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Report: Florida International hires ex-UNC, Miami coach Butch Davis
Butch Davis is reportedly returning to the sidelines as an FBS head coach.
After weeks of reports linking him to the opening at Florida International, Davis, the former head coach at Miami and North Carolina, has apparently accepted the job. In a brief news story on its website, ESPN said Butch Davis, who has been working at the network as an analyst, is leaving “immediately” for the FIU job.
ESPN’s Brett McMurphy says it’s a five-year deal for Davis. Davis’ hiring is expected to be announced by the university on Tuesday afternoon.
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Davis hasn’t coached since 2010, his last year at North Carolina. Davis had a 28-23 record in four seasons with the Tar Heels, but was forced out amid the fallout of an NCAA investigation into academic fraud. As a result of the investigation, two of Davis’ seasons — back-to-back 8-5 records in 2008 and 2009 — were wiped from the record books.
Davis’ other college head-coaching gig came at the University of Miami from 1995-2000. Under Davis, the Hurricanes went 51-20, won three Big East titles and the 2000 Sugar Bowl, so he is certainly familiar with the football landscape in south Florida.
Davis left Miami after the 2000 season to become the head coach of the Cleveland Browns. His stint in Cleveland ended during his fourth season, when he was let go after a 3-8 start. The Browns had a 24-35 record under Davis, who is the last coach to lead the franchise to the playoffs when he did it in 2002. Cleveland lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers that year in the Wild Card round.
Before he got his first head-coaching job with Miami, Davis served as the defensive line coach for the Hurricanes from 1984-1988. He also was an assistant at Oklahoma State (1979-1983) and with the Dallas Cowboys from 1989-1994.
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Davis takes over for Ron Turner, who was fired in September after the Panthers got off to an 0-4 start. In parts of four seasons at FIU, Turner amassed a 10-30 record. His best season came in 2015, when FIU went 5-7.
FIU has only two winning seasons — 2010 and 2011 — since the program began in 2002. Those seasons came under current Alabama offensive line coach Mario Cristobal, who was fired after the team went 3-9 in 2012. Turner was brought in just as FIU made the move from the Sun Belt to Conference USA. The team has a 10-20 record in league play since joining CUSA.
This year, the Panthers are 3-7 overall. They started the year 0-4 but rebounded to win their first three conference games. Since then, the Panthers have lost three in a row heading into Saturday’s home game against Marshall.
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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
