Davis, UNC agree to pay raise

With a narrow 20-14 win against rival Duke on Saturday, new head coach Butch Davis finished his inaugural season in Chapel Hill with a 4-8 record – highlighted with six losses by a touchdown or less.

Although the saying goes that close counts only in horseshoes and hand grenades, it apparently counts in dollars for Davis.

The University agreed in principle to a one-year contract extension through 2014 and a $291,000 annual raise for the head football coach Wednesday, pending approval of the UNC Board of Trustees this week.

“Progress has been demonstrated by the hard work of the players on and off the field, the competitive games Carolina has played against one of the nation’s most difficult schedules, the excitement each week at Kenan,” athletic director Dick Baddour said in a press release Wednesday.

Davis signed a seven-year contract with the University last November with a base salary of $286,000 a year. The University also agreed to pay him supplemental income worth $1 million in 2007 to $1.3 million in 2013.

With additional income from Nike and Learfield Communications contracts, Davis’ package averaged $1.86 million a year, and his raise will bump that average up to more than $2 million a season – though still less than head basketball coach Roy Williams, who makes around $2.1 million, plus his contract with Nike, which is not available to the public.

Davis brought in an impressive first recruiting class and, with a youthful squad, kept UNC competitive in most games while drawing sellout crowds to Kenan Stadium. There had been speculation in recent weeks that Davis might be a possibility for the coaching job at the University of Arkansas – where he played college football.

“We wanted to make sure that he recognized that we understood (the impact he has made). . We wanted to make sure that his contract was competitive with coaches of his caliber,” said board Chairman Roger Perry when asked whether the threat of other schools played a part in the raise and extension.

Perry said that the development came about in the last few weeks and that he expects the trustees to pass the contract without much opposition. He also said the amount of money needed to retain a high-profile coach causes concern for the future.

“Yeah, surely it does. It’s a lot of concentration, but it’s the marketplace,” he said. “If you’re going to be competitive in football, as we are in every other aspect of University life, that’s pretty much what the market is for it.”

Perry added that he didn’t expect a raise to happen every year.

The University has come under attack for the large contract after Davis’ original well-financed deal last fall – in particular by former UNC-system President Bill Friday, who has vocalized his criticism of the deal and the general money-driven “arms race” in college athletics.

Friday lamented that the raise will give Davis a salary several times that of the chancellor and also mentioned that numerous faculty members have told him how “deeply they feel about (the contract)” in the past two days.

“The raise itself was much greater than that provided (to) the chancellor, and the raise standing alone is greater than the annual salary of distinguished professors at Chapel Hill.”

Davis answered a question concerning the criticism after Saturday’s game.

“I guess you understand everybody has ideas and opinions about it, but I mean I want to make it perfectly clear – I really, truly love this place.”

UNC senior Zach Padget approved of the decision to upgrade Davis.

“It seems kind of ridiculous after going 4-8 to give a guy $300,000 more a year, but in the long run I think he’s necessary to the program.

“In the next few years I think we’re really going to see that pay off.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@email.unc.edu.