University of North Carolina Athletics
Brewer: Davis Finally Sees Kenan
November 28, 2006 | Football
Nov. 28, 2006
CAROLINES
y Rick Brewer
Butch Davis saw his new office for the first time Monday, but doesn't plan to be in it very much for the next two months.
There are players to recruit.
Davis had never even been in Kenan Stadium and had seen only a small portion of the town once before being officially introduced as Carolina's 33rd football in an afternoon press conference.
"We drove up from Southern Pines once two summers ago to pick my son Drew up from golf camp," said Davis. "That's the only time I had been in Chapel Hill."
That would seem unusual considering the commitment he is making here. But, he said he didn't have to see the facilities to know this was a job he wanted.
Davis said that he and his wife Tammy had been talking for the last 18 months about getting back into college coaching. They put together a small list of schools that would interest them if an opening should develop there. That included Carolina.
All his negotiations about the job with Athletic Director Dick Baddour were done out of town or on the telephone.
The press conference was televised live and also broadcast on radio. In addition to the live TV feed, another dozen television stations had cameras on hand. Davis had to wade through about 20 print photographers to get into the ballroom at the George Watts Hill Alumni Building.
In addition to the media, about 100 athletic department employees and University officials were on hand to hear him talk about his plans to bring Carolina back to national football prominence.
"There's not going to be a timeline," he said. "This is going to be a process of working every day to build a better team. There is no magic formula for winning. This not going to happen instantaneously."
Davis started that process immediately following his press responsibilities. He headed back to his office to begin looking at film of high school players who have already orally agreed to attend Carolina. He planned to begin calling each player as soon as possible.
"My number one goal is to get into the homes of those players as soon as possible," he said.
Davis has a lot of ground to cover quickly. Because of NCAA rules he has been unable to have any contact with potential student-athletes until the season was over and he could replace John Bunting on the coaching staff.
While hiring his own staff is important, Davis doesn't plan to rush into it. He was going to meet with Bunting's assistants Tuesday to see if any of them might fit into his plans.
"I have been amazed at the number of quality coaches who have called and expressed an interest in working here," he said. "It's important to get the right group of assistants. Some might be involved with college bowl games or in the NFL. If I have to wait to get the right coaches, that's fine."
Baddour didn't have to wait to go after Davis for the head coaching job.
"Butch was the man we wanted from the beginning," said Baddour. "From my first meeting with him I knew he was right for this job and he told me how interested he was in Carolina. We agreed we would not talk with anyone else and he agreed not to look into any other job openings."
Baddour had no trouble convincing Chancellor James Moeser that Davis was the man Carolina wanted.
"After talking with Butch and to people at Miami, I knew he would be a perfect fit here," said Moeser. "I found out how much work he had done to put Miami's program back in order and raise graduation rates."
When Davis became Miami's head coach in 1995, the program was on NCAA probation. That included the loss of 31 scholarships over three years. But, in six seasons he led the Hurricanes to a 51-20 record and four bowl victories. Miami finished second in the nation in 2000 with an 11-1 record.
Just as important to Moeser was the fact Miami earned recognition from the American Football Coaches Association for outstanding graduation rates in each of his six years there.
"Sure, we want to win championships, be in a BCS bowl and play for a national championship," said Davis "I want guys who will get a chance to play in the NFL.
"But, if I go into a home and a player tells me that getting to the NFL is the only reason he wants to come here, I'll tell him he needs to go somewhere else. Only a few guys make it to that level. I want kids who want to come here for an education."
Carolina has struggled over the last five seasons and posted just a 19-40 record. Davis says he knows little about those teams. He has been working as an analyst for the NFL Network.
Davis knows this will be a rebuilding job. It's different than the one at Miami, but a lot of work has to be done before the program is where he wants it.
"There is always going to be adversity," he said. "Even great teams have adversity. Championship teams are ones that learn how to deal with it."
And there was the inevitable question about basketball. Can he build a football program at a school so well known for basketball?
"Michigan, Texas, Ohio State and Oklahoma have done it," he said. "I think a great basketball program can help us in football. Can you imagine a student-athlete who wouldn't want to see the Carolina-Kentucky basketball game? I know I do.
"I admire what Coach Smith did here for so long and now what Roy is doing. That's the type football program we want to have."
Following the formal press conference, Davis handled some short one-on-one interviews and did live interviews with the local television stations.
Then he headed back to his fourth floor office at the Kenan Football Center. There was film to be watched.
