Butch Davis had seemingly survived the most dangerous days of the NCAA investigation into improper benefits and academic misconduct within his North Carolina program.

He kept his job all last season even as embarrassing allegations kept surfacing, from the conduct of his associate head coach to the behavior of players and their tutor. He won supporters by leading a team decimated by suspensions to top players to eight wins and a bowl victory, earning the praise of his bosses along with the assurance that he'd be back for a fifth season.

Yet on Wednesday, the school reversed itself and fired Davis, saying the past year of turmoil amid the NCAA probe was doing too much damage to the university's reputation. Now the Tar Heels are heading into next week's training camp with no long-term coach and an entirely new set of distractions hanging over their heads.

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