FIU Panthers coach Butch Davis says he needs ’100 percent commitment of everybody’

Coach Butch Davis, speaking after the FIU Panthers’ football practice Wednesday morning, admitted his team’s 5-5 record with two games remaining in the regular season isn’t where he would like to be, especially after last year’s 9-4 mark that stands as the best in program history.

With this being his third season at FIU, Davis was asked where FIU stands in relation to previous and successful college-program rebuilds he has engineered at Miami and North Carolina.

“We continue to try to recruit with the idea that every class we bring in we want to be better than the previous year, which creates competition and depth,” Davis said.

“But it takes time. One thing that is a common denominator in rebuilding any program is 100 percent commitment of everybody [being] all in — players, coaches, administration, athletic director. Are they going to continue to help you and give you all the resources necessary to build the program in the vision of what you truly want?”

Davis was then asked if he feels he has that “buy in” at FIU.

“We’ll see,” Davis said.

It was a cryptic two-word response from Davis, but it is also reflective of the frustration felt after Saturday’s 37-7 loss at rival Florida Atlantic. Davis has yet to lead FIU past FAU in three years on the job, and the games have not been close. The Owls have outscored FIU by a combined total of 138-47 in those three games.

FIU is also 0-4 in road games this season, getting outscored by a combined total of 172-69, and the Panthers will have to beat either heavy-favorite Miami on Nov. 23 at Marlins Park or go on the road and take down Marshall (6-3, 4-1 Conference USA) to become bowl eligible.

There’s also the second-half mystery. While FIU has not been a poor second-half team overall this season, it certainly has been an issue in its two most recent losses, by a cumulative score of 56-0.

Said Davis: “I think everybody on our team is frustrated and disappointed.”

THIS AND THAT

▪ Davis said FIU’s bye week comes at a good time.

“We’ve been playing significantly banged up,” Davis said. “This (bye week) gives young players such as [offensive linemen] Lyndell Hudson and Sione Finau a chance for more experience. They have been playing big roles – 20 to 30 snaps in each game to give us some depth.

“Hopefully, this week we can get guys (healthy).”

▪ While he was a broadcaster for ESPN, Davis covered a Miami Beach Bowl at Marlins Park, and he said he enjoyed the environment.

“The way they’re going to lay it out, a lot of the fans will be close to the field,” Davis said. “The environment when I was there for ESPN was unbelievably good.”

▪ Of the since-demolished Orange Bowl, which stood where Marlins Park is now, Davis said somewhat facetiously: “Once you walk into Marlins Park, it doesn’t look anything like the old Orange Bowl, where I think they only had 12 bathrooms for 80,000 people, and we would run out of ice almost every halftime. After 11 years of playing games there, we have a lot of memories.”

▪ On this year’s Hurricanes, Davis said: “They are playing well. They’ve had a talented team the past four or five years.”

This story was originally published November 13, 2019 at 12:51 PM.