What If - Butch Davis Returns in 2007?

[GojiraCane]

With Mario now aboard the talk of a Butch Davis restoration now is permanently closed. But there were pushes in 2006 and 2015 for his hiring, as well as other points in between. I’d like to focus on the former - late 2006. Butch was considered I believe, but ultimately ended up at North Carolina.

My question is how would a still relatively young Davis had done had he returned for the 2007 season? Would the fact that he had already left the program once before negate the recruiting prowess he otherwise possessed? Had the SEC’s ramp up of their bag game in the intervening years been too difficult to surmount? Would he have been able to root out the Shapiro time bomb before it detonated?

A lot of unanswered what if questions, but I think that any legitimate chance of success for Davis in Miami would have been in the 2007-2010 window, had he returned. Too much had changed by 2015 for a Butch comeback.

 

[Cribby]

At the very least there’s no covid

 

[JG13]

 

[Bird4um]

View attachment 170092

Melanotan2 would work well for that family.

 

[filmcane]

With Mario now aboard the talk of a Butch Davis restoration now is permanently closed. But there were pushes in 2006 and 2015 for his hiring, as well as other points in between. I’d like to focus on the former - late 2006. Butch was considered I believe, but ultimately ended up at North Carolina.

My question is how would a still relatively young Davis had done had he returned for the 2007 season? Would the fact that he had already left the program once before negate the recruiting prowess he otherwise possessed? Had the SEC’s ramp up of their bag game in the intervening years been too difficult to surmount? Would he have been able to root out the Shapiro time bomb before it detonated?

A lot of unanswered what if questions, but I think that any legitimate chance of success for Davis in Miami would have been in the 2007-2010 window, had he returned. Too much had changed by 2015 for a Butch comeback.

We should have brought him back. The school always "knew better" but you can't convince me he wouldn't have done better than everyone that was hired after he left (excluding Mario).

Would Butch have brought us back the way he did the first time? Hard to know and my guess is probably not. However, he would've had us competitive and we would've won the Coastal nearly every year with him at Miami. Oh well...

Glad we have the Cuban Butch!!!

 

[TheEye]

I think Urban Meyer and Tebow still stomps on Butch’s team. I think Jimbo still beats his team. I think Butch would have recruited better than Shannon, Golden and Richt, but not to the point of setting records like his fans seem to expect.

 

[Golsen82]

I think if Butch were here in 2007 Manny wouldn't have lost to him

 

[Hardcore Cane]

Always wanted to see Butch come back to Miami.

You know the administration wasn’t serious about winning when they wouldn’t bring back a coach that built one of the best college football teams in history.

 

[Mel Bernstein]

Butch was still putting players in the NFL back then. Look at some of the players he recruited at UNC. At a minimum, he would have saved us from Shannon and Golden.

 

[ajkreider]

We get the death penalty

 

[canes_aaron]

Should have hired Leach in 07

 

[mcanerich]

JC that was 2007, I could still feel the 201,2002 and 2003 Cane teams then. It’s now 2022 almost, I’m looking forward in my limited time left on this earth. Yes I know if I don’t want to see this just avoid it. But guys let’s forget finally about Butch and be happy we are at least going ( I hope) in the right direction.

 

[My2Sense]

My God, we must be bored....Aren't posts like these supposed to be reserved for April & May? When nothing else is going in CFP?

And to directly answer your query - my thinking is that Butch's super power was as a talent evaluator in the pre-internet age. So much had changed - even by 2007 - that his exceptional abilities as a recruiter of undiscovered talent were largely nullified.

That's why I was never on the BBB bandwagon. Great recruiter in another era but nothing more once the world changed...

 

[SWFLHurricane]

I think Urban Meyer and Tebow still stomps on Butch’s team. I think Jimbo still beats his team. I think Butch would have recruited better than Shannon, Golden and Richt, but not to the point of setting records like his fans seem to expect.

Soooo...he signed 4 Historic Classes from 97-2000...and all of a sudden he'd have forgot to recruit from 2001 onward??....Gotcha....

 

[who]

#6, #7, #8, #9, #10, ….

 

[Tad Footeball]

We get the death penalty

Exactly. The NCAA would've found a way to crush us the moment it looked like we were coming back and Butch absolutely wouldn't have received the same cover he did at Nike U East/Darlin' of the All Carolina Conference.

 

[TheEye]

Soooo...he signed 4 Historic Classes from 97-2000...and all of a sudden he'd have forgot to recruit from 2001 onward??....Gotcha....

With the money UF and FSU had injected into their programs and Nick Saban just starting at Bama, yes. Butch wasn't going to have those same results. It may be a different story if Butch had a top AD and budget like Mario is going to have, though.

 

[RangerGranger]

Butch was still putting players in the NFL back then. Look at some of the players he recruited at UNC. At a minimum, he would have saved us from Shannon and Golden.

There were like 15 players from the 09(?) UNC team that were on active NFL rosters the year after.

Dude could 'croot.

 

[Unsider]

As suggested on other threads, I believe Butch would be good for analyst or talent evaluator positions, nothing more.

 

[sdaly12]

i would not discount Butch Davis being involved as an analyst for Super Mario. great , i mean great at talent evals. and all the folks at Hecht and hated Butch are either gone or their power has been diminished by new AD/HC