Confident And Smiling, Davis Returns To Vandals
You’d have sworn it was 1988. There was Kermit Davis exchanging punch lines with long-time University of Idaho supporters George Green and John G. Smith.
Davis flashed that same radiant grin and spoke with confidence, flair and humor - just as he did when he was promoted from Tim Floyd’s assistant to Idaho’s head coach in 1988.
“It’s amazing how the wheel of events turns around,” Davis said during a press conference on Saturday afternoon announcing his return as Vandals coach.
“About 10 years ago, Tim was just taking this job and Larry (Eustachy) and I were coming in with him. Probably the best four years of my family’s life (1986-90) were here.”
But so much has changed - for Davis and for Idaho - in the last decade.
After two championship seasons at Idaho, Davis left for Texas A&M in 1990 and resigned under pressure after one season because of recruiting violations. He landed at a Florida junior college before serving the last two years as an assistant under Eustachy at Utah State.
Now, Davis is back at Idaho, where the revolving door to the coach’s office has been in full swing since Floyd revived the program in 1986. Floyd, now at Iowa State, spent two years in Moscow, Davis two, Eustachy three and Joe Cravens three.
Davis will probably sign a one-year contract, though a multi-year deal hasn’t been ruled out, UI athletic director Pete Liske said. Any contract will require the approval of the state Board of Education.
Davis’ base salary is expected to be $75,000, but his complete package is pegged at $95,000. He made a base salary of $52,000 at Utah State, though additional revenue boosted it into the low $70,000s. Cravens made $64,064 in his final season.
Several factors make Idaho’s job different than the one Davis previously held. Idaho is coming off two straight losing seasons. Before, Davis took the helm after Floyd’s teams went 16-14 and 19-11.
But the main change will be the scenery. Idaho enters the Big West Conference next season, a decided step up from the Big Sky.
“The timing of going into the new league is exciting, but it’s going to be tough,” Davis said. “I’m not saying some Big Sky teams can’t be competitive in that league, but it (the Big West) is just top to bottom pretty difficult. I know the two teams I had (at Idaho) would have done well in (the Big West), but those were special teams.”
Upon his hiring three years ago, Cravens was asked to concentrate his recruiting on high school athletes with an emphasis on regional players.
Asked if the guidelines will change, Liske said, “No, same thing. We always concentrate our efforts here, but there isn’t anything to keep anybody from going anywhere else for players.”
Davis’ past UI teams relied on JC players from the south.
Idaho loses seniors Harry Harrison, Shawn Dirden and James Jones. Returning mainstays figure to be Reggie Rose, Eddie Turner, Jason Jackman, Nate Gardner, Kris Baumann and Marvin Thomas.
Davis said he has five or six scholarships available and he’s arranging home visits this week.
He has no firm plans for assistants, though it’s believed he’s eyeing former UI player Sammie Freeman.
UI might experience growing pains for a few seasons as it adapts to the Big West, Davis said, but short cuts will not be an option.
“We’re just going to do it the right way, take our time and get quality guys in here,” Davis said. “If sometimes you have to regain your credibility - if that’s what it takes - that’s what I’ll do.”
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Photos (1 Color)
MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: THE KERMIT DAVIS FILE Age: 36 Previous job: Assistant coach, Utah State, since 1994. Education: Mississippi State, degrees in business administration and teaching. Playing career: Two seasons for Mississippi State, two seasons at Phillips Junior College in Arkansas. Coaching career: head coach Southwest Mississippi Junior College, 1984-86; assistant at Idaho, 1986-88; head coach Idaho, 1988-1990; head coach Texas A&M, 1990-91; head coach Chipola (Fla.) JC, 1991-94. Division I Record: 58-32 in three seasons.