Former Miami Hurricanes head coach Butch Davis has interest in coming home. With Miami firing Al Golden as head coach Sunday evening, Davis has jumped in line to be a candidate for the job.
In a radio interview Monday morning on 790 The Ticket in Miami, Davis said he would like to be considered for the job. Davis certainly has Miami roots, but he also has a bit of a checkered past from his time after leaving Miami.
Butch Davis tells @790TheTicket (in the least shocking revelation ever) that he wants the Miami job. "I'd love to be considered," he said.
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) October 26, 2015
Butch wasn't subtle, pointing out how he had 54 scholarships to work with. "The most important thing is to rally the family," he told 790.
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) October 26, 2015
Davis took over the job of head coach at Miami in 1995 after Dennis Erickson took a job with the Seattle Seahawks after turning down offers to coach the Denver Broncos and Philadelphia Eagles. Davis had previously been an assistant coach at Miami under former Hurricanes coach Jimmy Johnson. Davis joined Johnson in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys and stayed in Dallas from 1989 through 1994. Davis was a perfect fit for Miami in 1995, but it would take a few years to get Miami to resemble a national power worthy of national title aspirations. Davis left Miami following his only double-digit win season with the program (2000), and Larry Coker finished the national title mission a year later as Davis was the head coach of the Cleveland Browns. Davis lasted three seasons in Cleveland, being forced to resign after a 3-8 start in 2004.
After a few years off, Davis returned to the sidelines as the head coach at North Carolina. After three consecutive 8-5 seasons in Chapel Hill, Davis was fired by the university amid allegations of academic misconduct and improper benefits to players under the watch of Davis.
There is probably a pretty good chance Davis would receive a warmer welcome to the Miami family from former Miami players. Many players were vocal about their displeasure over the hiring of Golden years ago because he was not perceived to be a Miami guy (Golden played for Joe Paterno at Penn State, making him about as much of an opposite of a Miami guy as there could be), and many have celebrated the firing of Golden in the past 24 hours. Davis being a former assistant during Miami’s prime and one who came back to build a championship-caliber team would seem to be enough to receive a warm welcome from the Miami family.