Butch Davis named as new football head coach

FIU Football HelmetPhoto by PantherNOW

Peter Holland, Jr.//Asst. Sports Director

On Nov. 14, FIU confirmed Butch Davis has agreed to a five-year contract to be the University’s new football head coach.

This was after rumors from multiple sources speculating that Davis was the frontrunner for the position. Athletic Director Pete Garcia and Davis were both at University of Miami, where Davis was the head coach for The Miami Hurricanes.

For six seasons, Davis lead the Hurricanes to a 51-20 record; that includes three Big East Championship titles and one BCS National Championship title in 2001.

He then stepped down to accept the NFL head coaching position for the Cleveland Browns. In 2002, he led the Browns to their only playoff appearance after their relaunch as a franchise in 1999.

After stepping down in 2002, Davis came back to college to be the head coach for the University of North Carolina in 2006, holding a record of 28-23 for four seasons. Five years later, he was fired after academic fraud by the NCAA from the university’s athletics department involving some of his players.

Before being hired at the University, Davis was working for ESPN as a college football analyst.

Garcia has been struggling for a winning season for the football program since being launched in 2002. Their only two bowl appearance was in 2010 and 2011 under former Head Coach Mario Cristobal, before being fired in 2012 after a 4-8 season. After the hiring of Ron Turner as head coach, the Panthers went 12-39. He was fired earlier this season after an 0-4 start. Defensive Coordinator Ron Cooper has been the interim head coach this season and the Panthers are now 3-7 with two more games left to play.

A press conference is scheduled for Nov. 15 at 2:30 p.m to introduce Davis.

Student Media will bring more details as the story develops.

Be the first to comment on "Butch Davis named as new football head coach"

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.


*