THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 23, 1995 TAG: 9509230391
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
When scandal brewed over players running afoul of the law at Nebraska, head coach Tom Osborne reassured Cornhuskers faithful by saying his program had not become Miami.
``Who is he?'' Hurricanes defensive end Kenny Holmes said this week. ``Has he been down here with us the four years I've been down here? He doesn't know us, not one player.
``I hope we get a chance to play them. We couldn't believe the guy said that. Everyone respected him and thought he was a pretty good guy.''
Perhaps a few years ago, the Hurricanes wouldn't have taken umbrage to that. Reputation to maintain, you know?
Butch Davis is trying to change that reputation. But the new coach, who brings No. 17 Miami into Lane Stadium today to play winless Virginia Tech, has found that a reputation developed over more than a decade takes more than a few weeks to derail.
``There seems to be entirely too much focus about what happened in the past and not enough about the present and what's going to happen in the future,'' Davis said.
Miami's rap sheet from the past could be thicker than the play book. A Sports Illustrated cover story this summer suggested that the university to drop a football program run amok. Some welcome wagon for the new coach.
The NCAA could come calling any day now. The 'Canes are being investigated for Pell Grant fraud, play-for-pay schemes and an athletic department drug-testing program that covered up results.
Davis is hopeful that the 'Canes case will be on the October docket of the NCAA's infractions committee.
``We have been in total compliance and helped with the investigation,'' Davis said. ``Hopefully we'll find something out in the next month or two, but there's no way I could ever project what they'll do.''
While Davis will try to weather that storm, he has tried to deal with other squalls swiftly by meting out discipline when warranted. Linebacker James Burgess will play his first game of the season today because of his involvement in a nightclub incident. He was acquitted by a jury last Saturday.
Davis is trying to hold his players to a higher standard and clean up the program regarded as college football's delinquent child.
``He just says don't do anything that would make your family unproud of you,'' Holmes said. ``Coach (Dennis) Erickson had the same rule, but he never really told us.''
Some rule. Davis doesn't leave such things unspoken.
``We're treating them like men,'' said Davis, who came to Miami after serving as the Dallas Cowboys' defensive coordinator. ``There is no hidden agenda; we talk openly and honestly with them about what is expected. There's no way you can be inconsistent in your personal life and consistent in your play on the field.''
The question is, can Miami lose the rep and the swagger without losing what is often referred to as the ``Miami mystique,'' an intangible quality that sets it apart and intimidates many opponents?
``We're still very confident, and we have great athletes,'' center K.C. Jones said. ``I think the tradition is still alive here; we're just handling it a little different this year. We want the focus to be on us having a good football team instead of being in the paper every day about something other than what has to do with football.
``I'd be intimidated watching us on film.''
He must not have been talking about film from the 31-8 season-opening loss to UCLA. The Bruins pushed the Hurricanes all over the field for all the world to see on ABC. That should give some hope to Virginia Tech (0-2).
There were a couple of factors at work in that game. Davis said one was stage fright - he has all of six seniors on the team, including the punter and placekicker and none on defense. Davis said the talent level at Miami simply isn't what it was when he served as a Hurricanes assistant under Jimmy Johnson, and a young team is going to have growing pains.
Another thing that hurt Miami in the UCLA games was the new rule about celebrations, known in some circles as the ``Miami rule.''
``We were too worried about that,'' Jones said. ``It kind of took us out of our game. I think a lot of guys were thinking about not celebrating after the play instead of thinking about making the play.''
``It's so ludicrous,'' Holmes said. ``The rule is basically made for the University of Miami.''
Davis has changed the rules around Coral Gables, but it remains to be seen if the program can remain dominant with a new approach. Today, Davis coaches in his first game against a team from the Big East. Miami has a 19-1 conference mark since the league's inception in 1991.
Davis would like to see that success continue, while altering the image of the Hurricanes in the eyes of people like Tom Osborne.
``I thought it was a very, very cheap shot,'' Davis said. ``I'm sure there are things within their program they're not proud of.''
Perhaps, but despite his efforts, it's hard to fathom the day when Davis can deflect a controversy by assuring fans his strait-laced Miami program has not turned into Nebraska. by CNB