Austin Davis

Classroom

Davis graduated with his degree in Business Administration a year ahead of schedule and is currently pursuing his Master’s in Sport Coaching. In 2010, Davis was named the Conference USA Scholar Football Athlete of the Year while also appearing on the C-USA All-Academic team for the second time in his career. In 2009, Davis earned C-USA Honor Roll and Commissioner’s List honors, and in 2008 he made his first appearance on the C-USA All-Academic Team. During his redshirt year in 2007, Davis earned a C-USA Academic Medal for his success in the classroom.

Character

Davis came to Southern Miss as a walk-on and was the seventh-string quarterback on the depth chart during his freshman season. Davis’ work on and off the field left him in a position to compete for the starting job as a redshirt freshman in 2008 under new coach Larry Fedora. In the locker room, he earned the respect of his coaches and teammates to be named the starter as a freshman as well as a team captain in his first season. He is also routinely called on to be a game captain and in 2010 he was a finalist for the inaugural Brandon Burlsworth Trophy, given to achieving collegiate football players who walked onto their football team. Davis is also a member of Southern Miss’ Leadership Council, which meets with Associate Athletic Development for Advancement General Jeff Hammond.

Community

Davis is a visible and upstanding member of the Hattiesburg community and surrounding towns in the Pine Belt. As a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Davis is passionate about sharing his faith and passion to local youth groups, and as a member of Temple Baptist Church he has participated in Missions Hattiesburg, a local outreach that helps better impoverished communities in the downtown Hattiesburg area. Davis and other teammates visit the DuBard School for Language Disorders to participate in book readings and other activities with children that have language-speech disorders, including developmental aphasia, childhood apraxia of speech, deafness and hearing impairments, as well as those with the written language disorder dyslexia. He has also visited Petal Elementary and St. Jude’s Children Hospital for speaking engagements and appearances. Recently, Davis was selected to serve as a counselor at the Manning Passing Academy, where he was able to help foster the growth of football to aspiring youth quarterbacks.

Competition

Davis enters his senior season with a chance to put his name atop every major record for a quarterback at Southern Miss, which would mean surpassing NFL legend Brett Favre. Davis missed half of 2009 with a foot injury but returned to form in 2010, setting a career school record for touchdown passes (53), passing Favre’s mark of 51, and putting himself within 300 yards of breaking Favre’s mark for career yardage (7,396). Davis, a dual-threat quarterback, has also rushed for 21 touchdowns in his career and needs just six to set a new school record for a quarterback. Davis has posted an 18-13 record as a starter and has extended Southern Miss’ streak of consecutive winning seasons to 17, another school record, while also leading the team to their ninth straight bowl game. As a freshman, Davis set several single-game records as well as single-season marks, including total offensive yards (3,636) and total touchdowns (32).