Wendell Davis saw his moment come last offseason. After working two years on special teams and playing as a backup, he finally earned the starting middle linebacker job coming out of fall camp.

Davis earned the start in the team’s first two games and registered seven tackles. He was eager to continue to help lead the Pitt defense, but an injury ended any hopes of that. Davis missed the final nine games of the season, and while he is hopeful and eager to prove himself again during spring ball, it was a deflating end to a promising start to the 2020 season.

“When I was first injured, I was really down because everything was going so well,” Davis told reporters over Zoom. "I waited my turn and I felt like it was finally my time to go and after every week, every game, I was just getting better and better and I thought good things was going to happen.”

Davis estimates he was fully healthy about a month after Pitt concluded the 2020 season. He also felt it was possible he would have been back for a possible bowl game had the Panthers accepted a bid.

Through two weeks of spring football, Davis is back full-go and is working to make a name for himself yet again. Ryan Manalac took over for Rob Harley at linebackers coach this offseason, and Davis is working to show his new coach what he can do. He understands that nothing changed in the offseason with the coaching change, as there is always competition for starting jobs no matter what.

“There is no job that is ever just fully yours,” he said. “Every year you’ve got to come back and earn, whether I played the whole year and had a great year.”

Davis said he likes what Manalac has brought to the defense already. As a former player that played under Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi at Cincinnati, his understanding of the defense right away has made it a seamless transition.

“He brings a lot of energy and him being a former player he has a lot of knowledge he shows us,” Davis said of Manalac. “Every coach brings their own kind of style and their own critiques to the game. I think he’s a really smart guy and I think he’s a really good coach and I’m happy to be playing for him.”

Davis is working to win the starting middle linebacker job yet again, and the competition is pretty fierce right now in the entire linebackers room. Pitt brings back Phil Campbell, Cam Bright, and SirVocea Dennis on the outside, all with significant game and starting experience.

Chase Pine started in the middle following Davis’ injury last season, and junior Brandon George earned an elevated role because of his absence as well. Add in some talented underclassmen like Solomon DeShields, Bangally Kamara, and AJ Roberts, and it should make for one of the strongest units on the entire team. If you ask Davis, he would say the entire conference.

“We have a lot coming back and honestly, we’re probably the most underrated group maybe in the ACC,” Davis said of the Pitt linebackers. “We have a lot of guys that can really go out there and play, so we all have that hungry mindset to really put our name on the map and be the focal point of this team, because they’re going to need us as far as to function on defense and on special teams.”

In the end, the depth should only benefit the Pitt team throughout the season, but earning one of the coveted starting spots will require a strong spring for all the players in that room, as well taking these practices into fall camp.

“The best three guys who are consistent, make plays, and who are most trustworthy will play,” Davis said.