William R. Davis (December 4, 1941 – March 17, 2002) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach. He served as the head football coach at

South Carolina State University South Carolina State University (SCSU or SC State) is a public, historically black, land-grant university in Orangeburg, South Carolina, United States. It is the only public, historically black land-grant institution in South Carolina, is a mem ...

Savannah State University ) , established = , closed = , type = Public historically black university , parent = University System of Georgia , academic_affiliation = Space-grant , endowment ...

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tenness ...

, and

Johnson C. Smith University Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU) is a private historically black university in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). The univer ...

. Davis won four conference championships and made two appearances in the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs at South Carolina State. Under Davis, Savannah State posted its only appearance in the NCAA Division II playoffs.

Early life

Davis was the son of Lee Davis, Sr. truck driver, and Gertrude Stevens-Davis, a domestic housekeeper, and the youngest of three children. He graduated from Sims High School in 1961, where he was an exceptional athlete, lettering in all sports. He earned a four-year scholarship that same year to attend

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, and was coached under the leadership of

Eddie McGirt Eddie C. McGirt (January 31, 1920 – December 21, 1999) was an American football and basketball coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina from 1958 ...

; it was at Johnson C. Smith that Davis was an all CIAA standout in football. Upon graduation from college, Davis returned to his hometown to coach at Sims High School for a year. In 1966, Davis was hired by Sandy Gilliam to coach at Maryland State College—now known as the

University of Maryland Eastern Shore University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) is a public historically black land-grant research university in Princess Anne, Maryland. It is part of the University System of Maryland. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High r ...

—where he served until 1969 to return to his alma mater Johnson C. Smith University where he worked with his college coach and mentor Eddie McGirt for four seasons. In 1973, Davis went to work alongside his childhood friend

Willie Jeffries Willie E. Jeffries (born January 4, 1937) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at South Carolina State University for 19 seasons in two stints, five seasons at Wichita State University, and five sea ...

at South Carolina State College—now known as

—where he worked with Jefferies for six seasons until Jefferies took the post at

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

in 1979. It was Davis that succeeded Jefferies to coach the Bulldogs until 1986. On August 20, 1966 he married Amy Ozzietta Thompson ( August 30, 1941 – October 22, 2010) at Charlotte, N.C. , to that union two children were born, William Robert, Jr., and Tomeka Mamette.

Coaching career

South Carolina State

Davis served as an assistant coach for

for six seasons (1973–1978) before succeeding Jeffries as the Bulldogs head coach in 1979. Davis was the head football coach at South Carolina State University from 1979 until 1985 and compiled a 53–25–1 record as head coach. The team's 10–1 record in 1980 resulted in a

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the National C ...

(MEAC) championship. In 1981 the team completed the season with a 10–3 record and was named the

black college football national champions Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have ...

and the MEAC champion. The 1982 team record was 9–3 and resulted in a third consecutive MEAC title. The 1983 team's record was 7–3 and won another MEAC title.

Savannah State

Davis served as the head football coach at Savannah State College from 1986 to 1992 and Savannah State University from 2000 until his death in 2002 . Under Davis, the Tigers compiled a 52–40 record and posted their only appearance in the NCAA Division II playoffs in 1992.

Tennessee State

Davis was the 17th head coach at

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, serving for three seasons, from 1993 to 1995. His record at Tennessee State was 11–22.

Johnson C. Smith

Davis became head coach at Johnson C. Smith in 1997, serving for two seasons. His record was 8–12.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Bill 1941 births 2002 deaths Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls football coaches Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls football players Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks football coaches Savannah State Tigers and Lady Tigers athletic directors Savannah State Tigers football coaches South Carolina State Bulldogs football coaches Tennessee State Tigers football coaches High school football coaches in South Carolina People from Union, South Carolina Players of American football from South Carolina African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football African-American college athletic directors in the United States 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people