligned in the in the right
alignment for for our run defense at at the safety
position. So I played free safety and had
a lot of success there. And then it was really my junior
year. That really put me on the map
(11:38):
locally and they moved me in fact from running back to
quarterback. Oh, you play.
You did play some quarterback. OK, So could you throw the ball?
Could you throw the ball pretty well?
You had a good arm. I had a pretty good arm, but
back then at, you know, everyonewas running the wing T in our
conference and so it was a lot of bootlegs kind of, you know, a
(12:04):
little Sprint out pass that we would do nothing to.
Yeah, exactly. I.
Remember. Yeah, exactly.
So you know the wing T? Very well.
I played in the Wing T Yeah, I remember that.
So they because they want their best athlete at quarterback.
It's kind of now like what they do in the spread offense and
they try to, you know, for the zone read stuff.
(12:26):
So but getting moved to safety, were you guys more of a one high
team or A2 high team? And did you play multiple
coverages? That's that's a very good
question as well. We did.
We did not go a lot too high safety.
I'm the best podcast host in theuniverse.
That's that's why. There are no bad questions.
You know it right? So because a lot of teams were
(12:49):
playing basically wing T football, you know, we would
play and I'll share a little bitabout we play New London because
it's. Important.
To kind of share that that wouldNFA and and New London are the
oldest high school Rotary in thenation.
So being a part of that, but they were only other team
(13:11):
really, well, I should say not the only other team, but they
were really the only team that really ran the I formation.
So we replayed a lot. Of cover 3 to be totally.
Honest. But because if we, if we want to
go, man, it was just an easier, yeah.
(13:32):
Adjustment, but I, I really was asked to kind of be all over the
field if it was being in the in the run game as a fit player or
being able to make sure nothing got behind.
So I was able to cover the fieldpretty well.
And then on special teams, I actually never came off the
field. So I, I had to, you know,
(13:55):
receive punts and kick offs. And so when I was being
recruited, I think a lot of it had to do with my junior year
where I had returned, I think itwas like 3 kickoff returns for a
touchdown. Maybe four part returns for a
touchdown. It had 10 interceptions.
So, so that was where I think the recruiters came in, not
(14:20):
necessarily looking at me as an offensive player, but more of
its defensive player or, or an athlete.
Yeah, yeah. I mean, those are those are some
outstanding numbers. Who would you say kind of pushed
you or mentored you the most in football?
Was it your coaches? Was it your family?
Was it a combination? I I would say it was my.
(14:42):
Coaches, you know, particularly my my head coach Brian Mignock
coming. From where I came from, you
know, football was, you know, anopportunity to, to get outside
the house and kids nowadays are,you know, on the Playstations
or, or video games. And so they're not out as, as
(15:04):
frequently I think as my generation.
So I mean, you, you name it, I was involved with it with
regards to athletic athletics. I did travel basketball.
I would do football, obviously Iwould be involved in they had
(15:25):
this kind of, it wasn't cross country, but it was like it was
tracked, but it was called the Roadrunners program.
So I remember traveling or really walking probably about 6
miles to the track to, to complete compete in the track
and field that was available in the neighboring town and then
(15:47):
found out that it kind of went from town to town.
And so I signed up for that. So I was, I was involved.
You did everything. Wow.
And and because at that time forrecruiting, it's not like it is
now where, you know, you go to camps.
Usually the colleges have one day camps and that's the best
way to get evaluated. It was sending out tapes.
(16:10):
I mean, I remember I had to sendout VHS tapes.
Did you? Did you?
Do that. Did you like start sending out
game tapes or did coaches come to the school to see you mostly?
Yeah, I did not send out any VH tapes.
I didn't, I didn't have the the financial means to send out the
VH tape. However, my my coach did that.
(16:32):
Brian Minaj. Was able to.
You know copy. You know the game films.
Excuse me and send them out to coaches or coaches when they
came to the school, you know, obviously would give them a copy
camps and things of that nature.At that time, there wasn't
something that I was really involved in.
(16:53):
However, I remember I got a scholarship and just tell you
about the times that got a scholarship to go to Joe
Namath's camp, which was out in New outside of New Haven in, in
Hamden at Quinnipiac College. And that was a pivotal moment
in, in for me in my career because again, not really
(17:17):
knowing how talented you are or even, you know, what the
opportunities are out there. He's out there.
So Joe Namath is out there and he comes up to me and, and
really kind of, you know, individually speaks to me and
just says, Hey, you know, you know, you got some talent.
You know, what are your interests?
(17:37):
And that was kind of the the spark for me to kind of say
maybe, hey, this is something I can, you know, do in the future
beyond high school. Broadway Joe pulled you aside
and had a conversation with you at his camp.
Wow. That is, that is awesome.
That must have been a great experience that that's got to be
like what the the Manning camp is like now for the for the
(18:00):
quarterbacks. So that's crazy.
Were there were there college coaches at the camp as well?
Yeah, there were a few few. Colleges there that began to
show some interest. Syracuse and BC probably being
the most predominant and well known programs at the time.
(18:22):
You know, at that point they were independents.
And so locally, if you were looking to play at that level
regionally, you know that. Was, you know, the opportunity
that you had for you. Right, Right.
Syracuse, BC I mean, I remember Holy Cross and then you
(18:43):
obviously had Yale, UConn. So did UConn come in the picture
a little bit later or more afteryour junior year?
Still so right? Yeah, so right after my junior
year, there's is there's that window in which because of the
bowl games and things like that,they can get out and do a little
bit of recruiting. So, you know, after our
(19:05):
Thanksgiving game, we didn't we didn't move on.
We weren't good enough to move on to the.
Playoffs point system. That point system's crazy.
Right. So we, we at that point began to
receive a lot of cultures comingin where we are located.
(19:27):
We've got probably within an hour and a half or two hour
range, the Yankee Conference teams in the region began to
come. So we're probably from Norwich
to, you're right, probably about45 minutes.
BBU it's probably an hour and a half.
(19:51):
UMass probably probably about anhour.
UConn is 45 minutes. And so you start in New
Hampshire was probably the longest.
So, you know, all those Yankee Conference schools came in and
offered a scholarship. You know, at that time, you
(20:11):
know, I was looking and hoping that BC.
Syracuse, BC, which I did a visit with Syracuse would come
and then I actually went to Armyfor a moment, you know, saying,
hey, you know, let's look at it.Beautiful, beautiful, amazing
there on the Hudson. And at that time, both Syracuse
(20:35):
and BC were going through coaching changes so that that
recruiting was kind of very inconsistent.
Where the consistency lied was with with UConn from day one.
And so I became very, very interested just with the
(20:58):
proximity, my family dynamics. Were one in which being close to
home was going to be very important to me.
We had to get home and be there for my mom and my because my
brother is 13 years younger and my sister's 16 years younger.
So having me present, I thought would be very important.
(21:22):
And so UConn and Uri kind of came down to those two.
New Hampshire was too far away. UMass, my my mom really did not
like to head coach, so she told me I wasn't going to go there.
And so it was really with Coach Bagnola when I sat down with him
(21:45):
on my. That's amazing.
And what he said to me at that time was very, very fundamental
in my decision because he had made a statement.
He says, you know, speaking to my mom, which was, you know,
very important figure in my lifeand still is, you know, said,
you know, your mom is in Connecticut and who do you want
to, you know, in case of, you know, me, the analogy of a kind
(22:08):
of a war, who would you want to be on the side of, right?
Right. You know, as a young kid, you
know. They're.
Resonating to spilling to those strings, I was like, yes, let's
do it. Wow, Steve Spagnol, I, I still
can't believe that he was at UConn.
(22:28):
Now, I I've heard from other guys that even back when you
were playing, they were told that at some point they were
going to be making the move to Division One.
Hey FCFBS, did they tell you that when you were being
recruited as well? Yeah, yeah, we were probably the
one of the first class. So so I finished playing my high
(22:52):
school football 89. So I think, you know, once UConn
had made a name for itself through the basketball and I
think the winning the NIT, I believe it was in 89, really
kind of put them on the map because in the following, it may
again, it could have been a couple years before that.
But the following year when I was recruited and had basically
(23:20):
signed, they got to the final eight right, right with with
Tate charges, you know, famous shot and then obviously they
lose, lose to Duke. And so part of the conversation
was at that time was that eventually there was going to be
(23:42):
a Big East Football Conference. Now at that point, for those who
who are familiar with the history of the Big East, it was
just a basketball conference, but it but it did have Syracuse
in it. It did have obviously BC in it,
which again were independents and they were looking to join
and be a part of a conference which, you know, they didn't
(24:05):
have it. And so part of the recruiting at
that time was that, you know, they were going to and they were
hoping that Penn State would be a team that would join, but Penn
State was not in the Big East for basketball.
But they were hoping that that would one day happen.
And so it seemed to start to come fruition probably my junior
(24:28):
year at at UConn, where we started to get monies for being
part of the biggies in the push to eventually, because football
eventually did come. Yeah.
And so they, we knew that eventually was going to happen,
but, you know, they were saying it's going to happen.
(24:49):
You know, we were going to be there, but it didn't happen
until about 10 to 15 years after.
Right, right. Because I, I was surprised when
I was talking to guys from your class that they had even
mentioned going 1A back then andit, you know, it didn't happen
until 2000. So did you take all your
(25:10):
official visits or did you just commit to UConn on your visit?
Yeah. So we, so we were allowed five
official visits, right. And I did four, really, 3,
because I did not get on the train to go to New Hampshire the
(25:34):
day I was supposed to go up there.
You bailed on that one. Don't worry.
You didn't miss anything up there.
There's nothing to go to New Hampshire.
I did. I I I was just like, I'm never.
Going to go to New Hampshire. In the middle of nowhere to the
New Hampshire and The Maine werethe two ones in the middle of
nowhere when so Spagnola was there in coach Jackson, right?
(25:59):
Yes, Coach Jackson, rest in peace.
He he was the head coach at the time, yes.
And you clicked with him. You got along with him.
And he, he was great. I mean, I hear I heard so many
stories about him. Yeah.
You know, no, no, he, he, he would, he would come in.
You know, he had, by the time wegot in my class, got there, I
(26:21):
mean, he had been there for several years and had won the
Yankee Conference a few times. And he really relied on his his
coordinators. He, you know, he really kind of
allowed them to really put theirstamp on, on the program.
(26:43):
And so one of those individuals who as you mentioned was Coles
Bagnola. And so because Coach Jackson was
more of an offensive guy, he he just kind of gravitated to that.
Side of the lone, yeah. Right.
So the defense, he kind of left us alone, you know, and allowed
us, but you know, obviously he would provide his input when
(27:05):
needed. But in terms of knowing the
players, he knew everyone, right?
He, he definitely worked to develop a relationship and he
and he was a guy that could get you rolling, you know,
particularly if we're watching film, right?
He'll call some guys out and youjust would hope, hey, that I
hope that eye in the sky is not going to be you.
(27:26):
Because it doesn't lie. It doesn't never lies.
So you, you came to UConn, did you?
Did you red shirt or did you endup playing as a freshman?
No, I I redshirted. I redshirted.
Yeah, the majority of us that came in did Red shirt and for me
it was, it was good. I was, I was undersized and
(27:48):
height wise 61, but I I came in at probably about 155.
So I was undersized. But Coach Spagnola really liked
tall corners. Yes.
He was really looking for guys, you know, 6 foot or above and
that could basically run. And so that's what he was
(28:10):
looking for. And his system, and you still
see it today with Sand City was very sophisticated.
And so as, as a safety, you really had to have the mental
ability to, to really understandwhat he was trying to do because
you were asked to make sure people were, were aligned.
(28:31):
And and so we would do some things that I think were a
little bit at that time not traditional.
And I think he was just ahead ofhis time.
And so we're very happy for him now and in the success.
But he had began that a long time ago in in the early 90s at
(28:55):
UConn. And were you guys more of a 2
high system or A1 high or would he roll the coverage down?
He did it all. We did it all, so we did it all.
We would have, you know, the single high safety.
We would go to two high. We run bracket, right?
We'll we'll come, we'll come running a little bit of robber.
We might run a little bit what we call a little bit of like a 2
(29:15):
read concept where the out the corner is kind of reading, you
know, 2 to 1. So we would do a lot with
coverages and, and, and a lot oftimes he'll bring that strong
safety down into the bodies to give, give an extra defender in
in the run game. So we we really had to know
exactly what we were asked to doand we'll play some off man or,
(29:37):
you know, we might play some little trail techniques.
So he he would have us do a lot.So you played multiple
coverages. It wasn't just like 2 coverages
that you focused on like he did.He did everything there.
Was he a Blitzer back then? Did he bring pressure?
Not a lot, not a lot of pressure.
So what he would try to do is try to mix up.
(29:58):
And if he would do, he would do a lot of zone blitzes, right?
Yeah. So he would do that.
And, and for me, I was a guy that was able to kind of
transition from being a safety to playing corner.
So I played safety and corner. Wow.
So you did. So you did both depending on
situations or whatever, and the years you were there, you played
(30:21):
both. Yeah, yeah.
Corner. What did you like better?
I'd like them both to be totallyhonest.
My senior year they I my junior actually was more my sophomore
and junior year. So it'll be my red so sophomore
year and junior. I played a lot more corner.
(30:45):
Because Spagnola ended up leaving and then we had a
transition with Greg Williams that came in and I heard about
Greg Williams kind of moved me the corner more, also me play a
corner and kind of kept me there.
And then my senior year we had ahe moved me back because I was
actually slotted as a Co starredat safety and then he moved me
(31:10):
back to to safety my senior year.
Who did you like better? Oh, who do I like better?
They were different. You know, I don't think it was.
I don't think it was better. I, I would say in my early
years, I did not realize how talented of a coach Coach
(31:35):
Spagnola was, right. So for me, I'm, I'm fighting to
get in the starting lineup. I'm feeling I, you know, I could
definitely be a starter at that time.
And then right when I felt I was, I made that transition.
He was gone. He was fired and he got fired.
(31:58):
Wow, I didn't know. I didn't know he got fired.
Yes. And then Greg Williams came in
and he had a different approach.He changed our technique
completely. We had to do a shuffle technique
at the corner position versus a backpedal.
So you had to change that around.
It definitely put a little bit more strain on the body,
(32:19):
particularly in the groin everywhere when you're
shuffling. So we saw a lot of guys injured
because of that transition. And then again, he's trying to
figure out, you know, who, who wants to play.
And so he was he was more more demanding coach in terms of how
(32:40):
he approached it. But looking back, I I think they
both brought, you know, something to the table.
I mean, you know, Greg Williams ends up going leads, you can I
believe ends up going down to Georgia and he's coaching, you
know, the top VBS in the country.
And Bailey, Yeah, both, both of our talents.
(33:02):
So it's not really which one I'dlike to just, you know when I
had tremendous respect for both of them, but they came at two
different times in my. Career and when did you start
from your red shirt sophomore year on or did you start as a
red shirt freshman? So I I ended up starting so my
last three years there. OK, so red shirt, sophomore,
(33:24):
junior, senior year. And me, me and another guy
rotated in to starting positions.
Got you, got you. And that back then, man, the
Yankee Conference was as tough as they come.
I mean, it was, it was Murderer's Row with Delaware,
New Hampshire, Maine, BU Northeastern, all those schools,
(33:49):
Nova, Nova, Nova was the I mean,New Hampshire had a ton of
talent. Who Who is your toughest
opponent? Would you say that you face?
I would say it, it, it kind of it's as you mentioned, there was
a a period of time where you sawsome transition new teams coming
in, Richmond coming in, James Madison ended up coming in, in,
(34:12):
in into the conference. But I would say Villanova and my
first year UMass ended up winning it.
They were Co champs I think withNew Hampshire at that time.
But you know, year in and year out, you knew you were going to
be in a dogfight when you playedVillanova.
(34:33):
Yeah, yeah, they always had. They always had great talent.
I always thought they would havebeen good if they had made the
commitment to football and movedup, which they didn't.
Academically. What did you end up majoring in
at UConn? What was your interest?
So I I was a political science major and so I had taken a lot
(34:58):
of sociology classes which aligned with it.
So I ended up with a dual major,political science and sociology.
OK, just I was, I was, I was sociology as well.
So I I love, I love the sociology classes.
Did you? Did you know that you wanted to
get into education? No, I, I got into well, the
(35:21):
reason I took political science because I thought I was going to
go towards law. OK, Yeah.
So I was going down that path and then obviously because of my
the number of credits, I said, you know, I'm going to take
advantage and pursue a due degree.
As I mentioned, political science and sociology, but I
(35:44):
always had thought that I would get involved in in law or
politics at some point. Education though, when I was
younger was, you know, somethingthat intrigued me.
And so I ended up getting certified after I had left UConn
through Sacred Heart. Because of my.
(36:05):
Yeah, because of my degree, it allied well with history and so
I was able to get a certification as a 7:00 to
12:00. Great history, right, right.
OK, so and I also know you, you coached, you ended up getting
into coaching as well. You did, yes.
(36:27):
When did you do that? Like how far out from UConn did
you coach? So once I lift graduated from
UConn, like many of us, we're not sure exactly what's the next
step. Not at all.
But I I always had felt that I could be a pretty good coach.
(36:49):
I understood the game very well.I picked up concepts.
Well, you had two great coaches.And I had, I had some great
mentors that you mentioned and it was funny.
And This is why you always have a good relationships and you
(37:12):
network. You don't burn bridges.
Yeah. The coach at the University of
New Haven at the time had recruited me to go to BU and
and, and Tony Sparano and Tony Sparano, Yeah.
So I had an opportunity to go tograd school there.
But they had a unique situation as AD 2 program where you
(37:35):
coached you, you weren't a grad assistant.
So I went there and and took classes in public administration
and then was able to coach for two years under Tony Sperano.
Now Tony Sperano rests in peace as well.
Would go on to be, you know, head coach and of the Vikings
(37:59):
and, and, and then I think he was interim and then he was with
the the Miami Cowboys and he was, he was all lie tight ends
coach at the with the Cowboys. But he was able, you know, to
transform. Well, he had played at
university. So he'd bring to bring that
form, that program back to Providence and then eventually
(38:22):
went on to the National FootballLeague because he worked under
Chris Palmer, who was the BU coach who then became the Browns
coach. So had an opportunity, you know,
to work with him, which was a great experience.
Wow, that's, that's just amazingthe number of coaches that you
(38:43):
got to experience that ended up having major success and careers
in the NFL. So you, you, you.
Had expert tutelage, you were like a Navy SEAL going in.
So then after you finished grad school, you got you got your
masters and is that when? You went back to UConn?
(39:05):
Oh, you, you went back to UConn,OK.
And went back to UConn. That's right, that's right.
That's right. That's right.
With Skip, my senior year time, Tom Jackson was replaced by Skip
Holt. Yes, so, so when Skip came, came
in, I played underneath him and then had an opportunity two
(39:28):
years later to go back and coachcoach with him.
That's crazy. OK.
So you were you were at the University of New Haven and then
you got to do 2 years at UConn and then one year at UConn and
then is that when you went transitioned and went to the
(39:48):
high school level? Yeah, yeah.
That's when I So for me, for me,I've seen some things within the
in the coaching that I felt. That it would probably be better
for me to pursue something more local.
Oh, it's a it's a rough business.
(40:10):
I I come. Like business, right?
One of one of the guys who took me under their wings, who was
one of the coaches when I was a player, I saw him be released
for basically no reason. And we put a bad taste in my
mouth because the guy put a tremendous amount of effort and
time and he just, you know, it was a rate regime change and he
(40:33):
wasn't part of that, you know, previous regime.
And so he got let go and obviously he had a family and
and it was just it was just for me difficult to see that.
And so I just felt, hey, you know, let me let me pursue
something else and had an opportunity to come back to my
alma mater, Nora Tree Academy, and you know, coach there for a
(40:59):
number of years to eventually I became the head coach of the
program. Where did you, so did you start
off like is it on defense or a position?
I was the defensive coordinator,you were the DC.
You, you, you. Like I said, you talk about
relationships. So the one of the one of the
(41:22):
coaches at UConn was Steve Robichaud.
And so Steve Robichaud was the old line coach at the time under
Tom Jackson. And when basically Coach Bagnola
got fired, Robichaud as well. And so he became the head coach
(41:43):
at my alma mater in a Fey nor tree Academy.
And then later on when I was done coaching at UConn, he asked
me to come down. I got a a position at the school
and then I joined, I joined his staff and was the the defensive
coordinator. And that was 98, if I'm not
(42:05):
mistaken. So from 98 to 2002, I think
2000, yeah, 2002, I served as kind of the the defensive
coordinator and then started to take on some role as the
offensive coordinator. You did both.
Wow, you called the now? I was trying to think the the
(42:30):
legendary coach, high school coach in Connecticut, was that
Jack Cochran? Yes, he's one of the coaches,
yes. Yes, I heard, I heard, I heard.
He's quite the character as well.
Did you have the opportunity to play against him at all?
Not, not not play, but coach against him.
I'm sorry, you did you have to he was he, he went to, he went
(42:50):
to New London. And as I mentioned earlier that
I'll come back to so in NFA are the oldest high school rivals in
in the, in the nation. And so there's actually a book
out that, you know, covers the the history of the rivalry.
And so when I was a player for those three years at NFA, we did
(43:13):
not beat them. And then when I became the head
coach, he we would have played each other, but he got into
some, in some trouble, I think. Yeah.
So I didn't coach. I don't, I don't.
I didn't coach against him, but for one year right then, then he
was out and then. My.
(43:36):
Friend was when he got out, Lawson, I think, yeah, yeah, he
was who was a Yukon player and then he went out, he became the
head coach there. So we were able to, when I was a
head coach, we were able to kindof dominate him, I like to say.
Yes, yes, I, I, I played with Jeff, I played with Jeff and
(43:57):
Jeff was there and my other friend that I played with UE, UE
his son was. Yeah.
And he became a guidance counselor down there.
Yes, yes, yes, yes. Wow, that's I so I didn't know
that was the biggest rivalry. Did you enjoy being a head
coach? Because that like I was always a
(44:18):
position coach at the college level.
I could never envision being a head coach because it just it,
it just seems like you're just eating bowls of shit all day
from, you know, from the, from the parents, from the kids, from
the, you know, the booster from everyone, you know, it, it,
they're always on you. So I, I, I would never wanted to
(44:39):
be a head coach. Did you enjoy it?
Did was that something that you always aspired to to do?
Yeah. Well, when I was a player at
NFA, we were not very good, right.
My try my sophomore year, I think we won maybe one or two
(45:00):
games. I think we're two games myself
on my excuse me, my junior year we won four and then my senior
we won, we were, we won six, right.
So we had a winning record. And one of my good friends,
Scott Mitchell that you had on. Yeah.
So we went down to play Hamden, which he's originally from
(45:22):
Hamden, but he he played at Xavier, I mean on more game of
of West West Haven, he played there.
And when we played Hamden, now Hamden at the time was the
number one team in the country. Scott Burrell was a quarterback.
They they they had an outstanding program and Scott
Burrell obviously goes on to play, you know, at UConn and
(45:44):
then plays in the NBA. But they called us instead of
NFA for North Tree Academy. They call us no football
ability. So so that was that was a
running joke when I got the Ucot.
Oh, you went to NFA fulfilled me, right.
So you know, so when I became the head.
Coach. One of the things that I really
(46:08):
wanted to do was really bring the sense of pride to the
program and to the community through football because we had
a lot of talented players and some just didn't stay with the
program. And I just felt if we could keep
these guys within the program and and working with Coach
Robinshard, we started to see that and and so his last year in
(46:32):
2000 and like I said in 2000. 2.Two, we had what, 3D1 athletes
right that there. So we had a kid by the name of
JJ Justice who went to play downat Maryland, Matt Shaughnessy,
who was a year behind him who went to play at the University
(46:56):
of Wisconsin, and Dan Ryan who ended up playing at UK.
Yes, yes, I. Remember, so you know, those are
the type of athletes we we wouldsee in our, you know, in our
halls. And so I wanted to continue
that. And so when I got the
opportunity to become the head coach, that was what we we
(47:20):
instilled in. I mean, we had, you know, some
nice runs and so the families and stuff IA lot of them I knew.
So I think we had a really good relationship.
So some of that stuff that, you know, you described, which
obviously does happen. I was fortunate enough not to
really experience. We obviously winning helps.
Yes, winning cures all. You know, we were able to put
(47:41):
together a, a dominant program in a very short period of time
and we competed for, unfortunately we didn't win a, a
state championship, but we were in the state finals, you know,
2-2 years made it to the playoffs as a, as a coach,
probably I was there nine years.So 6 out of the nine years we
(48:04):
made it to the playoffs. And so we had a lot of success.
But to your point, I always felt, you know, comfortable in
that role. Actually, before I became the
head football coach, I was a track coach for a number of
years, for about 10 years where we actually did win a number of
state championships. So, and, and it's funny because
(48:28):
Dan Ryan is actually my brother's boss right now.
Dan Ryan is in my area now and he's he's my brother's boss.
So I always, I always tell him to fire my brother when I see
him. But yeah, so how how would you
say? Because I hate the word, but
everyone uses it as a buzzword culture.
(48:48):
And it sounds like you guys completely transformed the
culture at NFA and because you know, you just said no football
ability or whatever. How did how did you begin to do
that or how did you the Steve start that process?
Well, I, I definitely leaned into my experience at Youcom and
(49:11):
obviously I still kind of lean into that now in, in my role as
an educator and, and really it'sjust, you know, getting people
to, to buy into a shared vision.And that's what we really, we
did, you know, and our shared vision at obviously at that time
was that we, we were not going to allow anyone to outperform us
(49:32):
or out compete us. And it's so it really started in
the offseason in the weight room, something that in prior
years was kind of you do it if you want.
And we made it a priority for the guys that if you want, if
you want to play, regardless of who you are, if you want to
play, first of all, you've got to make yourself a capable,
(49:56):
right. So you have to get in the weight
and get stronger, got to get faster.
You got to be ready to play a grueling sport.
And so the guys in it and we, and we sold that to them that,
you know, anyone can play for us, right?
We didn't have cuts or anything like that.
Anyone can play for us. But it's about commitment.
Are you committed not only to yourself, but to your brothers,
right. And, and to your sisters?
(50:17):
Because you know, we would have females on our team as well.
And so they, you know, we had anopen door, a policy and, and we
were honest with and transparentwith everyone, you know,
families included, right? So if you had a question about
the playing time of of your of your child, you know, we can
(50:37):
have a conversation to to create, you know, the best,
yeah, opportunity that for us tobe successful, right, right.
So I mean, and that's good because you have to be direct
(51:00):
with the parents and that eliminates a lot of the
problems. If you just explain what's going
on and have an honest conversation and tell them the
truth, that will make things a lot easier.
You ended up becoming an administrator, right?
Yes. OK.
So are you still your your principal, right?
(51:23):
I'm an assistant principal in the middle school.
OK, how? Do you like doing that, being an
administrator, going from being a teacher to making that
transition? Because I've, I've heard that's
difficult as well. My mother was a teacher for 30
years and she said she never wanted to be an administrator.
(51:46):
And it's like a assistant principal or Dean or
Superintendent, anything like that.
She was always stayed away from that.
But what drew you to that so? Again, really, as you know,
beginning my, my career as a coach and a teacher, obviously
those experiences and relationships that I was able to
(52:09):
forge within the classroom and then obviously on the playing
field was something that really fulfilled me.
And as, as administrator, I feltthat obviously now I, I, I have
a voice at the table for the decision making and, and how I
(52:30):
coach. It's the same way kind of how I,
you know, lead in the sense of I, I want input from others.
And so for me, it's been a greattransition to being a
administrator. The difference is in is I have
(52:51):
more adults that I have to work with, right?
As a head coach, you have your, your, your staff, but you're
working with adults, right? And so you understand that
adults have needs as well. And you want to be able to make
sure you meet their needs so they can meet the needs of their
students. And so for me, it's really been
(53:11):
about trying to, you know, find ways to be as supportive as I
possibly can, but as, but at thesame time making sure that that
vision that we have, that sharedvision that we have is being
met. And, and so there's points where
you got to hold individuals accountable, just like I did as,
as a head coach, you know, if it, if it was staff or players,
(53:34):
we're doing, doing the same thing as an, as an
administrator. So there's a lot of alignment.
Right, right. Wow.
So you have been the assistant principal.
Do you still follow UConn? Have you been to any games?
(53:55):
Have you been up there? What do you think of the the
current resurgence that we're having?
Yeah. So I'm very excited, very
excited of where the program hasthe potential of going.
I do believe that pivotal step they they have to take as they
did when they first move to kindof the bowl series.
(54:17):
And obviously that's changed in terms of the term.
But what ended up happening is that they got into a conference.
And so it's, I think it's critical for UConn football to
maintain its momentum by gettinginto a conference because if
again, if you can win your conference championship, that
leads to other things down the road.
(54:37):
And if you want to build consistency.
So I I think it's important thatthey do get in that.
But one thing that Yukon has that may be unique and compared
to its situation, it has tremendous amount of of support
and Yukon alum are there and they want the program to do
(55:01):
well. So I, I'm excited about that.
I, I think it's moving in the right direction.
I do believe that the portal hashelped tremendously because they
can get some guys in there who are going to be there for a
short period of time, but can have a significant impact on the
program. So my my thumbs are are up for
(55:27):
what's currently happening. My fingers are crossed in hopes
that it can continue. Yeah, Coach Moore has done a
great job. Mike Burton, obviously with the
NIL and the collective, they built that up and you know, they
are they did a great job in the transfer portal bringing in
really quality pieces. And you know, they're playing a
(55:50):
schedule that they can compete with, which I which I like where
before when they, you know, whenthey first became went back to
being an independent, you know, they're playing Michigan and
Clemson and the Tennessee and those are games they couldn't
compete in. So it's good to see now that
they're on the right path. But your journey, what is just
(56:11):
exceptional, coming all the way from Norwich and going to UConn
and then really the people that you surrounded yourself with and
like you said, not burning thosebridges, learning from everyone.
You know, you take something from everyone that you are
around and you were around some of the best names in the game.
(56:33):
That's so impressive. And then you yourself, you got
into coaching and I think like Idid it the same way.
And I don't think there's anything more rewarding because
you're making a difference in a kids life.
And that's what I always felt like, you know, especially at
the high school level, you're helping to navigate them, give
(56:55):
them guidance. You're helping them look at
colleges. You're, you're really, you know,
being their mentor. You're, you're someone they can
look up to. And especially with your, with
your pedigree, and I didn't knowthis.
Do you you? Do you have a family yourself
now? Yes, yes.
So I have a lovely, lovely wife.We have two children 17 and 13,
(57:21):
and my 17 year old right now does track and, you know,
pursuing hopefully she she wouldlike to pursue, you know,
competing at the collegiate level and.
So is she a senior? She is yes all.
Right. So you're you're waiting on
colleges for her too? Yeah, she's gone into a few now.
(57:43):
You know, she's just coming. Her indoor seasons is coming to
an end. She will be competing in the
National. So we're just waiting to see,
you know, where she wants to go and where she wants to compete.
What's What's her best event? She's a 400 runner and a long
jumper. Wow.
(58:03):
OK, that's amazing. Well, she got it.
She got she got good genes, she got good genes.
She definitely beat me now, that's for sure.
In both events. Well.
I, I have to say this was, this was a really impressive journey
to hear your story coming all the way from, from your hometown
(58:26):
and then going back and, and that's where you are now.
You have a family and you've been successful.
And that's what we're you know, I when I started the podcast, I
didn't know that we had so many successful alumni.
That was the biggest thing for me to know, Like I didn't know
that you can. We we we do have successful.
(58:48):
I'm not. Guys are doing great, and that's
awesome. Yeah, I, I tell you, you know, I
think it's a a point that can't be understated.
One of the things that I feel very blessed about, obviously we
talked about the pride that we have as, as Yukon alum, but for
(59:10):
me, I was the first generation going to college.
I mean, no one else in my familyhad gone to college before or
even thought about going to college.
Now again, it's a little bit different times.
You could obviously make a living without going to college
with with my mom's generation. So but for me being 54, you
(59:34):
know, college was where you feltyou had to go if you wanted to
have an opportunity life, right?And so when I went to UConn, one
of the things that really appealed to me was I was able to
see other people that look like me.
And if if they didn't look like me in terms of, you know, being,
(59:55):
you know, African American and black, they have a similar
experience. One of those, you know,
individuals for example, like you, you talked about Scott
Mitchell, you know, very similar, while we're not, you
know, of the same race socioeconomic.
Experience of just with the family very similar.
So I was able to develop or forge some, some really strong
(01:00:19):
relationships with a very diverse group of people that I
knew had my back and they and westill, even though we don't talk
every day, if we connect, it's just very personal and you know
that, you know, it's very, you know, close knit group of, of
individuals and it goes beyond football.
So it's it's other, you know, athletes who played other sports
(01:00:42):
that connect, you know, to that fraternity that UConn has
created through through its athletic program.
And So what really inspired me was some of those older guys
that I could look up to like a Chris McCall and later on, you
(01:01:06):
know, see like a Lynnwood Vereenwho or Damon Lewis who guys and
you miss and you who go on to not only get their bachelor's
degree but also their doctorate,right?
See. You're talking about individuals
who through the blessings of going to U Conn, we're able to
(01:01:30):
parlay that into something even greater.
And looking back because of, youknow, what we went through, I
feel, hey, it LED them to that, right?
So to persevere, to be accountable, right, to work
hard, to be dedicated individuals that what we learned
(01:01:50):
from being able to play, you know, college football.
Yeah, and the Doctor Sunday is one of my good friends.
He spent pretty much every Easter at my house that always
bring him home for Easter. Is that that became our
tradition. So yeah, you're 100% right.
(01:02:12):
And everyone has that I've talked to has said that, that
either when they went on their visit or when they got there,
they really felt just like a special closeness and a
brotherhood that that family atmosphere that we have.
And, and like you said, it's notjust football, it's just all
sports. Like we all supported each
other. We all went and watched each
(01:02:33):
other's other games. We all wanted each other to have
success. So it's great to see that that
that has happened for you and it's continuing.
It's continuing. I just have to thank our other
sponsors. We have Fresh Fold Laundromat
which is owned Fresh World Laundromat Company down in
(01:02:55):
Carrboro, NC. You will hear more from them
coming up next. And then we also have Marsha
Marsh Real estate. If you're looking for any real
estate in Erie, PA, Marsha Marshis the place for you.
And Mr. Jamal Davis, thank you so much for your time.
(01:03:20):
This was such a great experienceto to talk with you and have you
on and hear hear your story. And I am hoping your daughter
goes on and does well in collegeand you continue to make a
difference with the this generation of kids.
You got to get them off their cell phone.
Get him on the cell phone. And the PlayStation.
(01:03:42):
You're right and tell you said Mars.
Make sure you say lay layman. That said.
Yeah. Yeah, I will.
I will. Yeah, he was one of my recruits.
Oh, he was OK. Yeah, I do.
I do a podcast with Laban too. So I'll.
I'll be sure to tell him. I'll be sure to tell him.
So thank you so much again for Jamal Davis, NFANFA.
(01:04:05):
And now you know they can play football.
I'm Steve Cully, the best podcast host in the universe.
This has been Husky talk. Remember, when life gives you
lemons, don't make lemonade. Take two oranges and throw them
back at life. Maybe an actress but nothing
(01:04:49):
comes easy. It takes much practice like.
(01:05:17):
I'm gonna tell you how. Put your hands in the air and
take the bow. I know I can be what I love.
When the good news coming in on a day today.
Already know what's handing now.Gotta shake that.
What up CT is former UConn startrunning back Andre Dixon and now
(01:05:39):
they're like, what the hell has Andre been doing since he
stopped playing football and toting the Rock for UConn?
This is what I do now. I own dynamic human performance,
but we get back to adults, kids,athletes, I mean, anybody
looking to improve their overallhealth and Wellness.
All right, listen, man, we got athletic development classes,
small group class, individual classes.
(01:06:01):
We have pop up yoga class. I mean, we got everything going
on here. Make sure you check out our app
and check out our website so youcan get your athlete in here or
even you in here if you're a parent, so we can get you in tip
top shape. All right, let's lock in baby.
I still bring that same moxie that I used to bring at rest of
the field too. Let's get it.
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