By: Isabella Urbani, Sports Editor
Former SFU quarterback J.R. Davies is set to embark on his first season as the running backs coach for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). A running back is an offensive player that rushes the ball up the field to gain yards. Davies, who had previously helped out as a scout for the team, accepted the position in January after coaching high school football in Texas for the better half of a decade.
If the last name Davies seems familiar, it’s because it is. The Lorne Davies Complex at SFU is named after J.R.’s late grandfather, Lorne Davies — the first Director of Athletics at SFU. J.R. followed in his grandfather’s footsteps and started playing football when he was six-years-old. Time spent off the field was spent at SFU, watching his grandfather coach the football team.
Davies continued his football career at Port Moody Secondary, playing alongside eventual professional players like Corey Mace, who went on to play briefly for the Buffalo Bills. Growing up around football, Davies had no doubt in his mind that he wanted to play collegiate football. But with SFU a few years removed from being a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) school, Davies brought his talent across the border to the University of Las Vegas where he was the team’s backup quarterback.
“At the end of the day, when you finish college, you want to be able to say you played,” explained Davies on his decision to transfer to SFU. Making the change to SFU was also an easy decision for Davies who referred to the university as his “home.”
“If I had gone to UBC, I think my grandfather would have disowned me [ . . . ] It was going to be SFU no matter what,” Davies joked.
The generational talent made an instant impression on his new team, where he assumed the starting role of quarterback. Davies cemented his legacy at SFU after leading the football team to its first post-season victory, followed by their second-ever win a week later against the University of Alberta.
Davies attributes his great start at SFU to “trying to meet the standards set for so long of having good players” at the school. After finishing his tenure as a student-athlete at SFU in 2007, he took up an assistant coaching position with the team, before tackling the bright lights of the Texas football scene.
In Texas, “everything is so much bigger” said Davies, confirming the age-old saying. Programs can have upwards of hundreds of students.
While coaching in Texas, Davies found out he was an inductee into the 2018 BC Football Hall of Fame, by Scott Ackles — the son of famed Bob Ackles. Bob Ackles is thought to be the “builder of football in BC and the CFL.”
“It was a great honour,” said Davies about the accolade. An even better “tribute to Bob Ackles who did so much work in the province of BC for football.”
While there’s a lot to look forward to in his first year coaching in the CFL, Davies is excited to work with former BC Lions quarterback and current head coach of the Stampeders, Dave Dickenson. Dickenson watched a few Shrum Bowls when Davies was the quarterback of SFU. Given all the home connections, playing the BC Lions won’t be so much of a homecoming for Davies as a full-circle moment.
Davies has continued to watch SFU football games, although it will be more of a challenge to do so next season. SFU is hustling to find a new conference after announcing in February that its current conference, Lone Star, would not be renewing its membership with the football team. While the fate of the school’s football team hangs in the balance, Davies and many more alumni go to show just how many CFL players and staff SFU has produced.
