CFB AM: Butch Davis wants to build one more Miami Hurricanes dynasty

Published Dec. 23, 2014 9:40 a.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

Teddy Mitrosilis

Could the architect of Miami’s most recent glory days be returning to The U?

Butch Davis said he would be interested in the Canes’ job if it ever came open and the opportunity presented itself.

“I don’t think there’s any question that it’s a top-notch job,” Davis said on the Joe Rose Show in South Florida. “You can’t have that in your backyard of the number of athletes and players and the history and the tradition. Honestly, there’s 95 percent of the teams in the country that would kill to be able to sit in a home visit and say I represent a school that’s a private institution, that’s got a great academic reputation and has won five national championships in the last two or three decades.

“If it ever came open and people thought that I’d be the right choice, I certainly would be interested because we’ve always loved South Florida. I still live there.”

There are three issues blocking that dream. First, the Canes have a coach in Al Golden and the job is not open. Second, the leadership of the university is turning over, with president Donna Shalala on her way out, and there’s no guarantee that the future of Miami will feel any connection to the Davis era of the late 1990s, when he built the Canes into a powerhouse before leaving for the Cleveland Browns job in 2001.

Third, and most importantly, is that Davis was the head coach at North Carolina during a period of rampant academic fraud. Fairly or unfairly, that scandal will be partially assigned to his name and it’s unclear if a university would want to hire a currently-63-year-old coach with that on his record. Davis defended himself against the UNC academic scandal on the Joe Rose Show.

“I think this thing has been investigated maybe more than the assassination of President Kennedy,” Davis said. “Through all eight of these investigations, they’ve never drawn any association. I’ve never been named in any of these and then the NCAA -- I received a letter from them stating that I was completely exonerated from any of the stuff.”

However it plays out, there’s certainly a lot of love for Davis among former Canes players in the Miami community, and he’d presumably be welcomed home by the legion of players who made Miami “The U.” It was all of Davis’ building efforts that led to Larry Coker’s national championship with the Canes in 2001. If Davis could reenergize that place and get the Canes rolling again, it would be a whole lot of fun for the sport.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. Monday gave us a great Miami Beach Bowl, with Memphis beating BYU in double overtime, 55-48, which earned the Tigers a 10-win season for the first time since 1938. There was some clutch kicking in overtime, but Memphis QB Paxton Lynch was the star of the game with seven total TDs. Just a tremendous year for Justin Fuente’s team and fortunately the Tigers locked him up to an extension recently to keep him there a bit longer.

Unfortunately, however, a huge brawl erupted immediately after the game and stole all the attention away from Memphis’ win.

There were some ugly cheap shots, like this:

And this:

Here’s more video of how it started:

2. Colorado State has found a new head coach to replace Jim McElwain, and it will be Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo. ''He understands the game extremely well. He's an old-school ball coach as far as getting after it,'' Georgia coach Mark Richt recently said of Bobo. ''But he sees the big picture, too. He's got all the ingredients. I'm not shocked that this is happening.''

Meanwhile, Pat Forde reports that Michigan State defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi has emerged as the leading candidate to get the Pitt job. That would, by all accounts, be a tremendous hire for Pittsburgh and hopefully Narduzzi is a guy who would stay a while and build that place.

3. The lawyer for Jameis Winston’s accuser said the “fix was in” for the code of conduct hearing. Another day, another round of opportunistic legal spin from attorneys on both sides. We’re not anywhere near this case being resolved in terms of Winston being able to put it behind him and move forward with his life. Also on Monday, Winston’s attorney promised to bring his own lawsuit(s) if the accuser’s side took Winston to civil court.

THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

1. It’s too early to know what effects, positive and negative, the College Football Playoff will have on the bowl system at large, but Stewart Mandel writes on how the playoff has hurt the Rose Bowl’s business. Ticket sales are down as some Florida State fans don’t want to travel to the site they were at just last year, while others save up their money for a potential national championship game trip. Oregon fans are more inclined to travel to the game, with its traditional Pac-12 ties and the fan base being located on the West Coast. The Ducks have sold out their allotment of tickets and received an additional 4,000 to serve the rest of their season ticketholders. I imagine the Rose Bowl will be full come Jan. 1, but it’s an interesting development to follow.

2. On Monday, I wrote up a post for Outkick on the top 10 viral stories of 2014. It’s fun to look back on the season and all the moments that inspired us to consume content online and share it with our friends. It was another reminder how fantastic this college football season was. Check it out if you have a couple minutes.

3. No real surprise here but noteworthy: Arizona State WR Jaelen Strong will enter the 2015 NFL Draft.

THREE THINGS YOU MAY WANT TO KNOW

1. In the spirit of the holiday season, Tennessee coach Butch Jones did a great thing by surprising a walk-on with a scholarship. Check it out:

2. Speaking of playoff tickets, for those scouring for Sugar Bowl seats, please note that Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine issued a statement on Monday saying there’s been at least two instances of fraud with fans trying to purchase Sugar Bowl tickets online. The average ticket price on the secondary market is around $400. Tickets going for much less compared to the average in a certain section should raise some questions for you.

3. Looks like four-star linebacker Quart’e Sapp has a lot to wade through before he makes a decision on his future:

LASTLY

* Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen was rewarded with the Maxwell Football Club’s George Munger Award, which honors the top coach in the country. Congrats to Mullen and the Bulldogs on a fine season.

* Former South Carolina star Marcus Lattimore will be back in school for the spring semester and is on track to get his degree in January 2016. He’s also working out an official role to be an “ambassador” to the football program and university. Great news for a guy whose playing career was cut short due to knee injuries. He’ll make a good coach or university leader in the future if that’s what he wants to do.

* Who else is as fired up about today as Memphis tight end Alan Cross?

Have a great Tuesday, everybody. 

Teddy Mitrosilis is an editor and writer for FOXSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TMitrosilis and email him at tmitrosilis@gmail.com.

share