Butch Davis - University of Miami

University of Miami

Davis was hired as the head football coach at the University of Miami in January 1995. Not long after Davis was hired to head coach at the University of Miami, the Hurricanes were found to have committed several violations of NCAA rules during the tenure of his predecessor, Dennis Erickson. As a result, the Hurricanes were barred from postseason play in his first year (despite an 8–3 record) and lost 31 football scholarship spots over several years. Davis earned a 51–20 record during his tenure as head coach. During Davis' final year of coaching the team, the Hurricanes finished 11–1 and were ranked as the second best team in the country in 2000, but due to a quirk in the Bowl Championship Series formula, the team didn't play in that year's national championship game, the 2001 Orange Bowl. The Hurricanes were passed over in favor of the Florida State Seminoles, whom they'd beaten in the regular season and who lost the Orange Bowl to the Oklahoma Sooners 13-2. The Hurricanes earned recognition from the American Football Coaches Association for outstanding graduation rates in each of his six seasons at Miami. Numerous professional football players were coached or recruited by Davis in his time at Miami. Davis' smaller-than-usual recruiting classes are widely considered to have laid the foundation for Miami's undefeated national championship team of 2001 (under Davis' former offensive coordinator, Larry Coker), since many of his recruits were forced to play right away.