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Butch Davis is back, reportedly as Florida International’s new coach

Whatever you may think of Butch Davis, he has a long line of success.

From being the defensive coordinator of Dallas' back-to-back Super Bowl teams in the early 1990s, to building Miami's incredibly talented roster later in the decade, to leading North Carolina to three straight eight-win seasons, Davis has been part of a lot of wins. And before making a joke about his time with the Cleveland Browns, it's worth noting that the newest incarnation of the Browns has made one playoff appearance, and Davis led that team.

Now Davis will see if he can recreate his success at a smaller school. Davis has been hired as Florida International's head coach, according to Patrik Nohe of the Miami Herald. (UPDATE: The Miami Herald later reported that FIU athletic director Pete Garcia called the report "totally false.")

Davis' reported hiring comes just a few days after the Martin Report claimed that a scandal at North Carolina was not an athletic scandal but an academic one, and Davis' lawyer said the report's findings prove his client's innocence. Davis was fired just before the 2011 season by North Carolina amid NCAA investigations into academic wrongdoing and impermissible benefits, although Davis was never directly implicated in those scandals.

"For the past two years, a few loud voices in this community have clamored that Butch Davis has somehow tarnished the reputation of the University of North Carolina. The Martin Report has confirmed that the opposite is true," Davis attorney Jon Sasser said in a statement according to NBC17.com.

"Gov. Martin expressly found that this was 'not an athletic scandal as originally speculated,' and no coach had 'anything to do' with it. He further found that these practices were set in place a decade before Butch Davis arrived in Chapel Hill.

"Separate investigations by UNC, the NCAA, and Gov. Martin have now unanimously concurred with what those who have worked with Coach Davis already knew: He has always valued education, and he has consistently honored the letter and spirit of the rules."

Davis spent the last season working as a consultant for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He would be an intriguing fit with a FIU program that had been building when it abruptly fired Mario Cristobal.

With Davis, FIU would at least be interesting to track.

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