Billy Davis

Former Clemson Tiger Billy Davis rejoins the podcast to reflect on the ongoing Tigerillustated.com series on the Danny Ford era at Clemson.

Even for someone who was present for much of that era, Davis finds his own eyes opened by all the tumult that occurred during the 1980s -- from probation, to the revelations of steroid use, to regular clashes between Ford and his administration.

Davis, whose long punt return in the 1981 Orange Bowl helped set up a score that gave Clemson breathing room in a championship victory over Nebraska, looks back on those days and views all the baggage as yet another affirmation of Dabo Swinney's greatness.

One of Davis' daughters is a freshman swimmer at Kentucky, and he goes into deep reflections on parenting a child in athletics through elementary school, middle school and beyond.

Last fall, as Kentucky's swimming team was preparing for a crucial meet against Tennessee, Dabo Swinney spent 45 minutes on a Zoom call with the Wildcats' team. This was the week of Clemson's game against Boston College, and the week the Tigers lost Trevor Lawrence to a positive COVID test.

Davis is an avid reader of Tigerillustrated.com and a regular poster on the WEZ message board.