Football
- Title:
- Cornerbacks
- Email:
- davenport_ds@mercer.edu
- Phone:
- (478) 301-4613
Dominique Davenport enters his fourth season as the defensive quality control coach and cornerbacks coach at Mercer University.
For the third consecutive year, the Mercer defensive backs forced double-digit interceptions under Davenport in the 2015 season. The Bears were one of three teams in the SoCon to record 11+ interceptions over the season. The success of the secondary played a major role in the defense allowing a league-best 21.6 points per game.
Davenport helped mentor a group that led Mercer to the top of the Southern Conference rankings in interceptions with 13 on the year. Leading the Bears’ secondary in 2014 was All-SoCon selection Alex Avant, who blossomed in 2014 under Davenport’s guidance. The junior cornerback topped the SoCon and ranked second nationally with 19 passes defended, while also adding three picks.
In 2013, he helped oversee a defensive unit that finished the season ranked 12th in the FCS in rushing defense, after surrendering just 117.3 yards per contest in the Bears’ long-awaited return to the gridiron. The defense posted two shutouts during Mercer’s record-breaking season, while holding six opponents under 21 points or less.
Davenport made his way to Mercer from First Coast High School in Jacksonville, Fla., where he served as the defensive backs coach from 2011-2012.
While at First Coast, Davenport coached four defensive backs now playing Division I FBS football and helped lead the team to its best record in program history (13-1), losing in the State 7-A Championship game.
Before his coaching stint at First Coast, Davenport was a standout student-athlete at Coastal Carolina University. He played from 2006-2010 and was a three-year starter at safety for the Chanticleers.
He was a First Team All-Big South selection in 2010 and played in the FCS Senior Scout Bowl after his senior season. His Coastal Carolina teams won two Big South Championships during his career and he left the program ranked third in career tackles and fifth in career interceptions.
Davenport was heavily involved in Fellowship of Christian Athletes during his collegiate career and was a campus outreach student leader from 2007-2010. He graduated from Coastal Carolina in 2010 with a bachelor’s of arts degree in history and a minor in business management.
He married the former Rachel Ann Derango of Winter Park, Fla. in May, 2014.
