The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Davis, Reese speak at Florida State's High School Coaches Clinic
04.08.2002 | Football
AUSTIN, Texas - Even though the Texas Longhorns wrapped up 2002 spring season more than a week ago, UT offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Greg Davis and defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Carl Reese were busy at another school's spring drills last weekend. The pair was invited to Florida State's spring game weekend by the Seminoles coaching staff and were keynote speakers at the program's High School Coaches Clinic.
After the two coaches took in Florida State practice on Friday afternoon, Davis spoke to the high school coaches in attendance later that evening about training quarterbacks from a physical and mental standpoint and the fundamentals of the ball-control passing game. Reese spent his night giving a coaches clinic for the Seminoles' defensive coaching staff.
On Saturday morning, Davis spoke about the importance of being a coach at both the high school and collegiate levels at the annual Fellowship of Christian Athletes breakfast. Meanwhile, Reese wrapped up his clinic with the Florida State coaches beginning at 10 a.m. and spoke to the high school coaches 90 minutes later.
Both coaches said the weekend was very beneficial in that they learned a lot from another program and interacted with coaches from another part of the country.
"This weekend was a good experience for us," Davis said. "It's always good to watch other teams work, see how their practices are organized, how their players stack up and how they handle their coaches clinic."
"This is always something that is good for us to do," Reese said. "It's always interesting to watch a team that plays at a National Championship level practice. It gives you a chance to see how they do things and run their coaches clinic."
The weekend was particularly beneficial for Reese. He came away from the clinic with a new drill - the buddy tackle drill - for his top-ranked defense and said he will implement it once the team begins two-a-days this fall. Reese saw the drill at Friday's practice.
The 20-minute, half-line drill consists of a quarterback, wide receiver and tight end working against a linebacker and cornerback. The QB throws quick passes to the receivers and the CB aggressively attacks the ball-carrier with the LB providing support. Reese said the drill focuses on fundamental tackling while encouraging aggressiveness to the football.
Davis and Reese both have been recognized nationally for their efforts since joining the Longhorns coaching staff in 1998. Davis, who has directed UT's record-setting offense for the last four seasons, was a Frank Broyles Award finalist (nation's top assistant coach) in 1999. Reese, who has transformed the Longhorns into one of the top units nationally, was a finalist for that award last season after leading UT to the nation's No. 1 ranking in total defense (236.2 ypg).
