Former University of Miami and North Carolina head football coach Butch Davis has signed a five-year deal with FIU to become the university’s new head coach starting next year.
The deal was announced on Tuesday by Pete Garcia, FIU’s executive director of sports and entertainment, according to a university spokesperson.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am,” Davis said at a press conference at FIU Stadium. “I love this opportunity and I am grateful to be here, to be the football coach at FIU. I look at this challenge as one that has no limits.”
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The 64-year-old Davis becomes only the fifth head coach in the institution’s history. He had been a television analyst at ESPN.
“There is unbelievable passion here. It was contagious and it made me want to be a part of it,” Davis said.
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Davis served as an assistant coach under Jimmy Johnson at the University of Miami during the 1980s and as head coach from 1995 to 2001. Under his leadership, the Hurricanes won 51 games and lost only 20. They also won four bowl games.
The team went 11-1 in Davis’ last season as head coach. That year the team also won the Sugar Bowl.
From there, Davis accepted the position of head coach of the Cleveland Browns. Even after he left Miami, the hurricanes won the national championship the following season with many of the players Davis recruited.
Davis took the Browns to their last playoff appearance in 2002 before returning to college football in 2006 as head coach of the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. The Browns had only one winning season out of the last six prior to his arrival.
With him at the helm, the Tar Heels enjoyed three consecutive eight-win seasons and made three bowl appearances.
“This is a game-changer. And not just for FIU football, but for FIU Athletics,” said Garcia, who worked with Davis in both Miami and Cleveland. “He is a coach who will take this program to new heights.”
Davis replaces former head coach Ron Turner who was fired after an 0-4 start. Ron Cooper has ben serving as interim head coach.
The Panthers have failed to put together a winning season since 2011 under former head coach Mario Cristobal, who was a graduate assistant under Butch Davis while he was at UM.
“If one school can, why not us?” Davis asked. “If Northern Illinois, UCF, Houston and Boise State can get into January bowl games, why not us?”
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