Bill Davis (LBs Coach) - Can He Develop Young Talent?

Harry

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Let’s not forget KK didn’t win in college, so is he doomed to fail in the NFL. Comparing college results to the NFL often is confusing. I do know Davis was a good enough LB coach to be promoted to DC. As to developing Simmons it’s too early to tell. In game 1 Simmons overran the back he was supposed to be covering. That’s not something a rookie wouldn’t know. He just made a mistake. Right now Campbell has played far better than expected in coverage. I say wait at least until a few games into next season to decide how good he can be. I earlier posted a few people aware of camp performance felt he might change positions. Again time will tell. This guy is too good an athlete to write off this quickly.
 

iLLmatiC

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I know there is an entire thread dedicated to the recent struggles of Isaiah Simmons, but I really believe this topic deserves its own thread.

I hate to be the one to say that I expected the early struggles out of Isaiah Simmons - but unfortunately I truly did. The moment he was drafted, I got that sick feeling in my stomach. And honestly, it had nothing to do with Simmons as a talent - I think he is fantastic. It had everything to do with Bill Davis as a coach.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with Bill Davis, his most recent job before joining the Cardinals was as the LBs coach at Ohio State. When I say that Bill Davis is probably the most hated coach in recent Ohio State history - I could not be more serious. He took over one of the most talented LB rooms in the entire country and completely mangled them. The moment he took over the LB room at Ohio State, their production dropped off a cliff.

One of the biggest criticisms of Davis has been his inability to develop young physical freaks at the LB position. Sound familiar? One of the players that Bill Davis inherited was 5-star LB Baron Browning. Browning was rated as the #1 OLB, and the #11 overall prospect in America in 2017 (for context - that is 4 spots behind Chase Young and 3 spots behind Jeffrey Okudah, who developed into top 3 picks in the same Ohio State defense). Over the two years that Davis coached Browning, he just looked lost. He looked like he was overthinking everything, which negated his crazy athletic ability & versatility. Sound familiar?

The moment Bill Davis left the Ohio State program, a new Baron Browning emerged. He looked like an entirely new player, making an impact in all facets of the game. His production took a significant jump, as he became a difference maker on defense. Instead of always looking lost - he played loose and looked like the athlete that everyone expected.

So why do I bring all of this up?

I cannot get the image of Baron Browning out of my head after watching what happened to Isaiah Simmons against the 49ers. Simmons went from being one of the most terrifying & versatile defenders in all of college football to looking like a deer in headlights. One of the best athletes we have ever seen in college football looked like just another guy the moment he stepped onto an NFL field. That is not normal.

I know it is early in an unusual season, but everything I have seen thus far is exactly what I feared. Bill Davis has zero track record of directly developing young talents at LB. Is this really the guy we are going to rely on to develop one of the most gifted athletes to play defense in NFL history? We CANNOT afford to blow this opportunity and ruin another major asset.

I cannot recommend it enough to read the pieces below for more context:

https://www.cleveland.com/osu/2018/...ld-you-be-critical-of-me-doug-lesmerises.html

https://www.cleveland.com/osu/2019/...oned-in-columbus-to-a-blazing-young-bull.html

https://www.cleveland.com/osu/2017/11/ohio_states_linebacker_problem.html

https://theozone.net/2018/05/baron-browning-blame-bill-davis/

Yawn.
 

Garthshort

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What is your purpose of attacking another poster here? What are you trying to get out of it.

Discuss the topic at hand or take a break
Chris, I'll be happy to take a break. But I do ask you to read the fourth (I believe) post in this thread where my post was described as a dope response. Only asking for fairness.
 

Chris_Sanders

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Chris, I'll be happy to take a break. But I do ask you to read the fourth (I believe) post in this thread where my post was described as a dope response. Only asking for fairness.

Dope means "Nice". But you attacked his post originally and kept going at it.

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Dope
Saying something is cool. Most heard in big cities
 

tnmike

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I think you might be right - but doesn’t that make coaching that much more important given the extreme circumstances?

I’m sorry that I don’t want to leave Simmons’ development up to chance & luck. Our LB coach has little to no track record of getting the best out of top raw talents - and that makes me extremely uneasy.
Well I guess that you are right and Simmons is a bust.
I'll make a deal with you. If Simmons turns it on this year or next then we can all agree that you are a bust. See how that works?
 

Krangodnzr

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I mean I respect the mental gymnastics - but I can promise you that you are reaching. Good luck finding any Ohio State source to back up your logic.

Plus - it wasn’t just Baron Browning who had issues. The entire LB group struggled as a unit. Did they all just stop working hard? Isn’t that on the coach to get the most/best out of his players?

I'm not reaching.....I'm just not jumping to conclusions based on vague information. I've pointed out a alternative scenario that doesn't attack Bill Davis' reputation.

As far as the rest of the LB corps, maybe they struggle to run the old DC's system? I mean, position groups can struggle under one DC, and excel under the next DC.

I'm not defending Bill Davis, just pointing out that there may be other variables to account for.
 

BritCard

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Billy Davis is the worst coach we have.

He's never developed a rookie and he turned Hicks into an average LB last year.

Is he the source of Simmons issues? No. But he's not helping. Which is his job.
 

GuernseyCard

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Billy Davis is the worst coach we have.

He's never developed a rookie and he turned Hicks into an average LB last year.

Is he the source of Simmons issues? No. But he's not helping. Which is his job.


Your subjective assertion is about as valid as me saying that Assistant wide receivers coach – Spencer Whipple - is the best coach on the team and a future HC.
 

Krangodnzr

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Billy Davis is the worst coach we have.

He's never developed a rookie and he turned Hicks into an average LB last year.

Is he the source of Simmons issues? No. But he's not helping. Which is his job.

As I perused his career, he's never really had a high pick rookie to work with....so not having one means we don't really know if he can.
 

Krangodnzr

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Your subjective assertion is about as valid as me saying that Assistant wide receivers coach – Spencer Whipple - is the best coach on the team and a future HC.

I would guess from every thing I've ever READ about Bill Davis and based on his resume, that he is viewed as a good LB coach. He keeps getting hired, and I remember players raving about his knowledge at points in time.

Is he good at coaching young talent and relating to them? Who knows, but the veterans have spoken well about him.

That's why this exercise is dumb. We don't know if he is good or not.
 

BigRedRage

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This is even worse than on fleek.
I want to slap my kids half the time they talk because of the stupid things they say.

However. The #1 worst newer slang term? "Ratchet". Ratchet is being used as what would would probably say as ghetto, hood rat, garbage, etc.

The problem for me is, a ratchet is one of the most useful tools we can find. Changing it to something that is ghetto hood rat trash is blasphemy.

Sent from my motorola edge plus using Tapatalk
 

DVontel

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I want to slap my kids half the time they talk because of the stupid things they say.

However. The #1 worst newer slang term? "Ratchet". Ratchet is being used as what would would probably say as ghetto, hood rat, garbage, etc.

The problem for me is, a ratchet is one of the most useful tools we can find. Changing it to something that is ghetto hood rat trash is blasphemy.

Sent from my motorola edge plus using Tapatalk
Ratchet isn’t a new slang. it’s been a thing since the early ‘10s, lol.
 
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