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Tar Heels Catch Butch Davis As New Coach

Nov 14, 2006

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — After weeks of "Will he or won't he?" the Tar Heels now have their man.

Officials at the University of North Carolina announced Monday afternoon that former Cleveland Browns and University of Miami football coach Butch Davis will replace UNC's John Bunting as head coach of the Tar Heels.

UNC officials said the university and Davis reached an agreement in principle last week for Davis to take over the head coaching position. Contract details will be released when the university's Board of Trustees approves them at a later date. The board is scehduled to meet on Wednesday.

UNC Chancellor James Moeser and Athletic Director Dick Baddour will introduce Davis as the head coach at a press conference on Nov. 27. Baddour said in a press release late Monday afternoon that Davis was the school's first choice to replace the ousted Bunting.

Athletic officials decided to delay the announcement of Davis' hiring and the introductory press conference to keep the football program's focus on the remaining games in the season, which Bunting will coach.

"(Bunting), his staff and the players have reacted to the events of the last several weeks with class," said Baddour. "They have prepared and played admirably under the circumstances."

Davis said in a statement that he agrees with the delay and that he'll spend the time before the official announcement teaching his son, Drew, "what it means to be a Tar Heel."

"It's one of the most outstanding universities and athletic programs in the country," Davis said. "The timing of my decision to consider coaching opportunities and the opening at UNC seemed to intersect perfectly."

Many observers previously indicated Davis was coming to UNC. Roger Brown, a columnist for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, said:

"Butch Davis will soon officially become head coach."

ACC expert David Glenn agreed. On his WRAL.com blog, David Glenn's ACC Journal, he's asked the question: "Is there any doubt in your mind that Butch Davis will be UNC's next football coach?" His answer: "No."

Both UNC and Davis' agent, Marvin Demoff, had previously told WRAL there was no deal. Tar Heel players told a different story, however.

"We can't stop Butch Davis -- we can't stop him from coming. He's already coming, no matter what. And we still just have to play football," UNC senior safety Kareen Taylor told reporters Saturday after UNC's 7-0 loss to Georgia Tech. "We're not going to quit just because a new coach is coming in. We're still playing. The young guys, you know, they're playing hard, because they'll be around when Butch is in. And the older guys just want to keep everything upbeat and keep playing."

Davis resigned as the Browns' coach midway through the 2004 season after four years in Cleveland. He has been out of coaching the past two years while working as a broadcaster.

"I am very impressed with Davis's record as both an outstanding coach and strong advocate of academic performance," Moeser said in a statement Monday. "My own personal interaction with Butch, supported by all of my conversations with faculty and administrators who have known him over the years, confirmed the view that he has the values and commitments we care about most at Carolina."

Previous coaching searches at North Carolina have fallen apart at the last minute.

Six years ago, Frank Beamer visited the campus before announcing the next day that he would remain at Virginia Tech, leading UNC to hire Bunting. Basketball coach Roy Williams turned down North Carolina to remain at Kansas in 2000. Three years later, he left the Jayhawks when offered the job a second time.

Davis, who turns 55 on Nov. 17, inherited a struggling Miami team in 1995 and rebuilt the Hurricanes into national title contenders. He went 11-1 during his final season at Miami in 2000. A year later, the team he built beat Nebraska under coach Larry Coker in the Rose Bowl to win the national championship.

By then, Davis was with the Browns. After four years, he resigned with a 24-35 record. His best Cleveland team probably was his second, which went 9-7 and reached the playoffs in 2002.