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BEAUMONT — Defensive back Dwight Davis knows what it is like to be on a football team undergoing a turnaround.

Davis joined Little Cypress-Mauriceville at the start of the 2021 season. The team went 1-7 the previous year and had just hired Eric Peevey as the new coach to right the ship.

“You have to learn to buy into the process,” Davis said.

“I was at Orangefield the year before. We were an average team and lost in the first round of the playoffs. I heard about this new opportunity to play for Coach Peevey. The year before, they lost seven games. I was taking a gamble but I knew I would have opportunities. Our team bought in and that is what got us how far we went.”

The 2021 LCM squad made it to the fourth round of the playoffs, the furthest the program has ever gone.

Now, as a redshirt freshman on the Lamar Cardinals, Davis believes a coaching change could be the catalyst for a new era for Lamar football.

“My confidence has grown a lot since last fall,” Davis said.

“We got a new coaching staff in the building, and they are doing a really good job of explaining everything to us in depth. It has been great. Between the start of Spring, we have been out there at 6 a.m. doing bag drills. We have broken down and started from the bottom. We have improved our toughness, discipline and accountability. It is a completely different culture from last season.”

Part of that culture change starts with players like Davis, according to head coach Pete Rossomando.

“Dwight is the son of a coach,” Rossomando said.

“Those guys just understand the game. They understand what it takes. He knows where he is athletically. He knows he is not going to be a top guy. He does everything with grit, hard work and dedication. We want him to get on special teams and give us a spark. He brings a great work ethic. He brings a blue-collar mentality. He is also an unbelievable student in the classroom.”

Davis said that spirit comes from a belief that he can do anything.

“I never tell myself I can’t do something,” he said. “I never say those words out loud or in my head. That has helped me develop myself through this past year. I am never going to back down from a challenge.

Davis said last season was tough as Lamar finished with a 1-10 record.

“We had four or five games come down to one or a couple of scores,” he said.

“That is hard to watch. We have a new thing this year, where we say ‘Fourth quarter, our quarter.’ We are really hard on ourselves about that to not let that happen again.”

— Written by Chris Moore