Tom Davis is a success.

No, not the former Drake and Iowa coach, but Iowa State’s – and now the Washington Nationals’ – very own Tom Davis.

A 2005 graduate of the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, Davis is currently entertainment coordinator for the Washington Nationals, formerly the Montreal Expos.

Along with his job title comes responsibility.

“I’m in charge of booking the national anthem singer, and in charge of the first pitch. I also do the military flyovers, color guards, and sometimes I’ll have a band come in and play a 30-minute set,” Davis said. “We also have a president’s race that I organize with the heads of the Mt. Rushmore presidents. The heads alone are over four feet tall.”

Even with this load of work, an opportunity to work with an MLB organization- in an office only a few yards away from a view of the field – makes it all worthwhile for Davis.

“It’s my dream job. I’ve been in the organization since ’05 as a public relations intern, and I’m happy right now to say baseball is my life,” Davis said.

Davis mixed the perfect potion of luck, skill, hard work and good timing to land in the position to have his “dream job.”

“I originally saw a posting on Nationals.com for the ‘Nat Pack,'” Davis said. “I sent in the resume and a got a call back. From there I flew out and did the interview, and I got offered the position as part of the Nat Pack. I soon realized I was the only person crazy enough to go across the country to make only $50 a game.

“Soon after that, Josh Golden, my boss, introduced me to the head of public relations, and I basically worked with them for free the entire 2005 season. In 2006, I was more involved with entertainment purposes, and now I’m doing this,” Davis said.

Josh Golden is the director of creative and entertainment services for the Nationals, and he always knew Davis would excel at his job.

“My first impressions of Tom were that he had a lot of energy and spirit. I thought he possessed the right amount of energy and passion to be a real pro,” Golden said.

These were Golden’s first notions. Davis impressed his boss on another level once he actually got his hands on a job with the team’s executive office.

“Tom has handled his new job very well. There was a lot put on his plate and quickly,” Golden said. “He’s adapted fine, which is something you need for his job. He’s just been remarkable.”

Before Golden was able to have an influence on Davis’ life and career, there was current ISU lecturer Erin Wilgenbusch. Wilgenbusch teaches public relations courses, and Davis said she was his biggest influence while he was at Iowa State.

Wilgenbusch said his success is a result of his perfect personality.

“He has a big personality,” Wilgenbusch said. “People just tend to gravitate to him. He’s a lot of fun and genuinely cares about people. I could tell he was going to be successful, it just goes back to his personality and his ability to warm up those around him.”

While in Wilgenbusch’s class, Tom once sang “Happy Birthday” for a classmate in front of the whole room. He has also proclaimed his love for his favorite baseball team – not the Nationals, but the Chicago Cubs.

“I remember it was around World Series time in 2004, and I’m a huge Yankee fan, he’s a Cub,” Wilgenbusch said. “Every day of the American League Championship Series he came to class in white T-shirts. He must have bought a new pack or something, and each day he had different negative sayings on his shirt about the Yankees.”

Davis remains a huge Cubs fan to this day but said “it’s a conflict of interest, because at the end of the day the Nationals are signing my paycheck.”

So what happens when the Cubs and Nationals square off against each other?

“I gotta go with the Cubs. Growing up in Ellsworth, Iowa, everyone is a Cubs fan,” Davis said. “People around the clubhouse root for the Nationals, but we still have our allegiances, and mine is with the Cubs.”

Maybe one day Davis can mold his goals for the future while working for the Cubs, but for now he’s with the Nationals, and knows what he wants his future to hold.

“I’d really like to be seen as someone who takes this job to the next level,” Davis said. “Eventually I would like to have another me from another club calling me and asking how I did something.”

Golden can foresee Davis’ future goals being met and then some.

“He will do whatever he wants to in the future,” Golden said. “I see him being one of the top decision-makers with whatever he wants to do, and he’ll succeed at it.”