Larry Davis Position: Head Coach Experience: 5th Season Alma Mater: Virginia, 1973

Talk to Alabama head rowing coach Larry Davis for just a few moments and it becomes readily apparent that he's exactly where he wants to be, doing exactly what he wants to be doing. It is also easy to see that he brings a real passion, not only for the Crimson Tide, but for the sport of rowing to his team.

"If you're going to be involved with this sport at the competitive level, you have to really love it," Davis said. "I have been involved with rowing both as an athlete and a coach for a long, long time now and it's something that I really have a passion for. It gets in your blood for sure."

Davis, who still gets on the water himself on a regular basis, says its the team aspect of the sport that he really enjoys and one that makes it a great fit at the collegiate level.

"I don't know if there is another sport that so completely embodies the team concept the way that rowing does," Davis said. "In rowing it's not the star that decides how good a team is going to be, but each individual and how they work together. Everyone has to work together and be in harmony to really move a boat well."

It's no easy task starting an NCAA varsity program from scratch, but in the midst of year five, Davis has much with which to be pleased.

Success has come early and often for Alabama Rowing under Davis. In its first year, the Tide earned top-5 finishes at a number of the regattas it competed at last season and won a number of races in dual meet competitions against established programs. At the Dad Vail College Championships, the Tide advanced to the semifinals in all its races.

Last season saw the Tide continue to make huge strides forward, most notably at the venerable Head of the Charles Regatta where Alabama's Varsity 8+ grabbed a silver medal in the women's Club race. In the spring, Alabama took the silver medal in the Varsity 8+ race at the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Championships and was second overall at the regatta. At the Dad Vail, Alabama advanced to the semifinals in all its races and made the finals in two events, including a fourth-place finish in the Grand Final of the Novice 8+ race.

And as successful as the rowers have been on the water, they have been even more successful in the classroom. Over the last two years, 16 rowers earned the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association's Scholar-Athlete Award, including five who earned the honor two years in a row. And on a conference level, Alabama's rowers have been named to the Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll 25 times, including 16 last year.

Such success for such a young program is nothing short of astounding, but it was certainly in line with Davis' goals when he took the job as Alabama's inaugural head coach.

"We have a plan, and it's an aggressive plan, but there's no doubt in my mind that it's one that we can fulfill," Davis said.

His plan entails steady, and as he said, aggressive improvement in all phases of the program year-to-year and includes competing for an NCAA Championship bid within the program's first eight to 10 years.

The success Alabama has enjoyed is exactly what was hoped for when on Feb. 2, 2006, after an exhaustive search, the University of Alabama athletics department confirmed what it suspected all along, the best candidate to lead its newest varsity sport, rowing, was already hard at work building a rowing tradition in Tuscaloosa and Davis was named head coach of the Crimson Tide's newly-created women's rowing program.

"We are excited to have a coach of Larry Davis' knowledge and experience on board as we start this new venture," Alabama Athletics Director Mal Moore said. "Larry is well respected and connected in the rowing community and brings immediate respect to our program."

Davis is charged with building Alabama's varsity program from the ground up. Rowing is Alabama's 21st sport and the first to be added to the Crimson Tide's roster since softball in 1996.

"I'm looking forward to the challenge of developing women's rowing at the University at a varsity level," Davis said. "I believe that, in time, Alabama will become one of the premier programs in the country."

Davis, who has been involved in rowing for the better part of 40 years, including 25 as a coach, has been the head coach of the Alabama Crew Club since 1998. Under his direction the club program won the women's pair event in the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships as well as both the lightweight women's eight event and the women's club four event at the Head of the Chattahoochee Regatta, the largest regatta in the south and the second largest in the United States.

In addition to his duties with the University's club team, he has served as the Director of Wellness and Aquatics at the YMCA of Tuscaloosa County.

"I consider myself very fortunate to have worked with the students of the University of Alabama club crew program over the years," Davis said. "They impressed me with their work ethic and character. Coaching the club has also provided me the opportunity to discover what a great institution the University of Alabama is."

From 1981-93 he was head coach of varsity crew at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. where he also served as the school's compliance officer. He led Marist to wins at the MAAC Championship Regatta and the New York State Small College Championships. He was also head coach of the University of Alabama-Huntsville's varsity crew program from 1977-81.

He was an assistant coach for the United States Men's National Rowing team in 1983 and served as team manager in 1987. The 1983 National Team competed at the World Championships in Germany and the Pan American Games in Venezuela. The 1987 squad competed at the World Championships in Denmark. The men's eight won gold at the 1983 Pan Am Games and at the 1987 World Championships.

"I've worked with a lot of different programs at a lot of different levels and I try to bring that experience to bear in everything I do, from putting together workouts to talking with the rowers to race day," Davis said.

As an athlete he rowed for Washington-Lee High School in Virginia where he was a member of the last varsity eight to win gold at the Royal Henley Regatta in England.

Collegiately he rowed at the University of Virginia, winning numerous competitions including the Mid-American Championship and the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship. The Cavaliers also finaled at the Dad Vail Small College Championships three years, earning a bronze medal in 1971.

Davis earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from Virginia in 1973, followed by a master's in counseling in 1977 from UVa. He is married to the former Vicki Barnes of Madison, Ala.