In a move applauded by anyone who knew him, and in what was also a big surprise, the intramural field complex at Salisbury University is being named after longtime Salisbury rugby coach Dr. Robert Davis.

Doc Davis, now 73, started his coaching career at Salisbury in 1983 and has served as a volunteer coach for the 38 years since then (he stepped down as Head Coach in 2017 but continues to coach the forwards and the team's fitness). 

For decades Davis coached on a field on Salisbury University grounds that wasn't an especially flashy piece of grass. But a few years ago the school completely refurbished the space to make the intramural field complex, complete with rugby lines, and then, in an intriguing nod what rugby as done as a club sport on campus, attached the rugby team's shark logo to the fields. The University's official mascot is a seagull, but the rugby team has always been known as the Sharks, and this is a rare case of a university embracing that difference.

In late summer Doc's wife, Teri, was contacted about the idea of naming the fields after her husband, and she was urged to keep the project quiet. The project itself officially began with a fundraising requirement of $200,000 that needed to be raised by November 10. It was a short window but the Salisbury rugby alumni took up the challenge. The project was led by the alumni counsel and president Nick Capobianco (class of 2014) along with Teri Davis and the Davis family. The Salisbury rugby community raised $120,000 and the remaining $81,000 was organized by Teri Davis and the local Salisbury community. Anyone that donated over 1k will receive a engraved brick in the structure for the fitness area that is being built.

The money raised went to the new structure and fitness area on the fields, signage and other trappings, but Salisbury University is also sharing part of the funds raised—another thing you don't see a lot of colleges doing—and about 40% of the money raised will actually go into the rugby team's endowment. 

During this whole time Doc Davis was unaware of the project and it was kept secret until November 13. At the annual rugby alumni banquet he finally learned of the honor.

“Naming this field after Doc was just a small token of what he has meant to every player that has ever put in a Salisbury Rugby jersey," said current Salisbury Head Coach Bill Creese. "What he has done on the field has been great but, it’s what he has done off the field that has meant so much to all of us."

Still, what he's done on the field isn't bad, either. Doc Davis joins Jack Clark (Cal men) and Pete Steinberg (Penn State women) as the only US collegiate coaches to win a national championship in three different decades. Davis led the Sharks to national DII championships in 1996, 1997, 2004, and 2013.

He also took Salisbury to the DIAA final eight in 2018 and was the first coach to win four national DII titles. His Salisbury teams were also finalists in 1995, 2012, and in the 2013 fall title (in 2013 there were two championships as DII moved its 2013-14 final to the fall). Davis led his team to 15 final four appearances in 22 years, 17 Potomac Conference titles, and 15 Mid-Atlantic Union titles (from 1996 to 2012).