Back For More- Davey's Return Key to McNeese Rebuild
Aug 02, 2024 03:16PM ● By Kelsey Swire
By Jim Gazzolo
With all the newcomers on the McNeese roster, the most important name might be one who stayed.
After a dynamic season last fall, Micah Davey had options.
In the world of NIL money and transfer portal, where college players jump from school to school without a second thought, Davey decided to stay at McNeese despite a 1-10 season.
Lesser names have jumped ship for lesser reasons. Yet Davey, the biggest name on the Cowboys, stayed put.
“McNeese is home,” Davey said. “I want to be here when we turn this around.”
Instead of becoming a signal of future struggles, Davey became a beacon of hope. He showed the rest of college football he believed in the McNeese coaches and their plans.
“We talked to him all the time and told him our plans,” Goff said. “He wanted to be here to help us turn this thing around. It was big for us he stayed.”
Davey, now a junior, became one of the best recruiting tools McNeese coaches could want.
“Who would not want to play alongside a guy like that,” said graduate transfer Marques White. “He is all over the field. He makes all the plays.”
White and Tristan Driggers are new linebackers who will play next to Davey and have been impressed. So has his coach.
“Micah looks stronger, is faster, and has lost some weight,” Goff said. “He has worked hard to get ready for this year. I am excited to see him this year. I think he can even be better.”
That won’t be easy.
Davey led all of FCS in tackles per game last season with 15.3. He was named to several All-American teams and finished seventh in voting for the coveted Buck Buchanan Award given to the best defender in FCS football.
None of that matters to Davey, who has already been named to a couple of preseason All-American teams this year.
“I just want to win,” Davey said. “We want to right the ship. The main thing I’m excited about is redemption, proving everybody wrong, and restoring McNeese to its former glory.”
Davey will get a lot of help this year thanks to 58 newcomers and a roster filled with experienced players who were forced into action a year ago. Still, it is he who has become the leader of these Cowboys.
“Micah is one of the guys who everybody is looking toward,” said Goff. “He has become a leader for us.”
Last year Davey, the son of former LSU quarterback Rohan Davey, showed his stuff recording 41 tackles over the final two games despite the season being already lost. He had 20 in the home finale against Houston Christian and followed that up with 21 the last week at Lamar.
Those efforts, he hopes, help set the tone for what is expected this season.
McNeese opens the new campaign on national television on Aug. 24 at Tarleton State. The game was moved up to Week Zero so it could be broadcast on ESPNU with kickoff set for 2:30 p.m.
It is a chance for this group of Cowboys to show the nation that they have left last year in the past.
It will also be a chance for the rest of the country to see just how good Davey is.
Jim Gazzolo is a freelance writer who covers McNeese athletics. He is the host of Poke Nation on CBS-Lake Charles