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Hurricane Butch

The storm that has improved the landscape and image of Miami football
by: Kevin Kaminski
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For the better part of 12 seasons, fear and loathing fueled the University of Miami.

Dressed in orange and white, but invariably cast in black, the Hurricanes were the unofficial scourge of college football. They were the team you loved to hate, but dreaded seeing on your schedule.

And with good reason.

Embarking on one of the most dominant stretches in the sport's history, the Hurricanes ravaged the Division I-A landscape with NFL-bound talent and WWF-like attitude. Between Jan. 2, 1984, when freshman quarterback Bernie Kosar and his teammates stunned Nebraska at the Orange Bowl, and New Year's night in 1995, when Tom Osborne's Cornhuskers returned the favor, Miami played for eight national championships. Four times the Hurricanes emerged victorious.

It wasn't success as much as swagger, however, which soured those outside of South Florida on Miami.

These were the Hurricanes of Michael Irvin. Jerome Brown. The Blades brothers, Bennie and Brian. Cortez Kennedy. Randal Hill. Lamar Thomas. Russell Maryland. Leon Searcy. Warren Sapp. Players who combined jaw-dropping athleticism with in-your-face bravado.

These were the Hurricanes who wore military fatigues to a pre-Fiesta Bowl gathering with Joe Paterno and his buttoned-down Penn State Nittany Lions in 1986. The Hurricanes who counted rap stars among the friends of the program. The team which throttled Texas 46-3 at the 1991 Cotton Bowl - but collected 202 yards worth of penalties in the process.

These were the Hurricanes, along with everything attached to that connotation, which Butch Davis inherited when he took over as head coach in 1995. But when the NCAA drove a stake through the program in October of that same year, it signaled the end of an era.

Image had been everything at the University of Miami. And if Davis had his way, it would be again. But not unless he could initiate a complete make-over.

"The image problem had carried over into so many different areas," Davis said. "Bowls were reluctant to invite us. Advertisers were hedging their involvement with the program. And with officials, you knew going into a game that you were going to get about three times the number of calls against you.

"There had to be a change in our reputation. We needed different role models. It was no longer, 'Can he run a 4.3, or bench-press 400 pounds?' We were looking for high character players who valued integrity. ... We wanted the community, and the nation, to start seeing our players in a different light."

But before Davis could begin flipping the switch on perception, he and his staff had to trudge through the darkest period in the program's history.

That Davis has survived it all with optimism intact - not to mention the fact that his Hurricanes are poised to rejoin the nation's I-A heavyweights in 2000 - continues to make for one of the most refreshing storylines in college football.

• • • • • • • •

Sitting before Hurricanes' athletic director Paul Dee late on a January 1995 night in Dallas was one of the hottest coaching prospects in the NFL. In six seasons with the Cowboys, Davis had served as an assistant to Jimmy Johnson on two Super Bowl teams. As defensive coordinator from 1993-94, Davis' units had wreaked havoc on offenses throughout the league. After allowing the fewest regular-season touchdowns (21) in team history in 1993, the '94 Cowboys topped the NFL in total defense and passing defense. Shortly before Dee came to town, Al Davis had interviewed the then-43-year-old for the vacant Raiders head coaching job.

Butch Davis was in serious demand.

But Dee held a couple of trump cards. First, he could offer Davis the top position at a school where he spent five highly successful years (1984-88) with Johnson as defensive line coach. Second, he could extend this man of character and principle an opportunity to redefine the program on his terms.

Despite knowing full well the NCAA was about to drop the hammer on the Hurricanes, Davis couldn't pass up such a challenge. On Jan. 24, 1995, eight days before the national letter-of-intent signing period began, he was introduced as the 18th head coach in the school's history. Incredibly, Davis was able to land a nationally-ranked recruiting class, and the team went on to post an 8-3 mark.

But the veil of impending doom under which the Hurricanes had been operating finally crashed in October.

For some time, the NCAA (and later the FBI) had been investigating a scandal involving a university administrator's misuse of Pell Grant funds. Though more non-athletes than athletes received extra Pell Grant money from the administrator - who the FBI determined acted alone - the NCAA felt there was an overall lack of institutional direction permeating the university and the football program.

It didn't help the Hurricanes' case that several players failed a drug test prior to the previous season's Orange Bowl loss to Nebraska - yet were still allowed to play in what would be Dennis Erickson's last game as head coach. Non-compliance with regards to the drug testing policy, the Pell Grant situation, and several extremely minor charges brought the NCAA to a resounding conclusion.

The Hurricanes were out of control.

Did the punishment, however, fit the crimes?

When the dust cleared, the NCAA slammed Miami with three years of probation and the loss of one bowl game (the Hurricanes elected to bypass an opportunity to play Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl following that '95 season). It also stripped Davis of a whopping 31 scholarships over his first three years at the helm. After landing 18 recruits (instead of the standard 25) his first year, Davis secured only 12 players in 1996 and 14 scholarship players in '97.

Considering the minor probation, revenue cuts or television exile doled out at a few of the major schools found guilty of recruiting violations during the mid-1980s and early 1990s, some wondered if the NCAA wasn't kicking Miami in the teeth for the contentious, seemingly-arrogant behavior which defined its championship decade.

Such debate was neither here nor there for Davis, who had no choice but to play the cards he had been dealt.

"I thought the penalties given out at the time were enormously harsh," Davis said. "I don't think anybody could conceive that the penalties would encompass 31 scholarships run out over a three-year period of time. ... We were the test model. Short of giving a school the death penalty, they were going to make it difficult for us to compete. And you do that by taking players away.

"So from there, we were faced with two real challenges. One was to try and keep in perspective what was realistic for the team to accomplish so that it didn't destroy the confidence of the players. At the same time, you're trying to temper the fans who are wondering why we can't beat Florida State after defeating them for so many years. I couldn't sit there in 1995 and say, 'Well folks, we're getting ready to be as bad as you can possibly be.' We wouldn't have been able to recruit anybody. You had to be optimistic and have a plan."

That plan would not include a quick fix. Davis opted against stuffing the roster with junior college players. Why keep the team afloat during the rough passage ahead with players who would only be around two seasons? Instead, he and his assistants aggressively pursued walk-ons to help alleviate the numbers dilemma - a handful of whom actually proved valuable contributors.

Next, Davis turned to his own backyard. Trying to reestablish strong recruiting ties in South Florida, he landed standout talent such as running back Edgerrin James and linebackers Dan Morgan and Nate Webster. Davis knew that once he won some recruiting wars on the Hurricanes' home turf, it would strengthen his efforts on the national front.

But nothing came easy.

"The first couple of years were very difficult to sell," Davis said. "The competition used our probation against us. They flat out told kids we were going to be bad, with small numbers. And some of those kids went to Florida, Florida State or Virginia Tech."

Adding to the challenge was Miami's own success. Davis followed the eight-win campaign of 1995 with a 9-3 season the following year, one which included a Carquest Bowl victory over Virginia. Where was the falloff? Perhaps, many fans assumed, the scholarship hits weren't nearly as disastrous as had been forecasted.

But in 1997, reality hit the Hurricanes hard. At 5-6, including a 47-0 spanking at the hands of dreaded-rival Florida State, Miami finished with its first losing record since 1979.

"It was frustrating for our fans and alumni because the punishmentdidn't show up right away," Davis said. "But when you're losing 20 seniors and bringing in only 12 players, attrition has to set in. Eventually, you pay the price. We did in 1997."

Yet even as the program suffered on the field, Davis was quietly making strides elsewhere. Never wavering from his promise to bring character and honor to the program, Davis' players became mainstays in the community. During the '97 season, all 71 returning players and the coaching staff spent one Saturday building homes in Miami's impoverished Overtown section. Players began making regular trips to area schools, speaking about the dangers of drugs and alcohol, or volunteering to lend a voice to reading programs. During his tenure, Davis estimates that his players have averaged a combined 150-200 personal appearances per season.

Though his scholarship numbers were limited, the team's image played a major role in Davis' decision making.

"We specifically passed on some players," he said. "We just couldn't take the risk of bringing players aboard who represent a time bomb. Players who already had some issues in high school, had suspect grades, or poor class attendance. ... We had to look at all areas. If you're only given 12 scholarships, let's say you want to take a risk on two or three kids who might be academic problems. Even if they're good character kids, if academically they might not be able to survive, that's a horrible waste. We had to make sure 11 of the 12 were there four or five years later. Naturally, that shrunk the pool of available players."

Miami's amazing pipeline to the NFL diminished Davis' troops as well. Since his arrival in 1995, 10 Hurricanes have bolted early for the NFL, including Sapp, James, defensive end Kenard Lang and, this past season, tight end Bubba Franks.

Despite all the roadblocks, the Hurricanes finally found some daylight in 1998. During a two-month stretch which Davis believes defined a new beginning for the school, Miami started off by knocking undefeated UCLA out of the national title picture with a wild 49-45 victory at a raucous Orange Bowl. From there, the Hurricanes crushed North Carolina State at the Micron PC Bowl; signed a full, and highly-touted, recruiting class; and received an invitation to play Ohio State at the 1999 Kickoff Classic (a game Miami won 23-12).

Coming off last year's 9-4 mark and a No. 15 final ranking, the Hurricanes enter the 2000 season anxious to reclaim their place among the nation's elite. Buoyed by one of the nation's top recruiting classes - one which includes USA Today Defensive Player of the Year D.J. Williams out of Concord, Calif. - and with the return of 14 players who made six or more starts, many feel Miami is close to doing just that.

But as pleased as Davis is that the Hurricanes are rebounding on the field, he's equally, if not more proud that Miami has done so the right way.

"There are probably people who would love for us to return to thein-your-face style, the swagger, the 180 yards in penalties," Davis said. "But I think we're on the cutting-edge here. I try to look not only at our program, but the big picture - sports in general. What do the fans appreciate? I think, in a few years, people are going to appreciate where we've come from and what we've done to get there. There's a lot of frustration, in all sports, with this kind of trashy attitude. I hear a lot of positive feedback from people who thank me for this image change.

"I just hope that the day I walk out of here, or retire, that the program will be stronger and in much better shape than the day I walked in."

In many ways, it already is.






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