The University of North Carolina Tar Heels are having a very good season.
Currently, they sit at 7-2, ranked 17th in the country, and are tied for first in the ACC's Coastal Division. Virginia Tech is the only team that can knock UNC out of the ACC Championship Game without the Heels losing a game.
That's the good.
The bad is...this. According to published reports, the University of Tennessee is attempting to lure head coach Butch Davis away from Chapel Hill. Last year, it was Arkansas, Butch's alma mater, that showed interest. That interest cost UNC almost $300,000 a year, and also resulted in promises being made for facililty improvements at Kenan Stadium. All of that followed a 4-8 first season in Chapel Hill.
This year, the team is better, and the (apparent) suitor is much more serious. Rumors are flying about UT potentially offering Nick Saban money ($4 million+) to lure Butch away. If true, UNC may not be able to keep Butch with a few hundred thousand dollars and some extra seats.
Two years, two rumors. Most likely, two raises. That is the problem with "Rock Star" coaches like Davis. As long as he is at UNC, whether it's for two more months or five years, there will always be a traditional "football" school that thinks they can lure him away. If UNC keeps him, it will get expensive...especially if the idea that "whatever Butch gets, Roy Williams gets" is true.
I wonder if UNC can continue promising Butch improved facilities, while at the same time doing nothing to the Dean Dome. Will ol' Roy start to get miffed? I don't believe that Roy will sit idly by while a football coach makes demand after demand. The one problem is that Roy doesn't really have any leverage. Everyone knows that Roy is at his dream job, which also happens to be THE big dog in college basketball. In order for Roy to get rumors started, he'd have to flirt with an NBA team (like Coach K a few years ago), and I just don't think Roy can convince anyone he'd leave UNC for the NBA.
Butch Davis' leaving UNC wouldn't surprise anyone.
Contrary to popular belief, most State fans I know don't think Davis is leaving. They also don't care one way or the other. It's just funny to see the "dance" start every season. UNC signed Davis to a larger contract than any football coach at the school had ever had...and if Butch is still the coach on New Year's Day, they will likely have given him raises after each of his first two years.
Can UNC afford to pay Butch $4 million a season? Should UNC add the 6 or 7 thousand seats (at a cost of $$millions) to Kenan Stadium it will take to make him happy? If Butch gets a big raise at the end of the year, how much will the assistants' pay go up? Will Butch actually agree NOT to let his agent float his name out next season? Will this process start all over again in a few weeks if Charlie Weis gets fired at Notre Dame?
Stay tuned...the show is just beginning.
