At Palisades High, ‘pioneer player’ Kendric Davis aims to lead team to first league title

Third-year Palisades High School head coach Jonathan Simmons thinks that in order to turn a high school program into a state power, particularly at a new school like his, you need what he calls “pioneer players.”

To Simmons, a pioneer player is someone who is developed and becomes a star at that new school or the place that hasn’t had much success.

And Simmons thinks he’s got that guy in senior linebacker Kendric Davis, a N.C. Shrine Bowl pick committed to East Carolina.

“It’s just his undeniable energy,” Simmons said. “He plays with that great energy and he’s a good teammate to the others on the team and everybody kind of relates to him and likes him. And those are always the best kids. But not only is he a great leader, but he’s a great person, too.”

Davis, a 6-foot-2 and 205-pound, transferred to Palisades from Harding before his junior year. As much as anyone, he has helped the Pumas go from 3-7 in 2023 to 6-2 heading into Friday’s home game with Ballantyne Ridge (0-7).

If Palisades (6-2, 4-0) wins, it wins at least a share of the SoMECK conference title.

“I came here from Harding and I met coach Simmons, and he’s a great guy, man,” Davis said. “The program here is wonderful, and on the field we get at it every day. I know, coming here (when Palisades was) a second-year program, that it was going to be hard. But the third year is the charm.”

Last week, Palisades got perhaps the biggest win in school history, taking down Steele Creek rival Olympic — a school once attended by many Palisades students.

In that 27-14 victory, a game that put Palisades in position to win a title, Davis had eight tackles, two tackles for a loss, two interceptions and a fumble recovery. He returned one of those interceptions for a touchdown.

“It feels great,” Davis said. “I didn’t win a conference title my whole career, and my senior year, it’s finally happening. I enjoy it. I enjoy every little bit of it.”

From Long Island with love

Simmons, the Pumas’ coach, grew up in Long Island, N.Y., but came to Charlotte to play wide receiver at NCAA Division II Johnson C. Smith University. He wanted to experience life at an historically Black college, and he fell in love with the weather, and the people, and said he’s never going back home.

Simmons started coaching right after he left Smith 17 years ago, working assistant jobs at Hough, Chambers, Berry and Hopewell. He longed to be a head coach, even posting in June of 2021 on Twitter that he had a “late night manifestation ” that he would become one in 18 months.

By May of the following year, Simmons’ dream had come true.

But that was only part of it. He didn’t want to wait to win.

“I wanted to push this thing to get going by Year 3 or Year 4,” he said. “I really wanted it in Year 1, and we had some close losses to Berry and South Meck and Myers Park. Last year, we played some great first halves against most teams, and we would have some less than stellar second halves. But now, yeah, I think we’re ahead of schedule.”

Having seen multiple Mecklenburg County teams dominate regional and statewide competition since he’s been in town, Simmons said he’s noticed a similar formula at schools like Mallard Creek, Hough, Butler and Independence. It’s something he hopes to replicate in a part of town, southwest Charlotte, that hasn’t that year-in, year-out power.

“I think, just overall, it meant a little bit more in those other areas,” he said. “At West Charlotte, obviously, it means a little bit more and north Charlotte has taken that to new heights with Hough and Mallard Creek and Chambers. (In) east Charlotte, it’s always meant a lot. It’s south Charlotte’s turn now and we take it seriously, 365. In trying to build our culture, we talk about trying to get to the Tier 1 of Charlotte high school football, of winning conference and having a powerhouse team.”

The pioneer guy

To do that, Simmons believes, you have got to have homegrown players, guys that became stars in your program, and not guys who were already big names when they came to you.

“I don’t want to open up a bigger can of worms but the migration of kids and families all comes on the back of them seeing other great players do it before them,” Simmons said. “It works hand-in-hand. It takes pioneer players and pioneer coaches to set a standard and everything else takes care of its self. Kendric is that for us. He’s one of the top players in the county and in the state. The Shrine Bowl selection proves that.

“I mean, as a Year 3 program, that we can have a player of that caliber says a lot, and he got developed here.”

Davis said Palisades has a motto that means everything to him and his teammates: “Do your job.”

He said that begins in the classroom and the weight room, being accountable to do your teammates to stay eligible and to stay strong, and then to do what you’re asked to do on the field.

He said that as long as Palisades continues to do that, the Pumas can definitely became the Tier 1 Charlotte program his coaches hopes for.

“We have got the talent for it and the coaches for it,” Davis said. “Coach Simmons is doing a good job over here. Every coaching position is good with college experience. People are going to find out about how coach Simmons develops players. I mean, for me, coming out of Harding, I was a good linebacker, but I became a great linebacker here.”