[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Q and A with Linebackers Coach Billy Davis
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[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Kate Brandt
azcardinals.com[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]What interested you the most about making the move out to Arizona and joining Coach Whisenhunt’s staff?
“Ken and I coached at the Browns together and I know him well. I’ve been a friend of his for a long time so it was a great opportunity to work together. I know what a quality person he is and what a good coach he is. He is a strong decision maker and when you’re getting on someone’s staff you want to make sure they have the qualities of being able to make the tough decisions when the game is on the line and in free agency, knowing where to spend your money. I know those are his strengths. He is also a good family man. Looking at the opportunity, everything just kind of fit.”
Do you feel you have a little bit of an advantage being that you played the Cardinals twice a year when you were in San Francisco so you’ve seen the personnel you’ll be working with?
“Playing against Arizona the last two seasons I know how the roster looks. I know there are a lot of playmakers and difference makers on this roster. They’ve done a great job drafting and in free agency. So it’s an advantage to not only follow Ken Whisenhunt but you having a team that has pretty good talent on their roster. That all helps but I also know the opposing offenses in the division. That is what I’ve been studying the last two years so I think that will be a great help to Clancy and Ken as far as playing in a division that I am real familiar with.”
How much time have you been able to devote to looking at the players you will be coaching on film?
“The past two weeks I’ve been studying all of the film and before I really touch base with these guys on a personal level and contact them I like to watch the film on them and get to know their playing personality because what they are on film is who they are and what they are. When you start to get to know guys then you start to get to know their personalities and sometimes you get skewed a little bit on what type of football player they are. You can tell how much football means to these guys by watching how they play and watching them on special teams, so I’ve been diving into all of the film and studying the guys we’ll be coaching. When the Combine is over and the offseason program starts I’ll start touching base with them and meeting them in person.”
How would describe yourself as a coach and how you approach the game?
“I like to think I’m a teacher first, but I’ve also been in the NFL long enough to know I care enough about these guys careers. I like to make sure they are pushing themselves beyond what human nature is telling them. Everyone thinks they’re doing enough and they almost never are. I know how short their careers are and sometimes I don’t think they always understand how short their careers are. You don’t have time to wait to develop and wait to be a great player in two or three years. It has to be now, so the work has to be high intensity, high paced, with nothing left on the practice field. That is the mentality I try to have when I’m out there with the guys. The meeting rooms to me aren’t long enough. They’re never long enough because there is too much to cover and there is too much about the game that these guys think they know but they don’t. They don’t even know what they don’t know. You have fun through winning, succeeding and getting better and the rest of it is a grind and hard work. It is just like everyone else out there that gets a pay check for a living. You have to grind through some of the hard stuff.”
How excited are you to work with Clancy Pendergast and how much of an advantage do you feel it will be for the defense to not have to learn a totally new system?
“That is another great thing. When you take over a team like Ken is doing, most of the time, like the offense is doing, they have to learn all new terminology. They have to learn their coach’s personality and their coach’s techniques. We have an advantage here defensively that Clancy has been here teaching this scheme for three years. The players know it, and they can adjust while the coaches get up to speed. Defensively you are constantly tweaking things to what the players do best in order to put them in the best positions to succeed, but we’re ahead of a lot of new staffs and I think that will be a big plus for us heading into the season.”
This staff has a lot of common denominators and several of you have worked or played together in your pasts. How big of a role do you feel that will play in the transition period of incorporating the new staff and schemes?
“I think in any team you build you need to have trust among players and coaches. I think that is one of the biggest things. If you are together for a while you build it and it really helps the team unify if you’ve coached with other guys, like a lot of us have. There is that trust already there and it will continue to grow as we grow with the Arizona Cardinals. There is a foundation already there and I think that just helps accelerate everything, so we’re just going to hit the ground running.”
There seems to be a great deal of excitement amongst the coaching staff and around the entire organization. How do you feel about the Cardinals organization in comparison to the other places you have coaches?
“I can definitely feel the excitement you are talking about. It is all through the building and I think it was probably here early last year. From being with the 49ers looking on they had a great start and it looked like they were turning the corner, so I think that is part of the excitement we are bringing in the building. We all watch and know what other teams are doing in the league and everyone thought Arizona had turned the corner early in the season, but things kind of fell apart. We’re coming in here to turn that corner and turn it early next year.”
How are you settling into your new life and surroundings in Arizona?
“We hit the ground running. I had to move my family out here with my wife 34 weeks pregnant with twins, so we got here quick. The twins were delivered at Banner Dessert and they did a great job delivering the twins. The same weekend they were born I had the moving truck here to move everything into our new house, so everything hit us at once. Now things are slowing down a little bit and we love where we are at in Chandler. I really haven’t spent much time here in Arizona other than to play, so I know the stadium is beautiful, but I was expecting to be more in the desert but it is really built up and beautiful. We’re excited about being here and we love the people. It is almost a Midwest atmosphere in Arizona.”
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[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]http://azcardinals.com/news/detail.php?PRKey=1559
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[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Kate Brandt
azcardinals.com[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]What interested you the most about making the move out to Arizona and joining Coach Whisenhunt’s staff?
“Ken and I coached at the Browns together and I know him well. I’ve been a friend of his for a long time so it was a great opportunity to work together. I know what a quality person he is and what a good coach he is. He is a strong decision maker and when you’re getting on someone’s staff you want to make sure they have the qualities of being able to make the tough decisions when the game is on the line and in free agency, knowing where to spend your money. I know those are his strengths. He is also a good family man. Looking at the opportunity, everything just kind of fit.”
Do you feel you have a little bit of an advantage being that you played the Cardinals twice a year when you were in San Francisco so you’ve seen the personnel you’ll be working with?
“Playing against Arizona the last two seasons I know how the roster looks. I know there are a lot of playmakers and difference makers on this roster. They’ve done a great job drafting and in free agency. So it’s an advantage to not only follow Ken Whisenhunt but you having a team that has pretty good talent on their roster. That all helps but I also know the opposing offenses in the division. That is what I’ve been studying the last two years so I think that will be a great help to Clancy and Ken as far as playing in a division that I am real familiar with.”
How much time have you been able to devote to looking at the players you will be coaching on film?
“The past two weeks I’ve been studying all of the film and before I really touch base with these guys on a personal level and contact them I like to watch the film on them and get to know their playing personality because what they are on film is who they are and what they are. When you start to get to know guys then you start to get to know their personalities and sometimes you get skewed a little bit on what type of football player they are. You can tell how much football means to these guys by watching how they play and watching them on special teams, so I’ve been diving into all of the film and studying the guys we’ll be coaching. When the Combine is over and the offseason program starts I’ll start touching base with them and meeting them in person.”
How would describe yourself as a coach and how you approach the game?
“I like to think I’m a teacher first, but I’ve also been in the NFL long enough to know I care enough about these guys careers. I like to make sure they are pushing themselves beyond what human nature is telling them. Everyone thinks they’re doing enough and they almost never are. I know how short their careers are and sometimes I don’t think they always understand how short their careers are. You don’t have time to wait to develop and wait to be a great player in two or three years. It has to be now, so the work has to be high intensity, high paced, with nothing left on the practice field. That is the mentality I try to have when I’m out there with the guys. The meeting rooms to me aren’t long enough. They’re never long enough because there is too much to cover and there is too much about the game that these guys think they know but they don’t. They don’t even know what they don’t know. You have fun through winning, succeeding and getting better and the rest of it is a grind and hard work. It is just like everyone else out there that gets a pay check for a living. You have to grind through some of the hard stuff.”
How excited are you to work with Clancy Pendergast and how much of an advantage do you feel it will be for the defense to not have to learn a totally new system?
“That is another great thing. When you take over a team like Ken is doing, most of the time, like the offense is doing, they have to learn all new terminology. They have to learn their coach’s personality and their coach’s techniques. We have an advantage here defensively that Clancy has been here teaching this scheme for three years. The players know it, and they can adjust while the coaches get up to speed. Defensively you are constantly tweaking things to what the players do best in order to put them in the best positions to succeed, but we’re ahead of a lot of new staffs and I think that will be a big plus for us heading into the season.”
This staff has a lot of common denominators and several of you have worked or played together in your pasts. How big of a role do you feel that will play in the transition period of incorporating the new staff and schemes?
“I think in any team you build you need to have trust among players and coaches. I think that is one of the biggest things. If you are together for a while you build it and it really helps the team unify if you’ve coached with other guys, like a lot of us have. There is that trust already there and it will continue to grow as we grow with the Arizona Cardinals. There is a foundation already there and I think that just helps accelerate everything, so we’re just going to hit the ground running.”
There seems to be a great deal of excitement amongst the coaching staff and around the entire organization. How do you feel about the Cardinals organization in comparison to the other places you have coaches?
“I can definitely feel the excitement you are talking about. It is all through the building and I think it was probably here early last year. From being with the 49ers looking on they had a great start and it looked like they were turning the corner, so I think that is part of the excitement we are bringing in the building. We all watch and know what other teams are doing in the league and everyone thought Arizona had turned the corner early in the season, but things kind of fell apart. We’re coming in here to turn that corner and turn it early next year.”
How are you settling into your new life and surroundings in Arizona?
“We hit the ground running. I had to move my family out here with my wife 34 weeks pregnant with twins, so we got here quick. The twins were delivered at Banner Dessert and they did a great job delivering the twins. The same weekend they were born I had the moving truck here to move everything into our new house, so everything hit us at once. Now things are slowing down a little bit and we love where we are at in Chandler. I really haven’t spent much time here in Arizona other than to play, so I know the stadium is beautiful, but I was expecting to be more in the desert but it is really built up and beautiful. We’re excited about being here and we love the people. It is almost a Midwest atmosphere in Arizona.”
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[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]http://azcardinals.com/news/detail.php?PRKey=1559
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