Barring something unforeseen, the University of North Carolina should announce Butch Davis as its new football coach sometime in the near future. We are told the two parties are very close to reaching a deal. Some media outlets are reporting Davis has already signed.
Not since the days of Jim Tatum in the late 50's, has Carolina brought in a football coach of such stature. In fact, only two of Carolina's previous six coaches were even college head coaches at the time they were hired.
Butch Davis has quite a resume. He served as defensive line coach on the Miami team that won the national championship in 1987. He was an assistant coach on Dallas Cowboy teams that won back to back Super Bowl titles. In 1995, Davis returned to Miami as its head coach. Davis' first mission as a college head coach was to restore respect to a program that had suffered major off-field problems and lost 31 scholarships due to NCAA sanctions. In six years, Davis' Hurricanes won 51 games and lost just 20, advancing as high as second in the national rankings.
In 2001, Davis left Miami for a three year stint as head coach of the Cleveland Browns. That year, Larry Coker, one of Davis' assistants, won the national championship with players Davis recruited. Davis coached Cleveland to a playoff spot during his second year. The Browns fired Davis during the 2004 season. They have not had a winning season since.
Those who know Butch Davis say he would not be coming to North Carolina without major commitments in the areas of salaries for assistant coaches and facilities. While Davis raised academic standards for football players at Miami, he would also want football to be on equal footing with basketball when the occasional academic exception is needed from the admissions office.
Davis would also not be coming to Chapel Hill unless he believed he could recruit championship level talent. North Carolina currently has 27 alumni in the NFL, one of the top figures in the country. John Bunting and his staff have done a very good job recruiting these last two campaigns. Davis has no doubt looked at UNC's NFL alumni and the returning talent and concluded that he can win and win big with the Tar Heels.
Davis has not coached in two years. He has told friends when he gets back in, it will be to take over a program that can win it all.
North Carolina has had several near misses with coaches in recent years. But it appears the school is about to put together a football/basketball combination that could rival any school in the country.
