University of Georgia Athletics
Davis Working To Be The Best
July 21, 2021 | Football, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
HOOVER, Ala. — Jordan Davis is charming, talented and determined. The mountainous Georgia nose tackle — he's listed at 6-foot-6, 340 pounds — is heading into his final season with the Bulldogs motivated to do everything he can to make this the best season possible.
"I'm drinking smoothies, I'm drinking juices with vegetables — I don't even like vegetables," Davis said Tuesday morning at SEC Media Days, at the Wynfrey Hotel. "I'm just telling myself I've got to get it, I've got to do it. Do whatever it takes to win. ... The little things are the big things."
Dressed in a dark suit paired with some red sneakers, Davis may have been the biggest man in the building Tuesday. He also looked healthy and happy. He credited his work with Collier Madaleno, Director of Football Performance Nutrition at UGA, with making a big difference. Madaleno's father, Lou Perno, was a student athletic trainer on Georgia's 1980 national championship team.
"I definitely think it's a really big impact this offseason because I feel myself (having) more energy, being able to sustain more," Davis said of his new approach to nutrition. "When you can sustain more, then you can play more. So hopefully, that will translate down the road in the season."
Being one of the players selected to attend SEC Media Days is a sign of stature within your team and a sign of respect from your coach. Only two players from each team are allowed to participate each year, and coach Kirby Smart this year selected Davis, the senior and second-team All-American last season, as well as redshirt junior quarterback JT Daniels.
Daniels is thoughtful, curious and communicates well, but Davis, about whom the same adjectives could be used, was made for his moment on the stage with an audience of reporters all around him. Davis is big in body and big in spirit, with a huge, warm smile.
"You won't find a better interview than Jordan Davis," Smart said. He's right. Here are two Quick Chats that Davis has done during his Bulldog career: 2019 and 2020.
When Smart was speaking earlier in the day, he referenced getting a text from the hip-hop artist Quavo, a big-time Georgia fan. Davis said it was cool that Quavo and Smart have a connection — Quavo was offering advice on how players should approach the new name, image and likeness opportunities — "but I don't think Kirby could name a song that Quavo has been on."
Coming out of Charlotte, N.C.'s Mallard Creek High School, Davis was rated a three- and four-star prospect, and he wasn't rated as one of the top defensive tackle prospects nationally. Georgia saw much more in him than that. He had 25 tackles as a freshman, 18 as a sophomore, and 16 last season despite only playing in seven games due to injury.
When you come in with something to prove, you come in with a full head of steam. And that's stayed with Davis throughout his Bulldog career.
Nose tackle isn't a position that typically generates a lot of standard statistics. Davis has 59 career tackles, 7.0 for loss, and 5.0 sacks. But in no way do those numbers tell the story. In fact, the best way to judge Davis' effectiveness and contributions could be with some kind of assist. He will gladly take a tackle when he can get one, but he knows he's doing his job when he ties up the man in front of him and creates space for a linebacker to zoom in and get the stop.
"I put myself in a position where I care about the linebackers more," he said. "I try to keep them free; they're more athletic than I am, they're smaller, they can get through the holes better than I could, and I just want to make sure they can make plays.
"Obviously I want to do the best I can with my aspect, but I want to make sure they're doing their best, too."
It's a very selfless approach to the game, one that Davis said he learned a long time ago.
"I feel like I've always been this way, I always put others first. That's a good attribute to have as a person," he said. "I think I learned that from my mom — my mom was always the person that put everybody (else) first and then worried about herself later.
"I want to be the best person I can be, not the best player I can be."
Davis is impressive in both areas. When I asked him what part of his game he'd been working on most since the end of last season and spring practice, he said the mental approach. He said Georgia is constantly challenging the players to be mentally strong.
And that led to the frying pan.
Davis said there's a story about "how a dude used a 6-inch frying pan," but the guy kept catching fish that were bigger than the frying pan. So what does he do? He gets a bigger frying pan; he makes sure his frying pan is big enough to handle anything that comes his way.
"That's what we've been talking about for a couple of weeks, just expanding your frying pan so you can cook that big fish," Davis said.
Speaking of cooking, Davis said he's starting to show some improvement in the kitchen. He's cooking at least one meal a week, for him, his girlfriend and his dog.
"I'll cook some eggs and then I'll give my dog some eggs, she likes the eggs. Just having that little nuclear family: me, my girl and my dog. I try to make sure I live right for them. At this point, it's about more than me. I want to be able to do something for my family," he said. "If that's what it takes, then I want to do it."
It was the family he found at Georgia that made the decision of whether or not to turn pro after last season a pretty easy one. "I love those boys, they're like my own family," Davis said of his teammates. "They are my family. It was an easy decision, I didn't spend much time on it."
Davis enters his senior year with a clear mind, a full heart and a strong, fit body. He knows who he is and who he wants to be, and he's working on being the best version of himself.
"I'm a guy who will stay up late. I stay up, I play video games, I make beats. I'm a snacker. So I'll go in the kitchen and grab Swedish Fish, some Nerds Ropes. I have to switch that. They have organic Swedish Fish that I'm really starting to like. That definitely helps out. I don't feel guilty when I eat it as when I eat the regular ones," he said with a smile.
"Just doing the right things. I have people in my circle that help me motivate myself and help me motivate them. I want to be not only healthy for football, I want to be healthy for life."
Staff Writer
HOOVER, Ala. — Jordan Davis is charming, talented and determined. The mountainous Georgia nose tackle — he's listed at 6-foot-6, 340 pounds — is heading into his final season with the Bulldogs motivated to do everything he can to make this the best season possible.
"I'm drinking smoothies, I'm drinking juices with vegetables — I don't even like vegetables," Davis said Tuesday morning at SEC Media Days, at the Wynfrey Hotel. "I'm just telling myself I've got to get it, I've got to do it. Do whatever it takes to win. ... The little things are the big things."
Dressed in a dark suit paired with some red sneakers, Davis may have been the biggest man in the building Tuesday. He also looked healthy and happy. He credited his work with Collier Madaleno, Director of Football Performance Nutrition at UGA, with making a big difference. Madaleno's father, Lou Perno, was a student athletic trainer on Georgia's 1980 national championship team.
"I definitely think it's a really big impact this offseason because I feel myself (having) more energy, being able to sustain more," Davis said of his new approach to nutrition. "When you can sustain more, then you can play more. So hopefully, that will translate down the road in the season."
Being one of the players selected to attend SEC Media Days is a sign of stature within your team and a sign of respect from your coach. Only two players from each team are allowed to participate each year, and coach Kirby Smart this year selected Davis, the senior and second-team All-American last season, as well as redshirt junior quarterback JT Daniels.
Daniels is thoughtful, curious and communicates well, but Davis, about whom the same adjectives could be used, was made for his moment on the stage with an audience of reporters all around him. Davis is big in body and big in spirit, with a huge, warm smile.
"You won't find a better interview than Jordan Davis," Smart said. He's right. Here are two Quick Chats that Davis has done during his Bulldog career: 2019 and 2020.
When Smart was speaking earlier in the day, he referenced getting a text from the hip-hop artist Quavo, a big-time Georgia fan. Davis said it was cool that Quavo and Smart have a connection — Quavo was offering advice on how players should approach the new name, image and likeness opportunities — "but I don't think Kirby could name a song that Quavo has been on."
Coming out of Charlotte, N.C.'s Mallard Creek High School, Davis was rated a three- and four-star prospect, and he wasn't rated as one of the top defensive tackle prospects nationally. Georgia saw much more in him than that. He had 25 tackles as a freshman, 18 as a sophomore, and 16 last season despite only playing in seven games due to injury.
When you come in with something to prove, you come in with a full head of steam. And that's stayed with Davis throughout his Bulldog career.
Nose tackle isn't a position that typically generates a lot of standard statistics. Davis has 59 career tackles, 7.0 for loss, and 5.0 sacks. But in no way do those numbers tell the story. In fact, the best way to judge Davis' effectiveness and contributions could be with some kind of assist. He will gladly take a tackle when he can get one, but he knows he's doing his job when he ties up the man in front of him and creates space for a linebacker to zoom in and get the stop.
"I put myself in a position where I care about the linebackers more," he said. "I try to keep them free; they're more athletic than I am, they're smaller, they can get through the holes better than I could, and I just want to make sure they can make plays.
"Obviously I want to do the best I can with my aspect, but I want to make sure they're doing their best, too."
It's a very selfless approach to the game, one that Davis said he learned a long time ago.
"I feel like I've always been this way, I always put others first. That's a good attribute to have as a person," he said. "I think I learned that from my mom — my mom was always the person that put everybody (else) first and then worried about herself later.
"I want to be the best person I can be, not the best player I can be."
Davis is impressive in both areas. When I asked him what part of his game he'd been working on most since the end of last season and spring practice, he said the mental approach. He said Georgia is constantly challenging the players to be mentally strong.
And that led to the frying pan.
Davis said there's a story about "how a dude used a 6-inch frying pan," but the guy kept catching fish that were bigger than the frying pan. So what does he do? He gets a bigger frying pan; he makes sure his frying pan is big enough to handle anything that comes his way.
"That's what we've been talking about for a couple of weeks, just expanding your frying pan so you can cook that big fish," Davis said.
Speaking of cooking, Davis said he's starting to show some improvement in the kitchen. He's cooking at least one meal a week, for him, his girlfriend and his dog.
"I'll cook some eggs and then I'll give my dog some eggs, she likes the eggs. Just having that little nuclear family: me, my girl and my dog. I try to make sure I live right for them. At this point, it's about more than me. I want to be able to do something for my family," he said. "If that's what it takes, then I want to do it."
It was the family he found at Georgia that made the decision of whether or not to turn pro after last season a pretty easy one. "I love those boys, they're like my own family," Davis said of his teammates. "They are my family. It was an easy decision, I didn't spend much time on it."
Davis enters his senior year with a clear mind, a full heart and a strong, fit body. He knows who he is and who he wants to be, and he's working on being the best version of himself.
"I'm a guy who will stay up late. I stay up, I play video games, I make beats. I'm a snacker. So I'll go in the kitchen and grab Swedish Fish, some Nerds Ropes. I have to switch that. They have organic Swedish Fish that I'm really starting to like. That definitely helps out. I don't feel guilty when I eat it as when I eat the regular ones," he said with a smile.
"Just doing the right things. I have people in my circle that help me motivate myself and help me motivate them. I want to be not only healthy for football, I want to be healthy for life."
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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