New Detroit Lions and former Alabama defensive line coach Bo Davis works with his linemen during NCAA college spring football practice, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. in 2014. (Photo: Vasha Hunt, Associated Press)
First-year Detroit Lions defensive line coach Bo Davis is familiar with a couple of his new players.
Davis, who held the same position at Alabama from 2007-2010 and 2014-15, coached defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson and rookie defensive lineman Da’Shawn Hand during his second stint with the Crimson Tide.
The path Davis took to reunite with both players, though, may have been bumpier than expected.
Two years ago, Davis was forced out from his job at Alabama as the NCAA investigated whether Davis had knowingly committed a recruiting violation. The NCAA believed Davis also misled investigators when questioned about the violation.
Davis briefly found himself out of football. According to al.com, Davis worked as a truck driver during the 2016-17 season. He was later given a two-year show cause penalty by the NCAA, and spent last season coaching the defensive line at UTSA — far from the spotlight that his time with one of college football’s top teams entailed.
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That’s all behind him now. Davis didn’t say much when asked about the past two years and everything that happened at Alabama. He’s back in the NFL. The experience isn’t entirely new to him, either — Davis was an assistant defensive line coach and assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Miami Dolphins in 2006. In the summer of 2016, he interned with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“I was doing the training camps there,” Davis said Tuesday afternoon. “Spent the whole entire preseason training camp there with them at Jacksonville. Working with the (defensive) line there. Having a good time with those guys and just enjoying it.”
Lions defensive lineman A'Shawn Robinson on the sidelines during the second quarter of the Lions' 16-6 exhibition win over the Jets on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2017, at Ford Field. (Photo: Kirthmon F. Dozier DFP)
Davis will have a couple familiar faces in the defensive line room as he transitions back to working in the NFL. He coached Robinson during his final two years of college, and Hand through his first two.
Davis may have even had a hand in his former pupil coming to Detroit. He told reporters that he gave the front office input when asked about Hand, who wound up being the Lions’ fourth-round selection. Anything the Lions wanted to know about Hand, Davis would tell them.
“When (Hand) was coming along, thought he was a good player,” Davis said. “Had a great future ahead of him.”
Alabama defensive lineman Da'Shawn Hand speaks to the media during the NFL combine. He was the sixth player from Alabama to be drafted in the 2018 NFL draft. (Photo: Trevor Ruszkowski, USA TODAY Sports)
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Working with both Hand and Robinson during organized team activities has “been great,” Davis says. He thinks both are good players. Now he wants them to become great players.
“I go with what I get and coach them up and help them become better players and get them to enjoy the game, which they already do,” Davis said. “(I’m) just working with them and working on technique and helping them to develop as players.”
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