Butch Davis is going back on the sideline, finally.
You have to know Butch Davis was delighted to be named Florida International’s new football coach this week. The former Miami, Cleveland Browns and North Carolina head coach has been trying to get back in the game since leaving Chapel Hill amidst the first of two NCAA scandals. He has told many who asked him that the stigma from the academic improprieties at UNC made him unwanted.
At 64, Davis has to be doing it for love of the game. He is a millionaire many times over from his big contract with the Browns to the more than $10 million he extracted from Carolina during his abbreviated four-year stay here. Davis obviously wants one more chance to change his legacy, even if it’s on a smaller stage.
It is the second time he sought the FIU job, losing out to Mario Cristobal, in 2012. A folk hero to many in south Florida, despite bolting the Hurricanes for the NFL the day after he pledged he would stay, Davis has many connections there and also tried to get several other jobs in the Sunshine State, including a return to Miami when Al Golden was fired following the 2015 season. The position went to Miami alum Mark Richt despite Davis’ sterling 51-20 record in five seasons at the U.
Davis has spent the last few years working as a studio analyst for ESPN, most recently second banana to Mack Brown, who replaced the crusty old Lou Holtz on ESPN’s flagship station. He has a five-year contract at FIU and will need most of it to turn the unknown school into a Division I force, which was his goal after taking over from the John Bunting era with the Tar Heels.
You can bet Davis will begin putting a staff together by trying to hire his former offensive coordinator John Shoop, who is out of football right now and living in Asheville with his family after serving as OC at Purdue.
Shoop had one year left on his contact at UNC when Everett Withers’ one season as interim coach ended, and Shoop stayed in Chapel Hill and wrote a local column and did color commentary for high school games. He, too, will get one more shot back on the college sideline, if he wants it. Good luck to both former Tar Heels.
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