Wendell Davis grew up in a football environment. His father, also named Wendell Davis, played collegiately for Temple and had a run with the San Diego Charger before playing in the CFL. Davis coached at the Division III level as well. For the younger Davis, his love of the game started at home.

“As a kid I was always around football and I just wanted to be like my dad, so that’s where I get the love of the game from,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

When Pitt takes the field on Saturday against Austin Peay, Davis will be taking the next step in his football career. The Virginia native was named the starting middle linebacker for Pitt and is ready to make an impact on defense after being a special teams standout in 2019.

The younger Davis made the call to his father on Monday to deliver the news, and being a coach the elder Davis made it a teaching moment.

“He was excited for me, but at the same time he gave me some advice, ‘As hard as it is to get to that spot, it’s harder to remain there, just remain humble and keep working’ and that’s what I’m going to do,” he explained. “Even though I’m the starter in week one, I’m still going to keep working the way I was before that because you can lose it at any time.”

The climb from a member on special teams to the week one starting middle linebacker began at the end of last season.

“After the end of every season we have meetings with our coaches, so I pretty much asked Coach Harley and Coach Duzz, ‘What do you want to see out of me to possibly earn that spot?,’ “ Davis said. “And so they gave me some advice for things I could do so I took notes on that and looked at my game overall to see how I could improve and that’s really what I focused on coming into spring ball and really into fall camp.”

One of those main things he needed to improve on was being vocal and being a leader. Those two traits are synonymous with being a middle linebacker, and Davis feels he has taken the necessary steps to improve that aspect of his game.

“I think coming in as a young mike linebacker and playing in Narduzzi’s defense you can be timid at times as far as making calls and stuff,” Davis said of his offseason transformation. “So I just wanted to be more vocal and that’s what he wanted to see out of me - to be more vocal because I knew the rest would take care of itself if I played hard and I played with good technique and everything, so I just wanted to be more vocal and more of a leader.”

In addition to showing leadership qualities, perhaps the biggest thing about Davis has been his consistency in fall camp. Narduzzi praised the steady play of his sophomore linebacker on Monday.

“I mean, the guy hasn't missed a practice, hasn't missed a beat,” Narduzzi said during his press conference. “He’s been sharp with getting everybody lined up. Just consistent. He knows what's going on.”

Davis echoed those thoughts himself on Tuesday,

“Overall I just think it was being consistent,” he said on why he won the staring job. “Chase (Pine) is a great player and he’s another guy that has helped me a lot along the way. I just knew for myself to get my best shot was just to be consistent and play my game.”

Most starters are happy to give up special teams, but not Davis. In 2019, he returned a blocked punt for a touchdown in the UCF game, and followed that up by blocking a punt a week later against Delaware. He is in the ear of Andre Powell trying to make a case to remain a member on special teams.

“I still talk to Coach Powell all the time,” Davis said. “I want to be out there, so wherever he needs me I’m going to be there.”