Coach Sacks Davis For Season Chad’s Been Bad, Price Says

Mike Price addressed his turbulent quarterback situation publicly for the first time Tuesday afternoon and made it clear that the demotion of starting quarterback Chad Davis is more than a simple benching.

The Washington State coach said Davis will not play again this season.

And he gave no indication that the disgruntled and much-traveled junior transfer from Oklahoma would get his job back next season.

“As a result of a disturbing pattern of behavior to Washington State’s football team and its team rules, I’ve chosen to bench Chad Davis for the next two games,” Price explained. “Chad has displayed a negative and non-supportive attitude to his teammates and coaches and that kind of behavior will not be tolerated.”

Price added that the disciplinary action resulted from “an accumulation of Chad’s actions,” and was not based solely on the way he responded after being benched for the second quarter of last Saturday’s 27-11 loss to Cal.

In that game, Davis retreated to the far end of the bench after being replaced by redshirt freshman Ryan Leaf and did not help signal in plays from the sideline.

Davis also admitted to making divisive comments to his teammates on the sideline, but claimed that anyone would have reacted the same way after being pulled from the game without prior notice.

Price refused to detail what other kinds of negative actions on the part of Davis led to his fall from team leader to the basement of Price’s doghouse.

“I don’t want to publicly air our dirty laundry in the press, so any of the specific situations will just remain with the team,” Price said.

Price also backed away from naming a starting quarterback for his last two games, saying only that Leaf and Shawn Deeds, a little-used fifth-year senior, would play extensively.

“We have to do some fast coaching up of Ryan,” Price explained. “And we’ve got to get the dust off and (find) a little WD-40 for Shawn Deeds.”

Price said Davis remains on the team and might still suit up for WSU’s final two games, including next Saturday’s season finale at Washington.

But he said he will not play again this season, even if Leaf and Deeds are injured.

When asked if he expect Davis to transfer, Price said, “I don’t have any idea. I’m really trying to just focus on this next game, the Stanford game. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

Davis, WSU’s starter for the past 21 games, has not publicly detailed his plans. But his father, Bob Davis, a high school coach in Norman, Okla., indicated he would not be surprised if his son transferred again.

Davis used up his redshirt season as a true freshman at Oklahoma and sat out the following year at WSU under the NCAA’s transfer rule. He has only one year of eligibility remaining and would have to transfer to a non-Division I school in order to play for any one but Price next fall.

“I don’t know what he’s going to do,” said Bob Davis, who changed jobs three times to help coach his son at three high schools in the San Diego area, “but I know what I’d do. And I know the game is important enough to Chad that he doesn’t care where he’s playing.”

Davis’ dad added that he had heard some of his son’s teammates might transfer, presumably in protest of the quarterback change.

But one of Davis’ staunchest backers, offensive tackle Scott Sanderson, said he was unaware of any such plans.

“Rumors are rumors,” the 6-foot-7, 285-pound junior said. “Until somebody comes out and says they’re actually leaving the university, I wouldn’t buy into any of that. And as of right now, I haven’t heard of anybody leaving.”

Sanderson and senior John Scukanek, the other starting offensive tackle, said they expect the team to play hard for whichever quarterback starts against Stanford.

“I love Chad and a lot of guys feel that way,” Scukanek said. “It’s unfortunate this had to happen to him and I feel bad for him, but we have to block for whoever is back there. We can’t let if affect the way we play.”

Sanderson said he is dealing with Davis’ demotion as best he can.

“It doesn’t matter if we accept it or not, or if we like it or not, or if we agree or disagree,” he said. “That’s not a factor. The fact is, Coach Price laid down the law and made a decision, and regardless of how we feel one way or another, we’ve got to deal with it.”

When asked about their choice to replace Davis, both sided with Deeds, a 6-5, 245-pounder who did not see any playing time last year after starting one game and playing in eight others as a sophomore.

“Right now, I’d have to tip my hat toward Shawn,” Sanderson said. “He’s the one that has the most game experience.”

“I’d like to see Deeds,” Scukanek added. “He came in in my class - a fifth-year senior - and I think it would be nice for him to get a shot, especially since it’s his last home game.

“But either one of those guys has the tools; otherwise they wouldn’t be here.”

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