Report: Butch Davis Agrees To Become FIU Head Coach
FIU found its next head football coach, as Butch Davis will try to rebuild the Golden Panthers. The former Miami and UNC head coach replaces Ron Turner, who was fired after four games this season.
FIU has found its next head football coach, as Butch Davis will try to rebuild the Golden Panthers. The former Miami and UNC head coach replaces Ron Turner, who was fired after four games this season.
Florida International has found its next head football coach.
According to ESPN’s Brett McMurphy, Golden Panthers AD Pete Garcia has hired Butch Davis, the former Miami and UNC head coach. The ESPN TV analyst has reportedly received a five-year deal.
FIU is 3-7 and 3-3 in Conference USA play this fall, with a mark of 3-3 under interim head coach Ron Cooper.
This news was somewhat expected because Davis and Garcia are close. In fact, Garcia actually thought he had a real chance to land Davis when FIU dismissed Mario Cristobal in December 2012, but that turned out to not be the case.
Despite enjoying his time on the ESPN college football set, Davis had been looking for an opportunity to get back into the coaching game, and this so happens to be in a very familiar state. Davis, of course, was once the leader of the Hurricanes, going 51-20 overall and 33-9 in league play in six seasons running the program in Coral Gables. He also went 4-0 in bowl games.
Davis then left the college game for a job with the NFL’s Cleveland Browns, where he posted a 24-35 overall record.
When he returned to the college ranks, Davis took over at North Carolina, where he went 28-23 overall and 15-17 in the ACC. In July 2011, Davis was fired by UNC chancellor Holden Thorp amid an NCAA investigation of academic misconduct and allegations players received improper benefits from agents.
There is no doubt that Davis can put together a winning program and groom future head coaches. Some of the individuals to branch off from the Davis coaching tree include Chuck Pagano, Greg Schiano, Randy Shannon, Rob Chudzinski, Todd Bowles and the aforementioned Mario Cristobal. So he has been successful during his collegiate stops.
But it will be interesting to see how Davis performs in a Group of Five gig and if he will want to parlay it into a bigger job down the road.
For now, though, Davis will be happy to just be back on the sideline after having his tenure in Chapel Hill come to an ignominious end.
