Two seasons after his unceremonious exit from North Carolina, Butch Davis has found his way back into the coaching game. Reportedly.
Patrick Nohe of the Miami Herald wrote in a tweet earlier this afternoon that he “can confirm that the next head coach of FIU will be Butch Davis.” The school has yet to confirm the hiring of the former UNC and Miami head coach.
The move comes a week after Texas defensive coordinator Manny Diaz reportedly pulled his name from consideration.
The 61-year-old Davis, currently working as a special assistant in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers organization, would replace Mario Cristobal, who was abruptly and surprisingly canned earlier this month.
Davis was fired by the Tar Heels a month before the start of the 2011 season in the midst of a scandal involving impermissible benefits to football players as well as academic improprieties. The NCAA did not directly accuse Davis of any wrongdoing in handing down sanctions on the football program, and the coach has long maintained his innocence.
This past summer, Davis made it clear that he would like to return to coaching. Davis had hoped to be a serious candidate for the USF job, which ultimately went to Willie Taggart. He was also mentioned as a candidate for the Tennessee and Arkansas vacancies.
With the hiring, assuming it indeed comes to fruition, there will be no head coaching vacancies at the FBS level. For now.
UPDATED 8:39 p.m. ET: FIU athletic director Pete Garcia told the Miami Herald -- the same paper that broke Davis’ apparent hiring -- that “Butch Davis is not the FIU football coach. That story is totally false.”
So, there’s that.
