Billy Davis

Bill Davis (born November 5, 1965) is an American football coach who is the linebackers coach for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL).

A 27-year NFL coach, Davis has coached linebackers for 14 seasons in the NFL, with the Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons, New York Giants, Arizona Cardinals and Cleveland Browns. During his 14 years coaching linebackers, Davis coached outside linebackers for 4 years, inside linebackers for 4 years and the remaining 6 years Davis coached both inside and outside linebackers, having control of the entire unit. Davis also has 7 years of defensive coordinating experience for the San Francisco 49ers (2005-2006), the Arizona Cardinals (2009-10) and the Philadelphia Eagles.

Davis was a member of Ken Whisenhunt’s Arizona Cardinals staff in 2008 when the team advanced to Super Bowl XLIII and played Pittsburgh.

Early life Davis was born on November 5, 1965, in Youngstown, Ohio.

San Francisco 49ers On February 6, 2005, Davis was hired by San Francisco 49ers head coach Mike Nolan to be the defensive coordinator on the team after a six-hour interview. One of the reasons Davis got the job was because he had experience with the 3-4 defense that Nolan wanted to implement in San Francisco's defense and a recommendation Nolan got from New York Giants DC Tim Lewis. In 2011-2012, while at the Cleveland Browns, linebacker D'Qwell Jackson also posted consecutive 100 plus tackle seasons with a career best 149 tackles in 2011. Paired with Davis's coaching, in addition to his 149 career best tackles, Jackson earned his 1st Pro Bowl alternate selection.

Philadelphia Eagles On February 7, 2013, Davis was hired by the Philadelphia Eagles as their defensive coordinator under head coach Chip Kelly. Under Davis, in 2014, the Eagles defense tied for 2nd in the NFL for sacks (49), ranked 5th in rush yards per attempt and tied for 6th in takeaways (28), including an NFL high 23 forced fumbles. In 2014, Connor Barwin was selected to his first Pro Bowl appearance. In 2015, DT Fletcher Cox and S Malcolm Jenkins were both selected to the Pro Bowl, despite the team rank of 31st in pass TD's allowed and 32nd in rushing yards allowed. Following that season, Fletcher Cox, Malcolm Jenkins and Mychal Kendricks all signed their highest contracts of their careers.

On January 19, 2016, Davis was not retained after new head coach Doug Pederson hired Jim Schwartz to replace him.

Ohio State In December 2016, Davis was hired by Ohio State as their linebackers coach. All of Davis's starting linebackers have had opportunities in the NFL. Chris Worley (Cincinnati Bengals), Jerome Baker (Miami Dolphins), Dante Booker (Arizona Cardinals) and Malik Harrison (Baltimore Ravens). During his two seasons, Ohio State finished 25-3 winning two Big 10 Championship Games.

Arizona Cardinals (second stint) On January 11, 2019, Davis was hired by the Arizona Cardinals as their linebackers coach under defensive coordinator Vance Joseph and head coach Kliff Kingsbury. In 2019, linebacker Jordan Hicks recorded a career best 150 tackles, 3rd highest in the NFL for the 2019 season. Hicks also had an NFL best, 9 games with 10 or more tackles. In the 2019 also, Davis coached Chandler Jones to a career best/franchise record 19 sacks, 8 forced fumbles and 7 strip-sacks season earning Jones the First Team All Pro and Pro Bowl selection. Jones was also named the NFC Defensive Player of the Year and runner up for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year.In 2020, both Jordan Hicks and De'Vondre Campbell eclipsed 100 plus tackles for the 2020 season.

Houston Texans On February 28, 2024, the Texans hired Davis to be their new linebacker coach replacing Chris Kiffin.

Personal life Bill Davis lives with his wife, Sherry, and they are the parents of five children: Monica, Brooke, twins Grace and Ava and son Billy.