Why on Earth Would Arkansas Consider Butch Davis, the Guy Who Just Got UNC in Trouble with the NCAA?
By Jason McIntyre
Said Butch Davis fans seem to think he’s the man for the job at Arkansas. I’ll go ahead and strongly disagree with that.
Something to keep in mind before reading the following bullet points about why UNC got in trouble with the NCAA under Butch Davis: Jeff Long’s media session Tuesday night in Bud Walton arena about Bobby Petrino.
You think he’s going from that stand-up performance to hiring a guy who had this go on during his tenure?
Runner: Football assistant John Blake was a runner for deceased agent Gary Wichard. He received $31,000 in outside income and did not disclose a $45,000 payment from 2007.
Improper Benefits: Players accepted around $27,000 from multiple sources during 2009 and 2010.
Obstruction: One player misled investigators about who paid for trips he took in 2009 and 2010.
Academic Problems: A tutor named Jennifer Wiley provided 142 hours of free tutoring, a $150 plane ticket, $1,789 in parking fines, improperly wrote parts of and did research for papers and tried to evade the NCAA’s investigation.
Failure to Monitor: The university monitored neither the players nor the facilities adequately and should have noticed and investigated potential violations.
No way. Zero chance. My guess is you’ll hear these two names before Arkansas ultimately settles on an interim coach before going on a real search in November/December:
Bo Pelini, Nebraska. Loves to see his name in the headlines. Has a good offense but suspect defense returning. Arkansas is a top 7 team next season; Nebraska is a top 25 team. Pelini in the SEC would be spectacular. Petrino was making $3.6 million; Pelini is at $2.7. Would he jump from Lincoln to Fayetteville?
Gary Patterson, TCU. Yes, he rebuffed offers to stay with the rebuilding, Big 12-bound Horned Frogs. Seems like the drug story has blown over. It’ll take big bucks – what if he gets a bump offer from $2 mil per to $3 mil per? Would that do it?