FIU hires Butch Davis as next head FB coach

[MinerInWisconsin]

That's a splashy hire by FIU and makes the statement that they intend on having a good FB program. I'm sure he didn't come cheap and there is no guarantee that he will succeed but recruits will take notice for sure.

http://www.espn.com/college-footbal...tional-hires-espn-butch-davis-next-head-coach

 

[CubsFan81]

Lucky FIU. Must be nice to have an AD who actually cares.

 

[LaserCoog]

Lucky FIU. Must be nice to have an AD who actually cares.

No luck at all, just an athletic program, administration, and fan base willing to make a commitment to fielding a legit, competitive football program. And you can believe the commitment started with, and the orders were received from, the AD's boss.

Davis is a good hire, FIU obviously elected to go the established coach route. That's one model. Another model, my recommendation for UTEP, would be the Tulsa model. Tulsa was extremely competitive, top 25ish good, when they were in C-USA, but then floundered in the AAC. Presto, bring in Phillip Montgomery (former Offensive Coordinator under Briles at both Houston and Baylor), deep recruiting ties in Texas, and he's got Tulsa really humming in two season. They are legit, three losses this season, at Ohio State and close road losses to Houston and Navy. All on the road.

Bottom line, even in a state dominated by two Big 12 programs, Tulsa isn't making excuses, or content to take a back seat to anyone, it's moving ahead. And BTW, you may already know, Tulsa is not only an elite academic school, it is the smallest enrollment school in FBS (yes, smaller than Rice). If any school had legitimate "reasons" to accept mediocrity, it would be Tulsa.

JMHO...

 

[MinerInWisconsin]

No luck at all, just an athletic program, administration, and fan base willing to make a commitment to fielding a legit, competitive football program. And you can believe the commitment started with, and the orders were received from, the AD's boss.

Davis is a good hire, FIU obviously elected to go the established coach route. That's one model. Another model, my recommendation for UTEP, would be the Tulsa model. Tulsa was extremely competitive, top 25ish good, when they were in C-USA, but then floundered in the AAC. Presto, bring in Phillip Montgomery (former Offensive Coordinator under Briles at both Houston and Baylor), deep recruiting ties in Texas, and he's got Tulsa really humming in two season. They are legit, three losses this season, at Ohio State and close road losses to Houston and Navy. All on the road.

Bottom line, even in a state dominated by two Big 12 programs, Tulsa isn't making excuses, or content to take a back seat to anyone, it's moving ahead. And BTW, you may already know, Tulsa is not only an elite academic school, it is the smallest enrollment school in FBS (yes, smaller than Rice). If any school had legitimate "reasons" to accept mediocrity, it would be Tulsa.

JMHO...

Good points. I would leave off the fan base reference since even when winning, they really don't have one at FIU. But they do seem determined to get that FB program on a winning track so good for them.

One concern I have is that Stull, if left to his own devices, will do nothing until after Kugler's last season, 2017. And then, if he stays true to form, he will respond to questions about the coaching search and potential salary by saying, "well, we aren't Texas you know", or something like that. He has said that before. I think your previous posts about replacing the AD first is a very good idea. Right now the UTEP athletic dept seems to have no energy, no fresh ideas. Time for the 70+ year old AD to pack it in and give someone younger with more energy and creativity the keys to the athletic dept.

 

[LaserCoog]

@Wisconsin, good point, perhaps instead of "fan base" I should have said "key donors". You're much closer to the program than me, but I have absolutely zero confidence in Stull. Unless ordered otherwise, as I've said, he will not ditch Kugler this year. You know, like he's all of a sudden going to start recruiting, start winning, and put together a competent staff in year 5. He's going to sink this program to 1970 lows...

 

[nattybry]

2-10, 7-6, 5-7, and this year whatever losing record we end up is not acceptable to anyone anywhere except at Utep apparently

 

[utep2step]

Davis is a "Bob the Builder" FBS coach. His schtick is rebuilding programs and has a reputation of being good at it. So FIU hiring of Butch is looking to rebuild then hand off the program to someone Davis trusts from his coaching tree. But FBS being FBS, you have a 3 to 5 year window to show improvement, otherwise all bets are off.

This was supposed to happen under Price. He was going to build up the program then hand off to his son or one of his coordinators. It didn't work out obviously.

 

[FarWestTexas]

Back when Uncle Bob made good decisions, he did pass up on Sergio Rouco!

 

[Cube Jack]

Davis stunk as a head coach in the NFL, but then many college coaches do.

 

[LaserCoog]

Davis stunk as a head coach in the NFL, but then many college coaches do.

So did Nick Sabin...

 

[Cube Jack]

...and Bobby Petrino

 

[JCorona]

Also Steve Spurrier. We need to make a solid hire that tells the country we want to take football seriously.

 

[Minerinciter]

 

[Miners Fight]

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for all of you jumping on the Davis bandwagon, have you forgotten that the UNC academic fraud case had its beginning while he was coaching? I'm not saying he is guilty but he was in charge when the fecal matter hit the whirling mechanism. He and the AD at the time are gone. Y iz dat?