University of North Carolina Athletics
Davis Moving Ahead At Full Speed
December 19, 2006 | Football
Dec. 19, 2006
By Lee Pace
Butch Davis has been running full-speed since taking the Tar Heel head football coaching job nearly a month ago. Team meetings, recruiting, staff evaluations and interviews, and meeting-and-greeting assorted university administrators and supporters have gobbled up the hours since his introductory press conference on Nov. 27th.
"There is no shortage of irons in the fire over the last several weeks," Davis said Tuesday. "There are not nearly enough hours in the day, but we are working on it. We have a long way to go. We have a lot of things to do to get the program where it belongs."
Davis met with a dozen print media representatives Tuesday for a 60 minute conversation that touched on a variety of topics. The impression he leaves is one of a coach who is prepared, knowledgeable, experienced and absolutely in control.
He understands the arts and sciences of selling and evaluating in the recruiting domain, that good players are borne of more than 40 times and statistics. His management savvy extends to hiring coaches who will mesh as a cohesive unit; twice in talking about staff hires, he used the word "chemistry." Davis has appealed to his new players that everyone has a clean slate, a fresh start and that their futures are based on making a simple decision: Can they buy into what Davis himself and his staff will preach come 2007?
"The players who are reluctant tend to not do as well as the guys who say, `I trust you, if these are the things we need to do to win, I'm on board,'" Davis said. "Whether that's class attendance, lifting, position changes, any of the things that might come up over the next six months to a year and a half. The quicker they buy in, the better. If I was a player here, I'd be extraordinarily excited. Everyone starts from ground zero. You can write your own slate."
Davis talked about building relationships with high school prospects, their parents and coaches. He noted the changes in technology since he was last in the recruiting game (that with Miami in 2000), that he's having to learn to communicate with recruits via text-messaging.
"And I refuse to go to the computer and do the instant-messaging thing," he says. "I can't handle all the pop-ups."
But the essence of the recruiting game is the same at it was when Davis left Miami for the NFL after stocking the Hurricane talent cupboard with enough good players for Miami to win the 2001 national crown.
"It's no different from 30 years ago when I was a high school coach in Oklahoma," he said. "Do you trust the head coach? What's his history? What do his teams look like? We have so many great things to sell about Carolina. You sit in a home and you don't feel like you're a salesman. You just have to be someone who provides great information. We have a lot of great things to talk about."
Davis has hired three new coaches - offensive coaches Steve Hagen and Charlie Williams and defensive coach John Blake. He has chosen not to retain six coaches from the staff of former head coach John Bunting - Frank Cignetti, Dave Brock, Mark Weber, John Gutekunst, Danny Pearman and Andre Powell. The three other coaches remain on staff - Marvin Sanders, Ken Browning and Tommy Thigpen. Davis asks for patience in making decisions on who comes and who goes.
"I don't want a rush to judgment on anything," Davis said. "In putting a staff together, it's so important that chemistry is right. You look for dynamics, what can everyone bring to the staff, what are their credentials, expertise, knowledge? How are they as a recruiter? How do they interact with players? How important is it to them that players get a college education? I am not in a rush in this process. When we do get it finalized, I want to get it right."
Among items of interest from the new head coach are these:
"Just because John is not the head coach does not mean he won't be welcome here," Davis said. "When that day comes, when he feels comfortable, he is absolutely welcome here. Whether they are Mack Brown's players or Carl Torbush's players, I don't care. They laid it on the line and sold their souls to be great players, and I want them all to feel welcome."
