The top 100 FSU football players: No. 77—linebacker Buster Davis

One thing you can say about the “lost decade” is that it was a time period in which some really good linebackers came through Florida State and yet the smallest of them might’ve made the biggest impact while on campus.

Davis once said:

“You have great ones in all shapes and sizes, so it’s no matter if I was 6-5 or 5-5 — I’m still doing what I do.”

And it’s with that attitude that he became the face of FSU’s defense from 2004 to 2006. Davis enters the countdown at No. 77 in the top 100 players of all-time countdown.

At 5’9 (probably generous) 251lbs out of Daytona, Florida Davis was a one-man wrecking crew in the middle.

A four-star recruit from the class of 2002; he’s a former Army All-American where he competed with fellow Seminoles Kamerion Wimbley & Lorenzo Booker.

After red-shirting and spending the first two years primarily on special teams Davis burst onto the scene in 2004 & 2005. In 2005 he was second on the team with 91 tackles and first with 10.5 tackles for loss. A season in which FSU would win the inaugural ACC Championship game vs. Virginia tech.

2006 is when the accolades started to come in Davis was a first-team All-American by the American Football Coaches Association and a second team All-America by the Walter Camp Football Foundation. He had 109 tackles, eight tackles for loss and five sacks.

Davis was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the third round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He spent three years in the NFL before finding his true passion: coaching.

He coached at various high schools in Georgia before being named defensive coordinator at Willamette University.

Looks like Davis will continue to lead defenses for a long time.