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Raising the Next Tennessee Football Stars

For as far back as Jabari Davis can remember, his parents were signing him up for camps - basketball, baseball, football, life skills, academics, you name it. He was an only child, and growing up in 1990s Atlanta, when Deion Sanders reigned king, meant you kept your eyes on the Braves and the Falcons (and the Hawks, too, for good measure). 

“We idolized Deion Sanders and everything he did. He was my biggest role model as a kid,” he remembers. “But I was always busy, and by the time I was 9 or 10, people started noticing my abilities. By the time I was in the eighth grade, I hit the switch on football.” 

Jabari played on both the offensive and defensive lines, but running back was his dream position. In addition to years of camps and coaching, he’d work out on his own, running drills in the backyard and building power by running hills, just like he’d learned to do from watching Walter Payton’s “Pure Payton” tape. The hard work paid off as he broke every middle school record and was courted by three area high schools.  

“It was weird,” he says, laughing. “The coaches were coming to my school - one locally and two other schools in the county. I had a great middle school football team, and we all wanted to stay together and not go to different high schools. I chose Tucker High School because they had a great football tradition. Our coach actually left the middle school and came to Tucker because he didn’t want to leave us. He said we were a special group, and he thought we could win championships.” 

One other detail pulled Jabari towards Tucker - Patrick Pass, current head coach of the Massachusetts Pirates, was a Tucker High School running back who’d just signed with the University of Georgia. Jabari saw himself in Patrick and wanted the same success. As it turned out, that’s exactly what happened. By the end of his varsity season, after some county and state recognition, college letters started coming, along with invitations to a few camps. 

“Your recruiter rankings have a lot to do with what camps you go to, but I got an invite to Countdown to Signing Day. I begged my mom to sign me up. My grandma bought me some new cleats. I ended up going and was number one. I out-performed everyone. I was the camp MVP,” says Jabari. “A week after that, my phone blew up and my mailbox was full.” 

Unlike Patrick Pass, who accepted the offer to Georgia, Jabari had another idea. First of all, playing in the SEC was non-negotiable. But second, Tennessee had just won a national championship in 1998, and running back Jamal Lewis, who was from Atlanta, had just been drafted by the Baltimore Ravens. That was enough to warrant a visit to Knoxville. 

“It blew me away. The fans, the tradition, the coaching, Neyland, all of it. I’d been to Georgia, but it didn’t have the electricity that Tennessee had,” says Jabari. “I got hate mail for that. My school was 45 minutes from Athens. A lot of my teachers had gone to UGA. But I felt like Tennessee was the next best opportunity, and it was still close to home.” 

Jabari committed to Tennessee in the spring of 2021 and moved to Knoxville that summer. Throughout his four years at UT, he played alongside what he calls “some of the best players of my life,” like Jason Witten. That first year should’ve been a championship year, he says, but a loss to LSU sealed the deal.  The fanbase called Jabari the “Gator-Killer” on account of so many touchdowns against Florida. He had a good go of it, playing hard and always stepping up in the big games. 

“You become legendary in the big games - what you do when it counts. I made plays and helped win football games,” he said. “I did give it my all.” 

Unfortunately a hamstring injury led to an unfortunate senior season, which meant a lost opportunity to be drafted. Undeterred, Jabari signed as a free agent and got to camp with the Buffalo Bills and the New Orleans Saints, but he was never healthy enough to make it on the roster.  He officially retired from professional football in 2007 and returned to Atlanta to figure out his next steps. 

Jabari took influence from another football great - this time, it was Reggie White, a former Tennessee Vol and Green Bay Packer. 

“He said, ‘Hey, when I die, if all you can say about me is that I was a great football player, then I haven’t lived.’ That stuck with me,” says Jabari. “I wanted to get into coaching because sports was still my passion.” 

To fulfill that passion, he moved back to Tennessee in 2010, enrolled back in school, and accepted a coaching position at the Episcopal School of Knoxville. He was quickly back in the fold with other former Vols, making connections and working with camps. By 2018, he decided it was time to start his own organization and get former Tennessee football players mentoring, coaching, and raising the next generation of Tennessee football stars. 

“Ninety percent of the kids who live in the state grow up wanting to wear the Orange and White. They idolize it. They go to games and dream about playing on that field and running out of that T,” he says. “What’s a dream without a plan? It’s just a wish.” 

Jabari, along with Chris Treece, who played for the Vols from 1986 to 1989, established the Legends of Tennessee Football Camp, a program for ages six to 18 of various skill levels who aim to make their football dreams a reality. 

“We give them the plan. It’s about respect, discipline, work ethic, character. The guys who are going to teach you have already been in the shoes you’re trying to get into. You get love and encouragement, building up the confidence, so that one day you’ll get to put on the uniform,” says Jabari. 

Camps take place all around the state and are hosted by a rotating group of VFLs dedicated to teaching football fundamentals while also building leadership and teamwork skills.”

Chris grew up in Morristown but moved to Middle Tennessee during high school and played football at Oakland. He graduated with multiple offers and originally committed to play at Texas A&M. However, after his grandmother passed away, he realized he wanted to stay closer to home and contribute to the ongoing tradition of the Tennessee Volunteers.  Post-college, Chris went on to work in the mortgage industry, write a few books, and return to football as a coach at area camps and schools. He’s been the defensive backs coach at Webb School of Knoxville for the last few years in addition to running Legends of Tennessee Football Camp with Jabari. 

“The thing I can offer these kids is life after football,” says Chris. “One thing will always happen, no matter where you are - you’ll eventually be a former player. So, the biggest thing you have is your name. Your name is your brand. If I can teach these kids to always do the right thing and stay out of trouble, and keep your grades in check, then everything will be fine. That gives you something when football is over.”  

Chris credits his Little League mentors back home in Morristown for setting him in the right direction from the start, acknowledging that what people say - that it takes a village to raise a child - must be true.

“If you work hard, you can play hard, but you have to do it the right way. I tell kids, you’re trying to get where we’ve been,” he says. “[In Legends of Tennessee], you’ve got years and years of football experience from every decade. There’s nothing we haven’t seen.” 

Jabari adds, “Being a VFL, it’s a brotherhood. It doesn’t matter what era you played in. I met Chris at the 2011 VFL reception when they introduced the VFL program. We keep a tight bond and a shared passion to help these kids. We’ve all succeeded in legendary ways, so we want to give back.” 

For more information, visit LegendsOfTennessee.org.


 

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