Apparently, the Butch Davis-to-FIU speculation can cease.
The lawyer for the former North Carolina and Miami head coach confirmed to both the Tampa Tribune and Miami Herald Sunday that his client will remain as a special assistant with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. “[Davis] will not be taking the FIU job,” Davis’ attorney, Jon Sasser, told the Herald.
No reason was given for the abrupt about-face on Davis’ part.
The lawyer’s acknowledgement seemingly ends nearly a month’s worth of rumor that first surfaced when Mario Cristobal was unexpectedly fired by the school.
Christmas Eve, the Herald reported that would be the next head coach at FIU. That report was quickly knocked down by the athletic director, with Pete Garcia labeling it “totally false.”
Four days later, FOXSports.com reported that FIU is “set to sign Davis to a multiyear contract averaging roughly $500,000 a season.” The hold up, per that website, was the fact that UNC did not want to pay the remainder of the buyout owed to Davis — $1.77 million spread evenly over the next three years — if he accepted the FIU job.
According to Sasser, there was never any type of settlement agreement between UNC and Davis, intimating that the school did nothing to block the coach from taking the FIU job.