Although Davies insisted at the time of his resignation at Scranton that he was done with coaching, he was hired in March 1941 to take over as the head football coach for the Western Reserve University Red Cats. Davies served seven years as head coach at Western Reserve, although there was no team from 1943 to 1945 due to World War II, but was discharged in October 1947 by the University Board of Athletics. The dismissal came 24 hours after members of the team demanded that they finish the year under another coach.