Colleges

Confidence triggers FSU's Davis

Senior linebacker talks a good game, but he backs it up with his performance on the field.

By BRIAN LANDMAN
Published July 24, 2006

PONTE VEDRA BEACH - Florida State middle linebacker Buster Davis found himself in a tough spot to make the play.

"My husband's outside mowing the grass and I don't want to bring him in until he finishes," the woman said to Davis after he told her that he was calling on behalf of Seminole Boosters, Inc., "so could you call back another time?"

Most people trying to entice past contributors to renew their memberships to the organization, as he was this particular summer day in 2002, might have politely ended the conversation right there. Next name, next number.

That's not Davis.

"I have a certain swagger about myself," he said. "I'm confident that I can get the job done no matter what the circumstances are. That's just who I am."

So, before the phone line went dead, Davis launched into an ad-lib that underscored his competitiveness, his ability to think on his feet, his supreme confidence and his skill at delivering a hit.

"Go outside and tell him BUSTER DAVIS is on the phone," he said. "I guarantee you he will get off the lawn mower and come talk to me."

"Um, all right. Hold on a minute," she stammered.

Not only did Davis end up with the renewal, he convinced the fan to increase his contribution level for the year.

"I got him big," Davis said with a broad smile.

"He was a freshman at the time and nobody really knew who he was," said Joy Beech, the director of the annual fund for the booster organization. "That's what made it pretty tremendous. He had all the confidence in the world as a freshman to challenge this woman to go get her husband, and she got him and he got the pledge."

Make no mistake. Davis loves to talk. Loves it.

And he's entertaining.

During the ACC's football kickoff media session Sunday afternoon, he and teammate Lorenzo Booker interrupted the questioning for a lively debate about which state, Florida (Davis' home) or California (Booker's), produced the top players. The reporters who were encircling the table couldn't contain their laughter, as was the case when Davis playfully asked why there were so many tape recorders around Booker and only a couple by him. (That soon changed.)

"He's more vocal than I am," Booker said with a smile. "It's fun."

"He (Booker) leads by example; me, I'm a talker," Davis said, asking if a reporter "enjoyed himself."

But Buster isn't just bluster.

He has talent and experience. He's the lone returning starter at linebacker, a position of strength in 2005 that lost Ernie Sims (ninth overall in the NFL draft) and A.J. Nicholson as well as key backups Marcello Church and Sam McGrew. Davis, 22, and end Darrell Burston are also the lone seniors projected to start on defense.

"You've got to have somebody who's been there and done that," linebackers coach Kevin Steele said. "What he'll do is he can set the tempo for everybody else."

"He's really the teacher on the field," added junior linebacker Lawrence Timmons, who earned the defensive MVP award during spring practice. "I try to learn as much from him as possible."

Davis insists the younger players around him like Timmons and sophomores Geno Hayes and Derek Nicholson could have seen more time on other teams last year and would have impressed. Not that he's trying to lower the expectations for him to be a leader or a star.

That's not Davis.

"Ever since I've been here, I've led," he said. "It might not have been the right way when I first got here, but since I got myself on the right track, I've always tried to lead in a positive way."

Davis, a highly-touted prospect out of Daytona Beach Mainland, struggled as a freshman in 2002 under then-linebackers coach Joe Kines. Davis nearly left the team after the season opener. He decided not to transfer, sat out as a redshirt and gradually learned how to play within FSU's system.

"Probably with the (2004) Orange Bowl, it clicked for me," he said. "I saw guys like Kendyll Pope and Michael Boulware out there making plays and I thought, 'Hey, I can do the same thing. I got recruited here to do the same thing they're doing.' After that, I've been working as hard as I can to become a player like they were. And better."

The 5-11, 237-pound Davis, a ferocious hitter, had 91 tackles (second on the team) last season. That included 10 tackles in that Orange Bowl against Penn State, a game in which he gave the Nittany Lions fits despite playing predominately on the weak side and not in the middle - a testament to his ability, versatility and personality to believe he can do whatever's necessary, whenever it's necessary.

He confidently is shooting for the kind of season that will mean consensus All-America honors, something a linebacker hasn't done at FSU since Sam Cowart in 1997, and a nice pay day from the NFL.

"This is a pretty key time for him because he's right there on the edge of greatness," Steele said. "If he hits all the buttons between now and Labor Day night (at Miami) and continues to hold that button down through the season, with the competitiveness he has and his never letting up, being completely relentless, he's got the potential to be very, very, very special."

[Last modified July 24, 2006, 05:28:13]