It’s official: Panthers, Davis agree to new contract

ALBANY — As first reported by The Herald after the PIFL Championship game last month, Albany Panthers head coach Lucious Davis is returning for another season, and Wednesday he was rewarded for winning the team’s second straight arena league title with a new contract.

Albany GM Will Carter said Wednesday during a press conference at the team’s headquarters on Washington Street in downtown Albany that he and Davis reached an agreement Tuesday night that will keep Davis at the helm of the Panthers’ team through the end of the next season.

There was a report prior to the title game against the Richmond Raiders — who Albany beat, 60-56 —- that claimed Davis would not be returning after this season. But Panthers owner Rod Chappell, as well as Davis, disputed that report, and Chappell told The Herald moments after hoisting the PIFL Cup that “We’re champs again, and he’s coming back. I’ve already talked to him.”

Carter, on Wednesday, was glad to finally have the details ironed out so that the team could move forward and begin its quest for an unprecedented third straight crown.

“He’s been an asset to the organization and we’re glad that we could get him back to Albany,” Carter said of Davis, who was hired in 2010 for the franchise’s inaugural season and is 33-8 in three years.

Davis said that he made the decision to return to Albany after talking the terms of his contract over with his family.