Coach Butch Davis has the FIU Panthers football rebuild ahead of schedule. This is why

At roughly the halfway point in the college football season, FIU’s Butch Davis is a strong candidate to win honors as Conference USA Coach of the Year.

FIU (5-2, 3-0) leads the East Division and joins West leader Alabama-Birmingham (6-1, 4-0) as the only unbeaten teams in C-USA play.

The Panthers figure to be favored in their five remaining regular-season games. And with a Panthers win Saturday against host Western Kentucky (1-6, 0-3), FIU would be bowl eligible at the earliest point on the calendar in program history.

This run for Davis at FIU has really been quite amazing.

Consider that before Davis arrived at FIU in 2017, FIU had played in just two bowl games in program history. Now it’s virtually certain Davis will get to two bowl games in just two years.

“Not this quick,” FIU running back D’Vonte Price said when asked if he thought the Panthers could be turned around in such rapid fashion. “But Coach Davis, he can work magic. It’s great to see he’s doing what he’s doing so quickly.”

At the moment, Davis’ biggest competition for C-USA Coach of the Year is UAB’s Bill Clark. UAB was ranked 109th in the country to start this season — one spot behind FIU.

Clark has done a remarkable job after UAB discontinued its program in 2015 and 2016. Clark somehow led the Blazers to an 8-5 record and a bowl game last season and has them bowl eligible and in first place this season.

Davis, meanwhile, immediately revitalized what had been a losing program, and 2018 has been superior to last season given the amount of talent he lost.

Among the players who graduated off that 2017 team were record-breaking quarterback Alex McGough, tackle machine middle linebacker Anthony Wint and huge-and-imposing tight end Pharoah McKeever. All three of those players have been in NFL camps and/or practice squads this season.

In addition, FIU graduated all-time leading rusher Alex Gardner, star wide receiver Thomas Owens, interceptions leader Brad Muhammad, standout linebacker Treyvon Williams, pass rusher Newton Salisbury and starting safeties Niko Gonzalez and Bryce Canady.

Davis has also dealt with major adversity this season, starting with the shocking drive-by shooting that imperiled the lives of running back Anthony Jones and offensive lineman Mershawn Miller.

Thankfully, both are making rapid recoveries and are expected to resume their careers.

In addition, FIU lost their best overall player and NFL prospect — pass rusher Fermin Silva — to a season-ending injury.

Davis has navigated throughthose issues and also a quarterback battle that could have been problematic but has been handled smoothly, with James Morgan beating out Christian Alexander.

FIU’s only losses have been to Power Five conference teams — Indiana and Miami — and the Panthers went on the road and defeated an Old Dominion team that later shocked Virginia Tech, which was ranked in the top 20 nationally at the time.

The Panthers need to finish the job, of course. Five regular-season games remain, including next week’s home game against rival Florida Atlantic (3-4), which has slipped a bit after finishing last season 11-3.

But no matter how the rest of this season plays out, Davis — who before arriving at FIU had not coached since North Carolina in 2010 — seems to be enjoying this sideline rebirth.

“I like it a lot,” he said of his situation at FIU. “I like being around our kids. I love our coaching staff. They are fun to be around. They coach their butts off.

“And the kids — you see a cultural change. They are starting to understand why we push them so hard.”

This story was originally published October 26, 2018 at 1:45 PM.