Butch Davis Won't Return to FIU in 2022, Criticizes School Administration

Former Miami and North Carolina coach Butch Davis will not return for the 2022 season and added some sharp criticisms of the school's administration, whom he accuses of "sabotaging" the team, according to Brett McMurphy of the Action Network.

According to McMurphy, the school has declined Davis's request for a one-year extension once his current deal expires on Dec. 15. Over the weekend, he was informed that this will be his final year with the Panthers.

FIU posted a job opening for a head football coach in early October, which led to some questions about Davis's status. FIU is 1–9 this season. 

"This year has been a nightmare," he said, according to McMurphy. “You can imagine the players’ reaction when a head coach’s job was posted online. The administration has been sabotaging the program. Their decisions to post the job has resulted in a major negative impact on the football program and our ability to recruit and retain players.”

Davis cited a number of financial challenges that the program faces, affecting everything from recruiting to team equipment. Due to budget constraints and the impact of COVID-19, Davis says that his staff was not allowed to recruit on the road over the past two years. The team has not had new uniforms in nine years and even resorted to wearing used pads from Mississippi State after he discovered the team was using decade-old equipment when he took over in 2017.

"They were five years old," Davis told McMurphy. "But they were new to us."

Davis was hired in 2016 and won 17 games through his first two seasons. FIU slipped to 6–7 in Davis's third season and lost the Camellia Bowl. The team went 0–5 in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season. This season, the team is winless against Conference USA opponents. 

Athletic director Pete Garcia stepped down last week.

The Panthers program becomes the 11th with a head football coach vacancy for 2022.