Remembering Ron Davidison: An Impactful South Jersey Athlete and Coach
Ron Davidson enjoyed a stellar career as an athlete at Lenape High School and then continued his excellence while competing for the Virginia Tech football team. He eventually returned to South Jersey and left his impact as a head coach and assistant in several sports.
During the spring the South Jersey sports community was greatly saddened by the passing of Mr. Davidson at the age of 80.
“The kids, no matter the sport, loved to play for him,” said Rob Davidson, one of his three sons, all who were football players.
The younger Davidson should know about his father’s popularity as a coach. He played for Lenape when his father was the defensive coordinator.
“He just loved coaching all the sports,” Rob Davidson said.
Ron Davidson was both a head coach and an assistant coach in a career that spanned nearly three decades at Lenape. He was also at times, the head golf coach, where he had more than 200 victories, and the girls’ head track coach. Ron Davidson also served as a basketball assistant coach.
At Lenape, where he graduated in 1964, Ron Davidson was the captain in football and basketball.
It was football where he made his biggest impact.
As a football player, he was named the South Jersey Back of the Year as a senior in 1963 and also was selected to several all-star teams. Later that school year, he was named Lenape’s Most Outstanding Athlete in 1964.
In 2005, he was inducted into the inaugural Lenape Athletic Hall of Fame class.
Following his graduation from Lenape, Davidson then went on to enjoy what was another Hall of Fame football career at Virginia Tech.
He was a cornerback and a true ballhawk.
Davidson still shares the school record for interceptions in a season with nine in 1967. In 2010 Jayron Hosley also recorded nine interceptions to share the record.
What is truly impressive is that in 1967, college football teams didn’t throw the ball with the frequency they have over the past 25 years, but Davidson was still able to enjoy a record-setting season.
He also shares the school record for most interceptions in a game when he picked off three passes against Florida State in that 1967 season.
His 13 career interceptions rank No. 6 on the all-time Virginia Tech list. In 2003, he was inducted into the Virginia Tech Athletic Hall of Fame. Another footnote is that one of his closest friends from Virginia Tech was teammate Frank Beamer, who would later go on to enjoy tremendous success as the school’s head football coach, going 238-121-2 with 23 bowl appearances in 29 seasons.
“My father took so much pride in competing at Virginia Tech,” said Rob Davidson, who was a standout defensive back at Rowan.
Ron Davidson also had the distinction of playing in a college football All-Star game that was guided by the legendary Alabama head coach Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant.
After college, Ron Davidson signed with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted rookie free agent.
“Coach (Tom) Landry brought him in his office, and he was one of the last cuts,” his son said.
After that, Ron Davidson remained for a year at Virginia Tech as a student coach before getting his first high school teaching job at Pennsylvania’s Pennsbury High, where he stayed for five years. In addition to teaching, he was also an assistant football coach at Pennsbury. After that he was hired by Lenape where he spent the rest of his career teaching and coaching. He taught at Lenape from 1975 until his retirement in 2004.
Long after his football career, Davidson still showed great athletic prowess.
“When he was 50 some years old, he could still beat me in basketball,” his son said laughing. “He would take us on and we couldn’t beat him. He was such a good athlete.”
Athlete, coach, mentor, you name it. Ron Davidson did it all at the highest of levels.
Ron Davidson / Courtesy of the Davidson family
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Author: Marc Narducci
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