Tacario Davis Rides Tall in Saddle in UW Secondary

Ryan Walters faces a big challenge ahead of him in finding seven new defensive starters following the University of Washington's Sun Bowl appearance, though that might not be as much of an ask as trying to turn his former team into a winner.

Yet the former Purdue head coach turned Husky defensive coordinator, forced to find new employment following a 1-11 season with the Boilermakers, likes what he sees in the transfer portal reinforcements brought to Montlake since his January 3 hiring.

“We look like a Big Ten team, [with] the guys that we’ve added,” he said. “They fit in this conference."

Except that's not entirely true.

Take the 6-foot-4, 200-pound cornerback Tacario Davis -- almost no one plays his position with his amount of size and talent.

By all accounts, he exceeds the usual dimensions and skill level required in his coverage role, which has taken him from the Pac-12 to the Big 12 and now to the Big Ten.

In fact, there aren't too many players like him anywhere.

"You see the elite traits he has," Walters said, "in the length and being able to get in and out of breaks for being that tall."

A year later than everyone else, Davis followed Jedd Fisch and his coaching staff, including secondary coach John Richardson, from Arizona to the Huskies.

A second-team All-Pac-12 selection in 2023 as a sophomore, he stayed in Tucson one more year with players who thought they could match or exceed their 10-3 record from the last season of Fisch with a new coach in Bob Brennan -- and they went 4-8.

Davis apparently didn't receive the NFL grade he wanted either to enter the draft and decided to play another college season, only in Seattle.

"I just felt like it was part of God's plan to come back, to be able to develop one more year and see what I've got this season," he said.

Davis is one of 18 former Arizona players or once signed recruits on the Husky roster.

"It feels like home," he said.

Arizona cornerback Tacario Davis (23) celebrates a play against Arizona State in 2023. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

On Thursday, Tulane transfer quarterback Kai Horton was asked if any players really stood out to him as extraordinary talents since joining the Huskies.

He mentioned Penn State wide receiver Omari Evans and a guy named Bobo.

Bobo would be Tacario Davis, so nicknamed by his brothers as a California youngster when he got his hair trimmed with a bowl cut.

HIs arrival forced the departure of corner Thaddeus Dixon, a 12-game UW starter after beating out returning starter Ephesians Prysock, who transferred to North Carolina because he saw Davis taking his job.

On social media, Dixon repeatedly asked in a forlorn manner why Husky fans seemed to want him to come back more than Fisch's coaching staff.

The answer was he was three inches shorter and maybe five pounds lighter than Davis and, even as good as he was, not nearly the same player.

Dixon's alternative set forth was to come back and play nickelback, which is what Elijah Molden did for the Huskies and it got him into the NFL, where the latter is now ... as a starting cornerback for the Los Angeles Chargers. It was too much of an ego thing for Dixon to switch positions.

“You’ve got to be a complete defensive back," Davis said, citing Trent McDuffie as a UW defender he has admired. "We don’t really have a ‘corner.’ If you come here, you’re a defensive back. You’ve got to play it all. You’ve got to be physical, be able to cover and be able to compete.”

In recent seasons, the Huskies have had a lot of Davises on the roster in Cam, Demaricus, Elinneus, Russell and Taj, and Tacario, or Bobo, might be the best one.

On Saturday, he snatched an interception by taking the ball out of the hands of Kevin Green Jr., one of his former Arizona teammates.

Arizona defensive backs Genesis Smith (12), Tacario Davis (1) and Gunner Maldonado (9) share a moment against Utah. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

He's been reunited with Ephesians Prysock, who started alongside him in 2023 at corner for the Wildcats, though his former and current teammate is still in recovery from an unspeciified offseason surgery. They make an interesting pair, with Prysock carrying 6-foot-4 and 195-pound dimensions, as well.

These two side by side again was reason enough for Davis to join the Arizona caravan north, even if ihe did it a year later than the others.

“I was super close to coming, but it didn’t pan out," he said. "It’s all about now, being where my feet [are], but I’m here now.”

To get the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington