Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 22, 1995 TAG: 9509220061
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In his first season as the University of Miami's football coach, Butch Davis is battling more than just the opponents on the schedule.
He is battling the Hurricanes' reputation.
Miami has dominated headlines during the past dozen years as much for its preening, brash style as its blocking and tackling.
Much as Davis has tried to chance it, the perception still exists. As recently as the past week, Nebraska coach Tom Osborne was defending his program in the face of alleged assaults by some of his players.
``We've been portrayed as Miami,'' Osborne said. ``Maybe we are; I don't know. I don't see it as quite that bad. I think we have a pretty good character level.''
On Tuesday, Davis responded to those comments. ``It was a very, very cheap shot,'' he said.
The Hurricanes have been taking plenty of shots lately. Two starting linebackers, James Burgess and Ray Lewis, have been investigated for aggravated battery. Burgess was acquitted this week, while the investigation of the incident involving Lewis is ongoing. Burgess was suspended for the first two games of the season, but both will start Saturday at Virginia Tech (noon, WSLS Channel 10).
Their struggles are the most recent to surface. Miami's drug-testing program, pay-for-play allegations and a Pell Grant scandal involving 57 players also have attracted NCAA's attention. At the same time, attention has shifted from football.
Davis' goal is to get Miami football back to the point where it is just a game, albeit one the Hurricanes play well.
``He wants people to focus on our football team instead of all the problems from the past,'' said K.C. Jones, the Hurricanes' All-Big East Conference center.
When he left the Dallas Cowboys' staff to return to Coral Gables, Fla., Davis knew he was going to a program in a state of flux. He was inheriting an NCAA investigation and a team known as much for its flash as its bash. Still, that wasn't a deterrent.
When he sold his home in Dallas in 10 days, Davis took it as a sign he was meant to go back to the Hurricanes, where he was an assistant to Jimmy Johnson from 1984-88. When he went to the Cowboys, his Miami house was on the market for three years.
Never mind that Youngstown State's Jim Tressel was at the top of Miami's original list. Howard Schnellenberger and Jimmy Johnson weren't the Hurricanes' first choices when they came on, either.
Davis says he is happy with his decision and his football team.
``The day-to-day ins and outs have not been tougher,'' he said. ``It's the demands to answer questions about things in the past. I could care less about what happened before I took the job.''
While Davis tries to get his team and its fans to forget the past, he also wants to learn from it. The NCAA investigation is a concern, but because Miami has cooperated and hasn't hidden anything from investigators, he isn't worried about it. According to Davis, the investigation is ``95 percent'' complete and he hopes the school will have a hearing before the NCAA Committee on Infractions as early as October.
Meanwhile, he is molding the Hurricanes in his image. The new two-back offense and revamped defense reflect the Cowboys' style. Miami practices on Sundays so players won't stay out so late on Saturday nights.
The dancing and gyrating are gone, not just because of new NCAA rules on excessive celebration, but also because of Davis' beliefs on proper conduct. Davis has been quoted as saying players drawing attention to themselves is destructive to the team concept.
``Originally, the plays created the celebration,'' he said. ``Somewhere in the mix, that got lost.''
Some have blamed the Hurricanes' season-opening loss at UCLA on the fact that the new celebration rules held them back. Davis doesn't buy that theory. These Hurricanes are different. And with only nine seniors on the team, they are young.
Explaining the loss to the Bruins, Davis said, ``I think it was stage fright.''
It used to be the Hurricanes' whole world was a stage. Things already are different.
by CNB