“We can use the open scholarship to find a transfer to fill David’s position on defense,” Coach Clayton offered.
Coach Farrow was still trying to catch up with the change in direction when Coach Merritt, their defensive backs coach, made a suggestion.
“How about that kid from Alabama … Todd Davis?”
“Who’s that?” Coach Clayton asked.
“He was a five-star linebacker until he blew his knee out his senior year of high school. Alabama still offered him, but he took a medical redshirt his freshman year. His sophomore year, he didn’t start but got onto the field for every game for ’Bama. He’s looking for somewhere he can play right away,” Coach Merritt said.
“I’ll make some calls and check on his knee. Then, if all is good, Coach Farrow can get him in for a visit,” Bryant said.
“Make it happen,” Coach Clayton decided.
That ended the meeting. The assistant coaches all hurried out of the room with phones to their ears. They had to get back on the road to visit possible recruits for next year.
◊◊◊
They’d finally made arrangements for Todd Davis to come onto campus for his official visit. He had a short window of time to make a decision because summer school was starting Monday. Coach Farrow didn’t want to miss his chance to enroll him now. If this dragged on, the kid would have to wait until the fall to register.
Rachel stuck her head in the door.
“Todd is here with his dad.”
“Tell them I’ll be right out.”
She nodded and left. As the coach shut down his PC, he heard a commotion in the waiting area.
“Ah, hell, no! We can’t have you coming here.”
“Man! USC came begging when they realized that you might be starting at linebacker. They told me that they had to have a serious upgrade before the season started.”
Coach Farrow hurried out to find David Dawson and Todd Davis glaring at each other. He did a mental face-palm because Coach Clayton had obviously not told David he was moving to offense. He could see this whole mess blowing up in his face.
Then he saw Todd’s dad smiling.
“Coach,” David said, not looking away from Todd, “go get the paperwork because Todd is coming to USC. There’s no need to drag this out.”
Todd cocked his head in confusion.
“What makes you think I’m coming here?” Todd asked.
“Because you went to Alabama to win national championships. With you, me, and Percy Wilkes all starting next year, we’ll win it all.”
Todd turned to his dad.
“What do you think?”
His dad looked at the two of them.
“Why not this year?”
David smiled.
“I guarantee you that we’ll go to a bowl game, but we’re set up to run the table next year. So, if we can keep everyone together, we can do it again the following year,” David said.
“What do you think, Son?”
“If David says we can do it, then I believe him,” Todd told his dad.
“Then sign the paperwork.”
“Can we do that, Coach?” Todd asked.
“Of course. Welcome to USC,” Coach Farrow said.
“Hey, before you take off, I’d like to buy you lunch or something,” Todd said to David.
“I can’t. I’m meeting with Bryant Franzese to get a list of priority recruiting targets so I can follow them on social media and encourage them to come to USC. Then I’m sitting down with Jaxson Pettis, our athletic director, to talk about something I want to try. I was told I had to talk to him to get permission,” David said.
“What about after?”
“I’m meeting with a couple of boosters for a late lunch.”
“Who are you meeting?” Coach Farrow asked.
“Ron Pennington and Gabe Francis,” David said and then turned to Todd. “You’ll be tied up with a tour and meeting with the academic people. I’m having a little get-together tonight to welcome the incoming recruiting class and their families. It would be a great way to meet some of your new teammates and the coaching staff. Why don’t you and your dad swing by my place and have a steak? It’ll give us a chance to catch up, and you can meet my family.”
“We’d love to,” Todd’s dad said.
They exchanged contact information, and then Todd and David hugged it out.
Coach Farrow brought the Davises into his office after David left. He pulled out a financial-aid packet for Todd to sign. In all his years of coaching, he’d never before signed a player within five minutes of meeting them.
He’d also never had one of his players flat-out tell a recruit to sign. If David could pull that off, then Bryant would look like the best recruiting coordinator in the country. All he had to do was let the young man help pull in talent.
“I take it that you and David are friends,” Coach Farrow said after all the paperwork was signed.
“I owe him for getting me into Alabama.”
“Why’s that?”
“We played David’s team in one of those made-for-TV high school games that ESPN does. During the game, one of my teammates tried to take David’s knees out in a dirty play. David avoided him, but I got clipped, which meant my season was over, and I had to have surgery on my knee.
“When Alabama backed out on their offer, I thought I might be through with high-level football. David called to check up on me. When he heard what was going on, he called Alabama on my behalf. Whatever he said worked because they decided to honor their commitment to me,” Todd explained.
“Have you two kept in touch?” the coach asked.
“No, not really. I mean, David will send me a message if I have a good game or for silly stuff. For example, he sent me one this week bragging about his impressive bulge. Personally, I would have been freaked out if my dick was trending on social media. But David just shrugged it off and made light of the whole thing,” Todd said.
Coach Farrow didn’t know what to say to that. He would have to talk to his daughter to see what Todd was talking about. But, on second thought, maybe not his daughter. He might just let the whole discussion of David’s package fade from his memory.
“With David and me, our friendship is more about us respecting one another. We also share a bond from knowing what we’re going through for football. He’s just got so much more on his plate than I do. So, I try to respect his time,” Todd said.
Coach Farrow took a moment to reflect on what Todd had just said. When he’d walked through the building, he’d only seen a handful of players. David had been in the coaches’ offices; planned to lend a hand with recruiting; had some mystery project he wanted to talk to the AD about; and later would meet with the two boosters that mattered.
When you added the party tonight, he started to see what had made the young man the number one recruit coming out of high school. David was a leader.
The coach took Todd and his dad on a tour of the facilities. He figured that the young man was on the verge of a breakout year. When Todd had come out of high school, he’d been a five-star player. Those were thirty of the most sought-after football players in the land. Yet, most college football teams rarely had one on their roster, though USC had done considerably better than all but a few. Davis and Dawson added two more to USC’s existing stable of five-star recruits, with a solid team around them.
Coach Farrow predicted that Davis and Dawson would make a real difference in USC’s prospects this coming season. Things were definitely looking up.
◊◊◊
Chapter 14
David
“Cassidy Hope, how the heck are you?”
“I go home, and you plan a party? You would think you were in high school. My dad warned me about living with you this summer,” Cassidy said as she pulled David in for a hug. When she released him, she asked, “Where’s my cat?”
“Greg is bringing her to the party. Precious told me that she missed you.”
Cassidy didn’t even entertain listening to that. Precious was all about Precious.