Pete says the Butch stories are "totally false."

FIU executive director of sports and entertainment Pete Garcia said Monday afternoon when asked about the stories bouncing around the Internet that Butch Davis was in as FIU's next head football coach, "Butch Davis is not the FIU football coach. That story is totally false."

So, that's the official word from Camp Mitch for now. Still, I'd say expect an announcement Jan. 2-6.

Comments

[Nevin S]

Dang it they ruined the New Years Day surprise for everyone!

[jason]

no Pete did this to try to force Butch hand and it back fire now he better make a great hire

[Blue&GoldHeart]

PG said that "Butch is not the FIU coach" but, he didn't say "Butch won't be the FIU coach".

Butch WILL be the FIU coach. Awesome hire, GO FIU!

[FIUGAMENIGHT]

It is still the FSU OC the only person left in a bowel game.

[FIUGAMENIGHT]

Sorry I meant bowl game. The OB game doesn't look that good this year

[Peter Weinstein.]

If Pete Garcia gets Butch Davis, then Pete Garcia needs to get a raise. Butch Davis knows South Florida, knows talent, and knows football. No offence to Cristobal, but Butch is like getting a Mercedes compared to a Honda. Honda of course is a very good car, but not in the class of Mercedes. GO FIU....

[None]

If we are getting Butch why has he not started yet ?

[Nevin S]

I agree. He will be the new FIU football coach but someone leaked the information to soon.

[arlo]

Butch or not, I expect a great hire.

[paolo]

You Florida Intertube Pink Panthers fans are just dreaming if you think a guy with the legacy, tainted as it may be , of Butch Davis would ever want to coach for this lousy program, AD then you are in for a harsh reality. Why would any top-caliber coach want to coach for that lousy program knowing he has to compete with not 1 but 3 great, tradition filled schools in the state, one of which is in this city, of course?

FIWhO fans think that moving into C-USA that all of a sudden that it is going to help you in recruiting? The last time any relevant player came out of C-USA it was Chris Johnson from Eastern Carolina - Of which about a decade before had produced the second best from that Conference in David Garrard who also played at ECU. C-USA is as lousy a conference as The Rainbow Belt the Pink Panthers are coming from. Florida Intertube will always just be like a junior college for athletes in this state and country, not just in football but in all sports - Academics as well.

[Roaryismyhomeboy]

on behalf of your creator; sorry about the small willy paolo

[Eric]

I hope it's not Butch Davis or David Neal better ask question 1 at the press conference......how can u hire a coach that the NCAA stripped 2 years of wins because they got caught cheating. As a HC Butch needed to take responsibility because he knew what was going on. A guy like this doesn't get a second chance to embarrass a University again....this is why it can't be Butch, must be someone else....

[Eric]

Next candidate paper names is James Coley, Florida State OC....check out the stats when he was the Offensive Coordinator at FIU in 2006 and 2007, both years his offense ranked 117th out of 120 (2007) and 119 (2006). Now he is 24th in the country in 2012, but with stud players everywhere, what would he do here with marginal players...if a program that Garcia claims took a "step backwards".

It will take 2 full years to get this right. None of us have the patience to see our team lose in a weak Conf USA. We just lost recruits sitting around waiting for the bowl season or nfl to end. Will Pete fire his best friend if he doesn't turn it around in 2 years or Coley?

2 bowl games and a bad year seems like a mulligan to me. Get ready for 2-9 next year and maybe 4-8 the following year. Maybe we can hire Mario back when Garcia gets canned?

[I'm a M F'in Soldier!!!]

Hey Paolo, so what's your point?

[Hugh Vballz]

paolo, where did you attend? you are quite passionate about demeaning FIU. why?

[Blue&GoldHeart]

It's really funny how many Loser-Canes that have no what they are talking about come to this blog.

[gpantera]

Merry Christmas to all, even to those short-sighted, non-student, non-alum UM fans who claim to rep the 305 yet do nothing other than spew their venom on the 305's biggest school and only public 4 year+ university. Yes, even to those mislead souls, Merry Christmas.

[Guillermo Oliver]

Hey Paolo go back to the University of Coral Gables.

[jason]

ok lets put this puzzel together
1.) Pete leaked Butch name out, to see if Butch would fall for it,
2.) Butch has told us over and over and over that he is not taking the FIU job.
3.)So now Pete knows, he has to move to plan B.
4.)we are all in agreement that's down to Coley or Nutt
5.) lets have a vote
a.) Coley
b.) Nutt

[jason]

my vote is Nutt

[Nevin]

Butch Davis keeps denying it because the Bucs told him not to take the job yet. The new coach is Butch, no question about it.

[Trux]

The big question becomes how do we attract a big name with not much cash or incentives? Face it, the HC job doesn't pay well as Ark State, Western KY....and how in the hell do u get a staff with light pay for them. Fair questions which possibly means we settle for ex HCs fired or out of a job for a while. Not the big splash I was hoping for. In fact some of them can make more money on TV than trying to take on this role

[jason]

houston Nutt is still getting pay By Ole Miss Next 2 years so he will be a free

[Eric]

Rethinking this, I might have given Coley (FSU) too much credit with the 24th offensive ranking in 2012 for total offense. You got to figure that Jimbo calls the plays. So Coley must do a nice job letting Jimbo know the coverages so he can signal in personnel. No way Jimbo turned over play calling to Coley. I'm sure Coley adds value and is good but there is no way on a critical 3rd and 10 he is calling the play. 24th ranked offense is a bit misleading......

[JulesFIU07]

Paolo, quick question, do you meant intertube or inner tube? The former is a reference to the Internet, the latter to the interior air bladder of a tire. I think you mean the latter. If you're going to try and insult us, at least get your insult right.

[eric]

JulesFIU07 - no Paolo here. Just a FIU fan, not Miami the criminal school ready for more sanctions. My point has always been, our AD should be canned for his decision and making sure everyone knows the issues for his top replacements. Garcia's ego will set this program back years. There is a reason this job hasn't been filled yet. The wait until after Jan 1 is a smoke screen because no one wants the job and work for Pete. Let me ask u, who is your choice? Let's get the best one available!! No hating here

[Buc Nasty]

Strange business this FIU hire - either it's Butch and astute beat writer DJ Neal was mislead earlier or else it's not Butch and astute beat writer DJ Neal was mislead recently.

Most likely explanation seems that this is indeed a fiasco, Cristobal was fired because Garcia thought Butch was interested and he's wasn't.

Other explanations seem convoluted. If Butch is the guy I can't see why they would wait. Obviously it's not coming from the Buccaneers, they're not in the playoffs and he's not even a coach, he's a consultant. And FIU wants to wait so that this story is on the same front page as the national championship game in the local paper? That's worth all this angst? Butch is a big enough and frankly irrelevant enough name at this point that this story will be the sidebar of ESPN and SI for half a day regardless of what else is going on. Nationally, no one will care that FIU hired a coach and the most anyone will give this story will be, "oh, Butch Davis got a job".

Another possibility might be the unprecedented $1 contract, screw the coach's former school theory, which makes more sense in that it would be a big story because it's never been done before.

Hope it's Butch, if not him the OC from FSU would be a solid enough hire, but as an outsider looking in, this Garcia guy seems like a short sighted AD trying to do things the quick way rather than the right way.

Seems he'd rather make headlines for a day and rent a name like Isaiah Thomas or Butch Davis or a basketball coach with the same last name as his famous father for a few seasons than build a program to last with a guy who wants to be there.

[RD125]

Go Wiki Butch Davis (see below). This better be on everyone's mind when mentioning this guy. This was his last job...and destroys anything good he ever accomplished. Fair or unfair, you mention him and this comes up...and remember, he denies being part of it?

Academic Violations
In July 2010, the NCAA began investigating violations involving improper benefits provided by agents to current players at UNC. In September 2010, the NCAA opened a second prong of its investigation, this time involving possible improper tutor involvement with UNC student-athletes.In response to the investigation, local and national sports columnists called for Davis' termination, but some North Carolina fans still supported the coach. A survey of UNC fans reflected strong support for Coach Davis despite the ongoing investigation. Thirteen UNC football players were suspended for the team's season opener in Atlanta against the Louisiana State University Tigers, and the Tar Heels lost the game 30–24. The Tar Heels later lost to ACC rivals Miami, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, and NC State, but won their first game since 1981 in Virginia's Scott Stadium and gained their first win ever in FSU's Doak Campbell Stadium. In October 2010, wide receiver Greg Little, defensive tackle Marvin Austin, and defensive end Robert Quinn were ruled permanently ineligible after it was discovered they improperly accepted gifts from sports agents. Five other players were found guilty of accepting improper benefits and/or inappropriate academic assistance. On July 27, 2011, Davis was fired by UNC chancellor Holden Thorp amid an NCAA investigation of academic misconduct and allegations players receiving improper benefits from agents. Thorp said the move was necessary to restore confidence in UNC's integrity. On September 19, 2011, in response to an NCAA notice of allegations, UNC announced it was vacating all of the football team's wins from 2008 and 2009, saying that its own investigation revealed players competed during those seasons while ineligible. As a result, those two seasons are officially UNC's first winless seasons in the modern era.

[Sugar]

Get this clown off the board
Moby dick post took up half the page

[RD125]

Butch Davis Now Doing Coffee Runs for Greg Schiano
by Brian Barbour (SB Nation) on Feb 14, 2012 10:24 AM

That's what special assistants do right?

Former UNC head coach Butch Davis has been named a special assistant to the head coach for the Tampa Bay Bucaneers. New Bucaneers head coach, Greg Schiano, was an assistant coach under Davis at Miami. This move means Davis will no longer show up in the Blue Zone during UNC football games. However, UNC still owes Davis the rest of the $2.7 million buyout.

As part of his contract with UNC, Davis is entitled to $2.7 million in buyout monies for being let go “without cause” so long as he does not accept another coaching position. His role with Tampa Bay as an “advisor” opens up the opportunity for Davis to continue receiving annual payments of $590,000 every Jan. 15 from 2013-15 as well as gain employment compensation from the Buccaneers, although the details were not immediately known.

If Davis were to take a coaching job anywhere it affects the buyout he receives from UNC. However, since Davis is going to Tampa Bay in an "advisory" role the buyout remains unaffected.

[Diagodog]

Word in the pro shop is that Don Strock has finally corrected the putting and chipping problems that distracted him during the 2002-2006 seasons, and is now ready to return to his near-full part-time duty as Head Coach, subject to tee time availability at Trump National. Fans look forward to a resurgence of that "Hey, if you don't know how to play this game, don't expect ME to tell you," attitude that has served a number of former professional stars coaching at FIU.

[FIUfan]

Wikipedia lists Butch Davis as the FIU coach????

[Buc Nasty]

The Florida State beat writer at the Herald tweeted that Butch Davis was going to be the FIU coach, which was picked up by Yahoo! Sports, which was picked up on Wikipedia.

The beat writer, Yahoo!, and Wikipedia are all updated saying that's not the case.

Weird, wild stuff.

[Buc Nasty]

Even wilder, that one tweet, by the FSU beat writer, turned into "Butch Davis named BY FIU" headlines across a half dozen high profile media outlets.

[Diagodog]

I'm telling you, Strock is the guy.

[mike]

So he is not going to be the coach? We shall see Mr Garcia...but if you are lying, birds of a feather ...would make sense.