Butch Davis hasn’t slipped any information about the NCAA’s investigation of his football program, and that didn’t change Monday.

In his press conference, Davis didn’t say anything that hasn’t already made its rounds on the Internet, but UNC’s football coach did address it with a comment — just not directly.

“I’d like this to be perfectly clear,” Davis said. “There is no one single category that is more important to winning than the character and the integrity of this University’s football program.

“I think that’s an overwhelming conviction that I have, and I think it’s the same with this entire football program and the administration.”

The remainder of the press conference focused on UNC’s Saturday game against Louisiana State, and like his team, Davis seemed relieved to change subjects and finally talk football.

Davis confirmed that senior quarterback T.J. Yates will lead the Tar Heels’ offense in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game. But he didn’t shut the door on backup Bryn Renner.

“If the opportunity presents itself, certainly I think it would be healthy for our football team (to play Renner), and I think it would be healthy for all the players,” Davis said.

“But again, that’s one of those decisions that will certainly come up during the course of a ball game.”

Still, regardless of who’s behind center, and despite the blaring distractions of the NCAA investigation, UNC is excited to get back on the gridiron.

Yates has been looking forward to the game for months. He attended the SEC Championship game last season at the Georgia Dome and since then, he’s been counting down the days.

“I remember looking back, we would have the countdown on our message boards around the football center,” Yates said. “I remember just looking back, eighty days away, fifty days away, and now it’s getting into the single digits so it’s extremely exciting.”

Even with a deliberate focus on LSU, the implications of the investigation seemed to find their way into the discussion.

Other than the quarterback position, Davis said he is still unsure who will start in Saturday’s game, but he did say that any players deemed ineligible to play will not travel with the team to Atlanta.

“You have to be prepared,” Davis said. “Every single kid on this football team, at the start of training camp, we asked them to be the best football player they could possibly be.”

While virtually nothing could prepare UNC for the potential suspension of a handful of players, Davis said he believes his overall team preparation will be enough.

Because of it, Davis sounds no less sure of North Carolina’s chances against LSU than he was months ago.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence in our coaching staff and players that they’ll prepare well enough to win this game,” Davis said.

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.