Butch Davis' body of work

You can count me among the group that thought Butch Davis would win big in Chapel Hill upon his hiring before the 2007 season.

The Tar Heels made a major splash by landing a proven, high-profile coach, and it seemed only a matter of time before the man would make a major splash on the field.

The final record over his four seasons says this: 28-23 overall, and 15-17 in a conference without elite teams.

We'll always wonder how good last year's team would've been had it not been gutted of much of its talent before the season. But still, you look at Davis' body of work and it's probably not what you envisioned when he arrived.

He had some big wins, but he also suffered some galling defeats. Goes to show you that even the great coaches take their fans on roller-coaster rides, too.

Here's my stab at ranking both extremes:

BIGGEST WINS

1. 20-17 at Virginia Tech, 2009--A week after squandering an 18-point lead in the second half and losing at home to Florida State, Davis takes his team to Blacksburg and pulls off a shocker.

2. 37-35 at Florida State, 2010-- Heels get revenge for 2009 meltdown by going to Tallahassee and defeating the Atlantic Division champs.

3. 44-12 at Rutgers, 2008-- Rutgers wasn't a great team, but this win was big for the message it sent in Game 2 of Davis' second season. The Heels used the Thursday-night stage to put on a show.

4. 28-7 over Georgia Tech, 2008-- Paul Johnson was confounding everyone with the triple option in his first year with the Yellow Jackets, but Davis used the open date to his advantage and ambushed Johnson's bunch in Chapel Hill.

5. 33-27 over Miami, 2007-- Tar Heels limped into this game with a 1-4 record, but Davis provided a boost by pulling off a big upset of his old team. He would compile a 3-1 record over the Hurricanes during his tenure.

WORST LOSSES

1. 16-3 to Virginia, 2009--This one came out of nowhere against an awful Virginia team that finished 3-9. Who says established coaches don't suffer "What the heck" losses?

2. 30-27 to Florida State, 2009--The Heels were bulldozing the Seminoles on a Thursday before an ESPN audience. And then everything fell apart as Christian Ponder started carving up the Tar Heels' defense while their offense ran aground.

3. 41-10 to N.C. State, 2008--The Heels entered their last two regular-season games in control of the Coastal Division. But after a narrow loss at Maryland, they were embarrassed at home by the Wolfies. Davis ended up going 0-4 against Tom O'Brien.

4. 37-10 at Wake Forest, 2007--Yes, it was a good Wake Forest team. But losing by 27 points? Not good.

5. 28-27 at N.C. State, 2009--Heels entered this game on a roll, having won four straight games. The Wolfies entered it in a rut with just one ACC victory to their credit in seven tries. Davis' chances at a 10-win season went down the drain with this loss in Raleigh, then a Tire Bowl defeat to Pittsburgh.

LW