By Seth Goldman

As the school day comes to a close, Cody Davis ’09 heads to football practice. Unlike his friends, Davis does not walk down to Ted Slavin Field.  Instead, he drives to Mirman School where he coaches flag football to fifth and sixth graders. 

Davis began coaching last year as an assistant under Nick Grief ’07 and is now the team’s head coach.

“I think he’s really responsible,” said Jack Kuhlenschmidt ’10, Davis’ assistant coach. “He really knows his football even though he hasn’t really played much.”

Davis schedules all of the team’s games, runs two practices a week and draws up and runs all of the team’s plays.

“Drawing up plays gives me a chance to be creative,” he said. “In flag football there are basically no restrictions on the formations you can use, so I can come up with crazy plays that catch other teams off guard. They’re also really fun for players to run.”

It is not all fun and games for Davis and Kuhlenschmidt, who have to deal with parents who feel their children don’t receive enough playing time.  Sometimes players miss all of the team’s practices leading up to a game and then expect to start, Davis said. 

Although he enjoys bonding with the players, Davis knows that the player-coach dynamic must be kept intact.  Kuhlenschmidt makes sure the kids stay disciplined along with coaching the defense. A PE coach at Mirman coaches the special teams. 

The team’s record stands at 3-3, but the players haven’t been able to practice recently because of the Los Angeles area fires.

Davis, who plays lacrosse for Harvard Westlake, plans to coach the same team next year.     
 
“It’s been great coaching with Cody.  I’ve been mentored,” Kuhlenschmidt said.  “I’m not sure if I’m going to keep coaching once Cody is done.  I don’t know if I can hold up what he has accomplished.”