North Carolina Fires Butch Davis

Not a shocking conclusion, but the timing is certainly a surprise with the start of fall practice right around the corner.

I don't think the end of the Butch Davis Era will have as profound an impact on this season as people might think. UNC is still going to field a talented team, but one that has the same amount of holes as any other ACC team. Most of the opinions people will have of the Tar Heels will fall into two camps: The firing will either galvanize the Tar Heels or they'll fall apart.

My opinion of the Heels without Butch lies somewhere in the middle. What early discombobulation they might experience is mitigated by three winnable home games to start the season. At the end of the day, they're still probably the same 9-3 or 8-4 not-quite-ready-for-primetime team that many thought they were yesterday.

The real issues for UNC will come after this year. How will this recruiting class shake out? And how will the next head coach, who's going to have to be squaky clean, handle Bryn Renner? For now, Carolina is still neck-and-neck with Miami for the second best team in the Coastal behind Virginia Tech.

Get the UNC point of view on its firing of Butch Davis news over at Carolina March.