Butch Out?

TOB has a special message for Butch Davis

 

From ESPN Insider potential replacements AFTER the 2011 season.


Gus Malzahn
He could've had the Vanderbilt job, but passed. The Auburn Tigers offensive coordinator is a hot commodity and figures to get some consideration for any college opening, and the UNC job, despite the NCAA's dark cloud hanging over Chapel Hill, is still intriguing. The ACC is a winnable league. The facilities are good. Yes, it is still "a basketball school," but you'd be working in a great college town, with an outstanding education to sell and very underrated history.

Players like Malzahn, and his uptempo offensive scheme is a proven commodity. Malzahn's system would be an attractive sell to offensive recruits. The downside is that before Davis, the two previous UNC coaches really hadn't been proven college head coaches before.

Kevin Sumlin
The former Purdue linebacker is 23-16 in three seasons with the Houston Cougars and would've won more games than that had his team not lost their top two QBs to injury early in 2010. Expect the Cougars to bounce back and have another double-figure-win season and crack the top 25 this season.
Sumlin is destined for bigger things. Everyone who comes in contact with this guy comes away impressed. He also runs a prolific, wide-open offensive system. Even though Sumlin has never worked in the ACC, he has coached in the Big Ten and Big 12. He would be a very smart, safe hire … if they could get him.

Troy Calhoun
The Air Force Falcons head coach is terrific, having gone 34-18. He's had schools with openings check as to whether he'd be interested to leave AFA before, but word he is he loves it there. Still, the one-time Wake Forest Demon Deacons offensive coordinator might be tempted to run the show in Chapel Hill. At the very least, looking at a guy who has been as successful as he has been at one of the academies might be a good idea for a program in the midst of an NCAA mess.

Kirby Smart
He's not quite the defensive equivalent to Malzahn, considering that Smart, Alabama's defensive coordinator, works under defensive guru Nick Saban. Still, Smart's pedigree is impressive and he has coached in the ACC from his days as a grad assistant at FSU.

Bud Foster
The defensive whiz of Blacksburg is in his 50s now, and he's been with the Virginia Tech Hokies for more than 20 years. He deserves a shot to run his own program, but you wonder if some administrators are skeptical because of the fact that no one else has given him the keys.

K.C. Keeler
The name may not be familiar, but this guy has won a ton of games at Delaware in the FCS and has gone 162-63-1 in his 18-year coaching career. The former Delaware linebacker is 52 and deserves to get a look from some FBS programs.

 

They might be lucky to hire a Pop Warner coach by the time the NCAA is done with them. Who in the world would want to go there?

 

Phil Fulmer ?

 

Good for the Heels. Seriously, IMHO this move was in the best interest of the University. Only question is what took so long?

 

I agree. Actually I thought they would (or should have) let him go a long time ago. It seems like most in Chapel Hill were supporting him, so like alot of people I'm wondering why now.

 

Whole plan all along was to pin this on players and a rogue coach. I'm guessing when they saw Butch's 216 phone number records, they realized that game was up and better cut now to see if the NCAA will take mercy on them. Not to mention that they had been telling the incoming class of recruits that this would all go away but it's so late in the game that they might not be able to leave now. The Carolina Motto: To seem rather than to be!

 

Maybe some new board members swayed the balance from the pro Butch side to the "WTF are we thinking for keeping him" side. Anyway, the timing is weird. If the admin fired him "to restore the reputation of the University" it missed the boat by many, many months.

 

Something definitely seems to have come up since media days.


11 AM Press Conference.

 

Glad to note that NC State is now the bottom ranked academic institution in the ACC. Yep, Va Tech has now kicked your ass.

Posts like this make me wonder why it took so long.