Greg Davis Named Iowa's Offensive Coordinator

Feb. 27, 2012

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Greg Davis, who has 33 years of experience as a college football coach, has been named offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Iowa. The announcement was made Monday by head coach Kirk Ferentz.

“We are thrilled to have Greg Davis join our staff” said Ferentz. “Greg has enjoyed great success during his career and I believe that can be attributed directly to the combination of his football expertise and teaching skills.

“Greg’s units have demonstrated impressive production and they have done so using a variety of systems and styles – he has done an outstanding job of playing towards the strengths and abilities of the players with which he has worked.

“While Greg’s body of work on the field has been stellar, I have been even more impressed with the many positive things I have learned about Greg as a person and staff member. I am very confident he will be a tremendous asset to our program, campus and community.”

Davis most recently served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Texas for 13 seasons (1998-10). He was named Frank Broyles Assistant Coach of the Year in 2005 after Texas won the BCS national championship. Texas has had just five quarterbacks start a game in the NFL, and Davis has tutored three of them (Colt McCoy, Vince Young, Chris Simms).

Texas, in 2005, set a then-NCAA record with 652 total points in 2005, an average of 50.2 per game. Under Davis’ guidance, Texas averaged 39.0 points per game in the last decade (2000-2009), which ranked second nationally and first among B.C.S. conference schools.

Under the direction of Davis, five Longhorn players were named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. Two placed second in Heisman Trophy voting and another was a Heisman finalist. He tutored 13 Texas players who earned Player of the Year awards at their position, and three who were named conference Player of the Year.

Prior to joining the staff at Texas, Davis held a similar position at North Carolina for two years (1996-97). He was the passing game coordinator at Georgia for two seasons (1994-95), and offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Arkansas for two seasons (1992-93).

While at Georgia, Davis helped lead the Bulldogs to the 1995 Peach Bowl despite injuries to the team’s top two quarterbacks. He did so by preparing converted slot back Hines Ward for the starting quarterback job. Ward set a school bowl game record by completing 31-of-59 passes for 413 yards in the Peach Bowl. Davis also coached first-team All-American Eric Zeier, a third-round pick of the Cleveland Browns (1995 NFL Draft). Zeier set UGA marks for passing (3,721) and total yards (5,135) in `94.

Davis was head coach at Tulane University for four seasons (1988-91). He was a Green Wave assistant head coach and wide receivers coach for three seasons (1985-87). Davis gained his first college coaching experience as quarterback coach at Texas A&M for seven seasons (1978-84).

While at Texas, Davis helped the Longhorns earn 12 bowl invitations, including two appearances in the BCS title game. The Longhorns defeated Iowa in the 2006 Alamo Bowl, 26-24, just one season after winning the national title. He coached in two bowl games while at North Carolina and Texas A&M, and one bowl game while at Georgia and Tulane. Davis played in the Grantland Rice Bowl while competing for McNeese State.

Davis began his coaching career with five years in the high school ranks. He served as an assistant coach at Port Neches-Groves, Texas High School for three seasons (1975-77) after beginning his coaching career as an assistant at Barbe High School in Lake Charles, La. while completing a master’s degree.

The native of Groves, Texas, earned his bachelor’s degree (sports administration, 1973) and master’s degree (1977) from McNeese State.

Iowa begins spring football practice Saturday, March 24. The Hawkeyes will hold their final public scrimmage on Saturday, April 14.

AMERICA NEEDS FARMERS
The University of Iowa Athletics Department is working with the Iowa Farm Bureau on efforts to help consumers understand the challenges and opportunities today’s farmers embrace, and to do so under the banner, “America Needs Farmers,” the initiative undertaken by former UI football coach Hayden Fry during the Farm Crisis of the 1980s and embraced by the Hawkeyes’ current head coach Kirk Ferentz. To learn more, visit AmericaNeedsFarmers.org.