Davis tapped as head coach of ACUI Division 3 national championship shotgun team
7/5/2023 11:22:38 AM | Shotgun
Jacob Davis (’21), who served as assistant coach for Liberty University’s shotgun team over the past two seasons after competing for the Flames the previous four, took the helm of the program on July 1.
“I was planning to move on to something different, going back to school or starting a full-time job related to my degree (in biochemistry),” Davis said. “But God made it clear that this was where He wanted me this upcoming year.”
He has also applied for a Range Safety Officer position with the Liberty Mountain Gun Club, reporting to LMGC Director Bill Crawford. Davis replaces Head Coach Roger Johnson, who led the shotgun team to its first ACUI Division 3 national championship in late March in San Antonio after posting second-place showings his first two seasons at the helm in 2020-21 and 2021-22.
“The team is coming off the momentum of two runner-up finishes and a championship season last year,” Davis said. “I am excited about where we can go from here. We are definitely going to be really good again this year.”
He said the program could move up to the ACUI Division 2 level (for teams with 11-20 competitors, compared to Division 3 for those with 10 or fewer) as it did in his sophomore season before dropping back down the following season. It could also join the National Collegiate Shooting Sports Athletic Association (NCSSAA), which would classify Liberty as a Division I team as it follows universities’ NCAA classification.
“The NCSSAA was a new organization last year, and it has been picking up new schools,” Davis said. “I am not sure how big it is going to be, but the most competitive schools in the country will be there. A decision will be made by the start of the school year based on which organization is going to be best for the team.”
Whereas the ACUI national championships are held in Texas, the NCSSAA’s will be in Illinois next spring, with teams qualifying through a regional event in South Carolina and another league-sponsored tournament showing.
Davis said the nine returning team members and incoming recruit Madison Shaw are all very versatile shooters, with a bit more experience in sporting clays than in skeet or trap.
“We graduated three and have a fourth who is transitioning to online, and they were all key contributors,” he said. “The returning team members are all polished shooters with several years under their belts, and they will definitely be national level contenders. Everyone, no matter how good they are, has room for improvement, and we will make sure they get the range time they need.”
Davis will set a goal of having 15 players on the team with tryouts in mid- to late August to fill additional spots, with the top 10 traveling to competitions if the team remains in ACUI Division 3.
After starting to shoot shotguns at the age of 8 or 9, Davis started competing in clay target shooting when he was 10 or 11. As a sophomore at Liberty, he won an American skeet event at the ACUI Regional Championships in Maryland, and his scores contributed to the team totals at most of its tournaments that year as well as his senior season in 2020-21.
“(The shooting range) is where I’ve spent most of my spare time throughout my life,” said Davis, who is from nearby Rustburg, Va. “I hunt a little, but definitely do more (clay target shooting).”
He plans to focus on sporting clays in team practices this fall, and on American events over the international or Olympic disciplines.
“I shot sporting clays for seven years before I ever shot skeet or trap,” Davis said. “Once you learn that, learning to shoot skeet and trap is much easier. Both of the college shooting associations have removed the Olympic disciplines from their (High Overall Awards), so we have taken the emphasis off of those as a team. The biggest piece of collegiate shooting is the three American disciplines.”
A primary goal will be to maintain the spiritual and social environment that Johnson helped promote within the team.
“I appreciate that the community at Liberty has always had something of a family dynamic, which is something that I don’t think is as strong at other schools,” Davis said. “It was very good to be a part of a Christian community all throughout college, which helped my spiritual growth to have that emphasis in the classroom. Spiritual growth definitely is the most important thing, and ranks above our scores or winning tournaments.”
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer