He's the former walk-on who played so well last year that Ute football coaches were able to make their biggest off-season move, shifting All-America candidate strong safety Arnold Parker to cornerback, where he's expected to just shut down half of the field.
"Dave Revill has just come so far at strong safety we felt we weren't losing anything (by moving Parker)," said Utah safeties coach Bill Busch. Revill, the 5-foot-11, 205-pound junior, who played running back and linebacker at Alta High, has gone from strong to free to strong safety on The Hill.
"We felt he was one of our best 11 (defensive) players. He just outworks everyone. He's diligent, physical, does all the little things right, runs very well; he's always in the right place," Busch said.
"He's not a big guy, very compact, but he has great change of direction and is extremely physical. He's as hard-nosed a kid as I've coached. He's not faint of heart."
Busch said Revill's game speed is greater than his timed 4.68-second 40-yard dash. "He has great 'football speed.' Tremendous 'game speed.' He just has that knack," said Busch.
For Revill to shine in this group of safeties is very impressive because Busch is delighted with all his personnel. "I've never coached a group as knowledgeable, top to bottom," he said. "Whatever we put in, they can handle immediately." All make good on-field adjustments, and, "they know what all 11 guys on the field are doing. They understand."
Revill, married for three years now to Carlye, calls his work ethic and knowledge of the game his best assets but also points out he's "one of the stronger DBs, I think" with a 405-pound squat and 330 bench press. He hopes that doesn't sound like bragging.
The change isn't a huge one for Revill because he started four games at strong safety last year when the Utes opened in the nickel package that put Parker in an extra cornerback role. Revill made 31 tackles, 17 unassisted, seven for loss, and had two interceptions and two pass breakups. He returned an interception against South Florida 47 yards.
But Revill was a bit surprised last spring when Parker was moved permanently to corner, though he knew it had been discussed. "I just smiled. It made me real happy," he said. "I was pretty excited. I told my wife, my dad and my mom. But I was worried if Arnold was happy."
In high school, Revill had a strong junior year that drew Ute defensive coordinator Kyle Whittingham to recruit him as a safety, along with some other schools. Whittingham stayed with him, even after he missed several games with injury as a senior. He walked on at the U. but has since earned a scholarship after redshirting in 1999 and playing four games on special teams in 2000.
Now he's got a full-time starting job earlier than even he had hoped.
"I expected to work my way in there, expected to be an observer the first couple of years," said Revill, a business major.
He found the change from preps to college ball a big one and took a bit to settle into the strong-safety role, which requires a grasp of the opponent's running game and hard collisions with running backs. "Now, I'm used to it. When I was first got here, it was pretty hard to get the hang of what to do. It took me a year to get everything down," he said. "I just worked hard and gave every practice my all, gave everything I have to the team and tried my hardest to learn and listen to the coaches.
"It paid off."
E-MAIL: lham@desnews.com