Coach Butch Davis News Conference

Jan. 4, 2001

Press Conference audio
Butch Davis

CORAL GABLES, FL – University of Miami head football coach Butch Davis held his end of the season press conference today at the Hecht Athletic Complex. The main topics of the press conference where to discuss the results of the FedEx Orange Bowl, the promotion of Chuck Pagano to defensive coordinator and final thoughts of the 2000 season.

A transcript of the press conference follows below:

On Oklahoma and their victory over Florida State last night:

First of all, I would like to publicly congratulate Oklahoma. I think certainly they deserve to be national champions, they go 13-0, they played a very, very good schedule, and beat a very good football team last night and beat them pretty handily. It’s a great tribute to Bob Stoops and his staff. They did a great job capitalizing on a terrific opportunity, playing the role of the underdog and emotionally their football team was extremely well prepared and played at a very high level last night, they deserve a lot of credit.

On promoting Chuck Pagano to Defensive Coordinator:

I have known Chuck for a long period of time, going back to the middle `80’s. He has been an outstanding coach, a terrific recruiter and the proof was in the success that our defense enjoyed the other night. Watching the way Chuck handled everything with special teams, if you’re a good football coach, you’re a good football coach regardless of a title or what people ask you to do. We have been phenomenal on special teams, we were outstanding on special teams when we were a bad team and to a large extent Chuck deserves a tremendous amount of credit. I am very proud that Chuck is going to be the defensive coordinator, I think he’s going to do an outstanding job…I thought the defensive coaches did a fabulous job, we didn’t miss a beat in the month of December, not one crumb fell through the cracks in preparation for the game against Florida. Our players bought into the plan, bought into the idea of what we were going to do in the ballgame, the plan was outstanding, the execution was very good, the meetings, the practice, the organization, I don’t think we missed one single beat, and as evidence we played extremely well the other night.

Reflecting on the Nokia Sugar Bowl:

I thought our team played very, very well and I think our players took it as a great challenge to try to play the best game they can. We talk about themes every year, and we stress to play the best game you can the last game of the season, and we have done that. 4-0 in bowl games and I think in all four of those we have played extremely well in the course of those games. It was not pretty at times, I think Kenny Dorsey struggled a little bit early in the ballgame, but I thought our offensive coaches did a great job of giving him some chances to get back into a rhythm. Certainly the running game played a big part in that in the 2nd quarter when we were able to establish the run and some passing success. Our special teams again played extremely well, they (Florida) had 6 yards returned for the night, that’s a pretty good performance. We avoided any bad, negative plays in the kicking game, something you’re always concerned about when you have five weeks off before a ballgame. One of the questions I have been asked is `why do you think you played so well,’ I think the key was that the leadership of our football team showed up. We left south Florida the day after Christmas on a plane that had no football players on it, and three o’clock that afternoon every football player was there waiting for us at the hotel except Jeremy Shockey who was snowed in and couldn’t get there. The week started with the mindset that they were there for the right reasons, they wanted to be there and were being on time. Our kids had the right attitude, they were focused all week, they wanted to play well, they knew obviously the implications and possibilities and so certainly they took advantage of that.

On the 2000 season:

This season has been a great season. Regardless of last night’s outcome, we’re proud of this football team, 11-1, they did everything we could ever ask them to do. They were unselfish, they played extremely hard, they prepared one game at a time every week, and played very, very well. Although we didn’t get a chance to share a national championship, nothing is going to tarnish and spoil this season for us. It was a great season and nothing will ever take away from that.

How are you going to replace this great receiving core of Santana Moss, Reggie Wayne and Andre King?

We got some players on the team that are talented, but it is going to be like the offensive line and tight end positions last year, they are going to be enormously inexperienced and how quickly and how productive the spring they will have will have a big baring on that.

With Oklahoma winning last night, do you think that there is still a need for some review of the system (BCS) in the off-season?

Absolutely and I think that there will be, I think of all the disappointment from last night was the fact that we were not the team getting the chance to play Oklahoma. When you played someone head-to-head and you have beaten that particular individual and you have identical same records, we would have loved to have that opportunity. There might be some possibility of reviewing score differentials, is that going to be a major thing, our they going to put a cap on all the computers with head-to-head competition…with any system, even Roy Kramer has said it wasn’t the perfect system, it’s a system we have been working with right now, maybe it needs to be tweaked a little bit, maybe it doesn’t…

Are you confident that all the juniors will be coming back?

The only thing I can do is take them at their word, they all have said they are coming back. Last year we didn’t think we were going to loose anybody and we had an unforeseen thing happen with Nat Webster. Juniors are going to listen, they are going to be open-minded, but every kid is going to be different. Most of our kids recognize that most of our guys stayed and look at what positive things happened. For example Dan Morgan stayed, but he could have left and been conceivably a mid-second to late-second round pick. But now he has won every major defensive award and an All-American, he elevated his stock to a first rounder.

What are your thoughts on next year’s schedule?

With Florida St., Penn St. and Washington coming to town, you want to talk about strength of schedule outside your conference, I think that is about as tough as anybody in the country is going to have it. It will be a challenge, but that is the glamour of being at Miami, you are going to get a chance to play against the best and a chance to prove it.

What are your thoughts on some of your seniors competing on the next level?

I think some of the evidence is that so many of our players have the opportunity to play in all-star games. We have 9 guys selected to play in post-season all-star games of our 17 seniors. I think realistically 8 or 9 of those guys will get drafted, and maybe 2 or 3 might sign as free agents and this is a by-product of when a team has success, people look at you in a favorable light.

What is latest with the contract situation?

Paul Dee and I meet this morning and I had a conversation with Marvin (Demoff) yesterday, he and Paul talked and Paul said he felt like things were going great. He just had to get it approved by the board of trustees sometime hopefully today, so sometime in the next day or so.

Are you looking for a secondary coach?

We are looking for a good football coach. We need somebody to come in and add some good chemistry to our staff. We have great kids and it is important that whoever the next person is believes in treating players the same way we treat them, being honest with them, coaching them hard, but coaching them fair. Somebody that is a good recruiter, somebody that will really add something to our staff.