WRAL Sports Fan

Butch Davis goes viral

By Joe Ovies
Nov 16, 2011

Butch Davis began his image rehabilitation initiative on Tuesday with a two-pronged approach featuring an op-ed piece in the local papers and a YouTube video.

The written portion featured plenty of words, but little substance. However, Davis' intent was clear. He wants to keep coaching. There will plenty of high profile jobs available when the season is over and Davis wants to be considered. That NCAA stuff? He's not in any of the allegations. Academics? That's North Carolina's issue, not his. In fact, Davis comes from a family of academics. Ask him, he'll be more than happy to tell you. So athletic directors shouldn't worry about any clouds that he might bring to their programs.

Fair enough. Sell the talking points that are factually accurate, point to the best aspects of your resume. and hope folks don't go asking deeper questions. No, seriously. Don't ask for more clarification. Davis claims massive amounts of misinformation floating out there, but doesn't feel the need to give a detailed rebuttal.

A curious decision, but not on the level of his viral video attempt. I'm still trying to figure out what purpose it served.

Typically when coaches take to YouTube, or any other online endeavor, it's an awkward attempt to keep up with what the kids are into. For instance, part of Duke's "This Is How We Hoop" web initiative featured Coach K talking to fans through YouTube. It was casual affair not to be taken seriously. And people didn't, it was ridiculed for the most part by the usual suspects.

Davis' video wasn't that. It was a serious attempt at answering critics and putting North Carolina chancellor Holden Thorp on blast. Unfortunately it's hard to take him seriously when he even dodges his own questions.

Tar Heels fans that are convinced university officials are trying to keep football down are eating it up, likely pumping their fist and saying "yeah, take that Thorp!"

Pause for a second and listen to what Davis is saying, though. It contradicts the notion North Carolina isn't interested in football.

The Blue Zone? Their idea, not his. Heck, he even donated cash for it. John Blake? Hey, they signed off on him. That academic scandal? Look at the department head, he was a sports fanboy.

North Carolina positioned themselves to be serious about football. Officials identified Davis as the missing piece, the CEO who could put it all together. Did Davis explicitly ask for facilities upgrades? No. But would Davis have taken the job without that commitment? Of course not. That fact popped up even after he arrived and got a season under his belt. Flirtations with other programs were put to rest with further commitments to football and a little extra dough for his bank account.

The Heels got what they paid for early on. Football needed its own identity and Davis was savvy enough to make it happen. Signing day became a multimedia experience. ESPN checked out a Spring game. Davis tinkered with uniforms to further cement a new identity. Even the game day experience had Davis fingerprints all over it.

Davis knew what he wanted. Davis knew how to do it. That's why he was a commodity 5 years ago. But now? Davis wants us to believe that all these things were out of his control and he was just a worker bee instead of running the nest.

Savvy athletic directors won't bite on it. I can imagine they might watch Davis' video with the same bewilderment. They probably don't know which Davis they would get if they were to hire him. The coach who takes credit for all the success at Miami or the coach who couldn't possibly keep track and was overwhelmed in Chapel Hill?