Kam Davis talks Liberty move after transferring from Florida State

LYNCHBURG, Va. — There was a time when it was difficult to keep the football out of Kam Davis’ hands.

At Dougherty High School, that was pretty much the point.

Davis played quarterback for the Trojans, although calling him a quarterback didn’t adequately describe what he did. He ran it. He threw it. He accounted for 8,762 yards and 75 touchdowns during a career that made him one of Southwest Georgia’s most celebrated recruits.

He committed to Florida State as a sophomore and never wavered.

Then he got to Tallahassee and discovered something most highly recruited football players eventually discover.

College football doesn’t particularly care what you did in high school.

Two years later, Davis is starting over.

The former Dougherty star is now a running back at Liberty, where he was among the players featured in the Flames’ preseason press conference as they prepare for their Sept. 5 opener against James Madison.

And the 20-something Davis describes himself somewhat differently than the teenager Albany last knew.

“This year I’m the most confident version of myself,” Davis said.

There was plenty of confidence surrounding Davis when he left Dougherty.

His freshman season was shortened to five games by COVID-19, but the Trojans went 10-3 and reached the state quarterfinals his sophomore year and followed with a 9-3 season when Davis was a junior.

An injury curtailed his senior season, but by then everybody knew who he was.

Davis was a four-star prospect, an Under Armour All-American and an AJC Super 11 selection. He was rated among the nation’s top running back prospects despite playing quarterback at Dougherty.

Florida State, however, never became quite the showcase Dougherty had been.

Davis appeared in 13 games over two seasons with the Seminoles, carrying 60 times for 224 yards and a touchdown. He rushed for 173 yards as a freshman, second-most on the team, before seeing a reduced role the following season.

Then came the transfer portal.

And Liberty.

Davis said the Flames’ history of productive running backs caught his attention. Something else did, too.

The recruiting pitch wasn’t coming only from coaches.

“The players were recruiting me more than the coaches were,” Davis said.

Now he’s one of them.

Liberty has a crowded running back room, and Davis isn’t promising that he’s arrived to take every carry. During the press conference, running backs coach Travis Pearson talked about using multiple backs and keeping them fresh over the course of the season.

But Davis enters the season on the Doak Walker Award watch list, an indication that there are expectations surrounding his arrival.

The move has also brought changes that have little to do with carries.

Liberty makes no secret of its Christian identity, and when Davis was asked about his spiritual growth since arriving in Lynchburg, the former Dougherty star said the environment has affected him.

“Just going to church, going to Convocation, being around people that are closer to God has helped me get closer to God,” Davis said. “It’s made me a better man.”

He also acknowledged that Lynchburg offers fewer distractions than some of the places he’s been.

For a young man whose football life once seemed remarkably straightforward, that’s another part of growing up.

At Dougherty, Davis was the star quarterback who could change a game every time he touched the football. He committed to Florida State before most high school sophomores have figured out where they want to go to college and spent years knowing exactly where his football career was headed.

Then football became less predictable.

He got hurt. He went to Florida State. The carries didn’t come in bunches. He entered the portal and moved hundreds of miles north to Virginia.

Now there is another season and another opportunity.

Liberty opens Sept. 5 against James Madison, and Davis will be part of a running back room the Flames believe can be one of the strengths of their offense.

How large his role becomes remains to be seen.

But the former Dougherty quarterback who once seemed to have the football in his hands on every important play sounds as though he’s comfortable with where the journey has taken him.

“I’m the most confident version of myself,” Davis said.

For Kam Davis, perhaps that’s a pretty good place to start.