| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1932-09-06)September 6, 1932 (age 93) Palouse, Washington, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1951–1954 | Oregon College |
| Positions | Quarterback,halfback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1975–1980 | Portland State |
| 1981 | California (OC) |
| 1982 | Toronto Argonauts (OC) |
| 1984 | Houston Gamblers (OC) |
| 1985 | Denver Gold |
| 1988–1990 | Detroit Lions (OC) |
| 1991–1992 | New York/New Jersey Knights |
| 1993 | Toronto Argonauts (OC) |
| 1994–1995 | Atlanta Falcons (QB) |
| 2001–2002 | Detroit Fury |
| 2003 | San Diego Riptide |
| 2004–2006 | Hawaii (ST/RB) |
| 2007–2008 | Portland State (OC) |
| 2009–2010 | Hawaii (WR) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 42–24 (college) 79–29 (high school) 11–8 (USFL) 11–10 (WLAF) 8–20 (AFL) 6–10 (AF2) |
Darrel "Mouse"Davis (born September 6, 1932) is a retiredAmerican football coach and former player. A veteran coach at the high school, college, and professional levels, he last coached withJerry Glanville atPortland State University and withJune Jones at theUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Davis served as the head football coach at Portland State from 1975 to 1980, compiling a record of 42–24. He has also been a head coach with theDenver Gold of theUnited States Football League (1985), theNew York/New Jersey Knights of theWorld League of American Football (1991–1992), and theDetroit Fury of theArena Football League (2001–2002) and theSan Diego Riptide (2003) of theAF2. A native ofWashington, Davis grew up inOregon, where he started his coaching career as ahigh school football coach. Davis is now widely regarded as the 'godfather' of therun and shoot offense.
Davis was born inEastern Washington inPalouse on September 6, 1932. His family later moved to neighboringOregon and Davis listsIndependence, Oregon, as his hometown. Mouse gained his nickname from older brother Don while a freshman shortstop on the Central High School team in neighboringMonmouth, Oregon. Despite his 4 ft 11.5 in (1.511 m) stature at the time, Mouse already excelled at sports. In 1955, he graduated from the Oregon College of Education (nowWestern Oregon University) in neighboring Monmouth. There he played quarterback and halfback on three straight championship teams from 1952–54 under Coach Bill McArthur. Davis also played basketball and baseball at the college.
Davis helped make therun and shoot offense famous as a coach, revolutionizing football in the 1960s and 1970s.[1] In developing his run and shoot offense, Davis espoused the theories of Glenn "Tiger" Ellison, football coach atMiddletown High School inOhio, who wrote the bookRun & Shoot Football: Offense of the Future.[1] Davis utilized the offense in a coaching career that included 15 years at the high school level in Oregon, at the college level, and professionally in the NFL, CFL, USFL, WLAF, and Arena League.[1]
Davis spent 15 seasons coaching high school football inOregon, culminating in a 1973 state championship atHillsboro High School.[2][3] That team went 11–1 and set school marks in seven team season offensive categories and 15 records overall.[2]
Davis then moved on to take the head coaching position atPortland State University, where he coached from 1975 to 1980. He led the PSU football program to a 42–24 record over six seasons, averaging 38 points and nearly 500 yards of offense per game. PSU led the nation in scoring three times.[1] The unique passing game made stars out of Davis' two main quarterbacks,June Jones andNeil Lomax. In 1975, Jones, former Southern Methodist University andUniversity of Hawaiʻi head coach, threw for a Division II record 3,518 yards. Davis' next quarterback, Lomax, set NCAA records of 13,220 yards and 106 touchdowns in 42 games. Under Davis' direction, Portland State set 20 NCAA Division II offensive records.[1]
Davis left Portland State to serve as offensive coordinator atUC Berkeley for the 1981 season. After Cal began the year with a 1–6 record, Davis resigned upon being told that head coachRoger Theder intended to make changes to the offensive scheme.[4]
For the 2004–2006 seasons, Davis served as an assistant coach for Jones at Hawaiʻi. Then in February 2007, he returned to Portland State to serve as offensive coordinator for new PSU head coachJerry Glanville's staff. He retired at the age of 76 on June 1, 2009,[1] but later returned to the University of Hawaiʻi as an assistant coach on June 25, 2010.[5]
Davis was an inaugural member of the Portland State Athletics Hall of Fame when he was inducted in 1997.
Davis has been head coach of the now-defunctUSFL'sDenver Gold, theWLAF'sNew York/New Jersey Knights, and theArena Football League'sDetroit Fury and theaf2'sSan Diego Riptide. He was also an assistant coach with theNFL'sAtlanta Falcons andDetroit Lions and with theToronto Argonauts in theCanadian Football League.
In 1982, Davis joined the Toronto Argonauts as offensive coordinator, and instantly turned the team into a contender. Led by his tandem of QBs,Condredge Holloway (Tennessee) and Joe Barnes (Texas Tech), they finished the regular season with a record of 9–6–1. Davis's 1982 Argos lost in the 70th Grey Cup to theWarren Moon-led Edmonton Eskimos, 32–16.
Davis left the Argonauts prior to the 1983 season. The team, however, continued to use the offense he had installed, and finished the regular season with a commanding 12–4 record. They went on to win the 71st Grey Cup, defeating the British Columbia Lions 18–17. It was the Argos' first championship in 31 years.
In 1984, Davis headed back to the US to take the offensive coordinator job with the USFL expansion Houston Gamblers. His quarterback was a rookie from the University of Miami named Jim Kelly. The "Mouseketeers" offensive unit lit up the USFL in their first year of existence passing for 5,793 yards and 45 passing touchdowns, ending their expansion season with a 13–5 record. The Gamblers' offense became the first team in pro football history to have two receivers with over 100 receptions in a single season: Richard Johnson with 115 and Ricky Sanders with 101.
In 1985, Davis took his first head coaching job at the professional level when he took thereins of the Denver Gold, bringing his run-and-shoot offense to the Mile High City. He once again had a tandem of QBs in Vince Evans and Bob Gagliano. The Gold finished the season with an 11–7 mark and their first playoff appearance, but lost in the first round to theMemphis Showboats.
Davis was slated to become head coach of the St. Louis Lightning of theWorld Indoor Football League in 1988, but the league dissolved before the season began.
Davis was named the head coach of the New York/New Jersey Knights of the WLAF to start the 1991 season. The Knights finished with a record of 5–5, as they won the North American East Division. But they bowed out of the playoffs in the semifinal to the eventual championLondon Monarchs. The following year, 1992, saw their record improve to 6–4 and second place in the division, although they missed qualifying for the playoffs.
In 1993, he again joined theToronto Argonauts as an assistant coach but the team had a disastrous season, finishing 3–15, as the offense was ill-suited toTracy Ham's talents, and Ham had limited weapons around him.[citation needed]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portland State Vikings(NCAA Division II independent)(1975–1977) | |||||||||
| 1975 | Portland State | 8–3 | |||||||
| 1976 | Portland State | 8–3 | |||||||
| 1977 | Portland State | 7–4 | |||||||
| Portland State: | 23–10 | ||||||||
| Portland State Vikings(NCAA Division I-AA independent)(1978–1980) | |||||||||
| 1978 | Portland State | 5–6 | |||||||
| 1979 | Portland State | 6–5 | |||||||
| 1980 | Portland State | 8–3 | |||||||
| Portland State: | 19–14 | ||||||||
| Total: | 42–24 | ||||||||