AUBURN — Before coach Hugh Freeze took over at Auburn football and before that at Liberty and Ole Miss, he was the offensive coordinator at Arkansas State in 2010.
Freeze’s time with the Red Wolves coincided with Demario Davis‘, who spent four seasons at Arkansas State before getting drafted in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft and later becoming an All-Pro linebacker for the New Orleans Saints.
“People don’t know this about him, but I was the offensive coordinator at Arkansas State and he was on the defensive side of the ball,” Freeze said Thursday evening on Tiger Talk. “I kept looking over there and saying, ‘Man, that guy looks like the way they’re supposed to look.’ And they weren’t playing him at all.
“They were just like bumping heads. I went to the head coach and I said, ‘Look, if they’re not going to use him, can I have him?’ And I started using him on offense some.”
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How did Freeze deploy Davis?
“Tight end. Flex him out and throw him some screens,” Freeze said. “It was hard to tackle him in short yardage. Fast-forward a year later (and) I get the head job there. And, man, me and DeMario had a prayer meeting together. I said, ‘Look bro, you look too good to be on the bench.’ And he just took off. Now he’s an All-Pro linebacker and doing wonderful work with kids in inner city New Orleans. Really proud of him.”
Freeze reached out to Davis recently and asked for him to speak with the team digitally. Davis, who hauled in two passes for 16 yards in 2010, obliged.
“He sent a video for our team,” Freeze said. “He spoke some good truth to them.”
Auburn (3-4, 0-4 SEC) will be looking to earn its first SEC win of the season at home in Jordan-Hare Stadium against Mississippi State (4-3, 1-3) on Saturday (2:30 p.m. CT, SEC Network).
Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football’s Hugh Freeze shares story about NFL LB Demario Davis
