Piles of trophies. Numerous medals. During his reign, the boys’ cross country and middle distance track coach has brought home copious awards. However, his retirement this year brings the end to a long lasting legacy.
Originally, Bret Davis began coaching basketball at Andrews High School in 2008. However, after some miscommunication from the track coach at the time, he was given the role of coaching the girls’ team.
“That year in track, they had nobody in the girls’ position and I had just in a conversation said… ‘Well, that’s interesting’. And they took that as you want the job,” Davis said.
Since then, Davis has been actively involved in the running community, even after transferring to Wando. However, according to Davis, his perspective has changed from his first year of coaching to now.
“When you’re a young adult, it’s all about the competitiveness and not wanting to lose,” Davis said. “But I think you get a little bit older with it and you start to say okay, it actually is more about the relationships and it’s about setting a good example for these young student athletes as far as showing up on time [and] doing the right thing.”
As a coach, Davis not only strives to push his athletes, but to help them develop a passion for their sport, among other things.
“I think a lot of it is just a passion for the sport, but then also a passion for anything that you can take a step back… and find something that you really enjoy,” Davis said. “I think when you can kind of share that enthusiasm and then get other people to buy into that enthusiasm, and then carry that over into aspects of their own life… find something that you’re passionate about… and then look at how it can pay off.”
Junior Emily Steiner, a member of the record setting 4x400m relay team and track mid distance group, has noticed a difference in Davis compared to the coaches that she has had in the past.
“He creates a very motivating environment and it can sometimes be competitive,” Steiner said. “When we do our workouts, we go in groups based off of speed, so we’re with people who are going to push us. And it’s also motivating because sometimes we do workouts where everyone [goes] one at a time and everyone else cheers us on.”
However, Steiner also recalls that Davis has not only helped her stay motivated, but has also influenced her to be a pioneer for her team.
“He also taught me a lot [about] leadership because this year, I’m… one of the leaders for our group,” Steiner said. “He’s taught me how to be a good leader and how to motivate other people like he’s motivated me.”
According to Steiner, Davis always makes the effort to support his athletes physically and emotionally.
“He doesn’t show his emotions very much, and he’s always pretty serious,” Steiner said. “But then after state when we broke the record… he texted us after and it was a super nice message saying that [he] can’t wait to see what we have in store for the future.”
Although last year was a success for Steiner, she realizes that next year will be different now that Davis will no longer be her coach.
“For me, track isn’t just like the running part and their results; it’s also the community and the team part. So obviously, without him, the team [will] be very different,” Steiner said. “I need someone to be hard on me and not every coach is like that, but it shows that he cares so much.”
Like Steiner, senior Jake Liebert has a similar relationship with Davis. Although Liebert was the South Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year and 3x Cross Country State Champion, Davis makes sure to humble him through his victories.
“He’s definitely kept me humble. He makes fun of me a lot… there’s not one race I don’t go to where I didn’t have to clean the bus when everyone leaves,” Liebert said. “He showed me that I’m not too big.”
Liebert also contributes a large amount of his success to Davis and the lessons he learned under his guidance.
“He’s a big reason why I’m so successful. He just got me to fall in love with the sport and
just to make it easy and fun,” Liebert said.
