Why Did Butch Davis Help Ron Turner Leave?
January 5th, 2013
Ron Turner, the Bucs 2012 quarterbacks coach, explained to a Miami radio station how Butch Davis got him the head coaching job at FIU.
Standing at the podium for his final 2012 news conference last week, Greg Schiano wore a black and white, rubber-looking bracelet dangling from his wrist engraved with the word, “Family.”
Family is a big theme in the New Schiano Order. Schiano himself even leads his “Family 1, 2, 3 cheer” with the Buccaneers.
So given the allegiance Schiano demands, Joe was very surprised to hear 2012 Bucs quarterbacks coach Ron Turner tell a Miami radio show that it was trusted Schiano senior advisor Butch Davis who asked him if he wanted to coach Florida International University and then recommended him for the FIU job. Turner was hired by FIU on Thursday.
“Butch Davis is very good friends with [FIU athletic director] Pete Garcia,” Turner told WQAM-AM. “Butch and I were together on the staff in Tampa this past year. I’ve known Butch for a long time. And Butch asked me one day if I, you know, wanted to be a coach in college again. And I said, ‘Yes, I absolutely do.’ And he asked if I’d be interested in FIU, and I said, ‘Yeah, I would. I want to do some research on it, look into it a little bit, but yes, I would definitely have some interest.” I was familiar enough to know a lot of good things were going on. I did some research, liked it, and Butch was kind enough to recommend me to Pete Garcia.”
Asked whether Davis was legitimately considered for the FIU job, Turner said those were rumors and “when that happened, Butch recommended me.”
This was very bizarre to Joe and makes Joe wonder what the heck went on behind the scenes.
Did Davis, on the Bucs payroll, get permission from the Bucs to recommend his buddy Turner for another job during the Bucs season?
Or did Davis disrespect the family and work to help his friends above the interests of the Buccaneers?
Or, was Davis encouraged by Schiano to find Turner work because the organization was looking to get Turner out of his contract?
Whatever the truth is here, Joe finds it fascinating that a well paid Buccaneers consultant helped a key assistant coach leave the team.
January 5th, 2013 at 9:02 pm
Butch just doing family chores and taking out the trash.
January 5th, 2013 at 9:18 pm
I think Shiano wants a new QB coach……I think it will be a certain QB coach from Arizona …….What do you think joe
January 5th, 2013 at 9:21 pm
I would like to welcome John Mcnulty as the new QB coach in tampa ……it will happen…
January 5th, 2013 at 9:22 pm
dont know what to think of this article Joe, maybe Butch is not taking this job with the bucs seriously and didn’t think there was anything wrong with telling our quarterbacks coach to take the job? confusing
January 5th, 2013 at 9:30 pm
Big deal. It is called “life”. You help “family” out.
January 5th, 2013 at 9:35 pm
If Butch is missing a finger in April, we’ll know what happened.
January 5th, 2013 at 9:41 pm
This is becoming TMZbucsfan.
Thanks for posting that Butch recommended Turner. The post could have done without the fake intrigue.
“Fake intrigue?” Look pal, there’s nothing fake here. This site is here because Joe obsesses and cares about all things Bucs. It’s legitimate intrigue. Don’t shoot the messenger. Your head coach’s trusted sage just worked hard to get the QB coach out of town during the season. If that doesn’t intrigue you, fine, but don’t pretend it’s not legitimately noteworthy.–Joe
January 5th, 2013 at 9:41 pm
b/c McNulty is coming
January 5th, 2013 at 9:56 pm
Nothing to see here, move along.
January 5th, 2013 at 9:57 pm
It’s simple,
Family helps family out. He’s putting family(Turner) before business(football).
Thats a true family mantra right there.
It seems Butch helped him get an opportunity that doesn’t just come around all the time. He didn’t have to take it, so no one was run out lol. Ultimately if indeed he was gonna be ousted and than left jobless Butch truly was looking out for him.
January 5th, 2013 at 9:57 pm
@ John14
Joe is correct about “legitimate intrigue” when it’s truly about the Bucs.
This is the Joe I like.
January 5th, 2013 at 10:35 pm
Or, was Davis encouraged by Schiano to find Turner work because the organization was looking to get Turner out of his contract?
^This
January 5th, 2013 at 10:36 pm
We neede new qb coach anyway ,good luck coach turner!
January 5th, 2013 at 10:37 pm
…and John14, quit being a d!ck.
January 5th, 2013 at 10:38 pm
I’m skeptical. Which is more likely?
EITHER
Davis, who was a contract clause away from leaving the Bucs after 1 year, recommended to FIU, folks who offered him a fresh start, that they check out Turner in the hopes that they actually hire him away in order to save the Bucs the pocket change that the Bucs would owe Turner if they fired him and he didn’t find a new job…
OR
Davis recommended Turner because they’re friends and he thought he’d be good for the job… and Schiano would just fire Turner if he was unhappy with him…
January 5th, 2013 at 10:42 pm
Seems pretty simple to me, Butch helped is friend get a better job. I may be wrong here but Head Coach of FIU sounds better to me than QB coach for the Bucs. On that thinking Butch helped his friend find a better job. I hope my friends would recommend me for a job if they felt it would help me.
January 5th, 2013 at 10:45 pm
What is so good about this McNulty guy? I do not have any knowledge on him, why should he be our QB coach? how would he be any better then Turner?
January 5th, 2013 at 11:06 pm
Is it “legitimate intrigue”? No. However, it is Joe’s site and he can post whatever he damn well pleases. I can respect that, even if it is molded in the fashion of TMZ at times.
January 5th, 2013 at 11:28 pm
Coaches help each other all the time. Even though I would rather be the qb coach of an NFL team than the head coach of a small college program, most coaches see gaining a higher position as advancing, no matter where it is.
January 5th, 2013 at 11:31 pm
I have a feeling Turner is going to fail MISERABLY at his new head coaching job.
January 5th, 2013 at 11:39 pm
Turner was going to be replaced by McNulty anyway. Ron is clearly the black sheep of the Turner family. All the coaching genes and offensive knowledge were inherited by Norv. Ron took all the other genes. He’s great with kids and is a heckuva Easy Bake cupcake chef.
January 5th, 2013 at 11:48 pm
John14:
If you don’t think that the info Joe passed along was worthwhile to read, why did you read it? Better yet, why did you waste any more of your time and post? Why are you on a Bucs site if you don’t really care?
Personally, if I have an issue with JoeBucsfan.com it’s that there’s not enough articles on the site. I want to know everything: when a practice squadder gets picked up or released, free agency, what time Ronde Barber has a protein shake, etc.
Joe:
I”m going to hook you up. You need more articles on here. I have an English degree (along with being an English teacher) and have written for Florio and PFT back when it was called NFLTalk.com (in the college football section) and a college newspaper as well as being a former high school coach. If you want more articles, I can help you out. I am a draft junkie and Buc-addict.
January 6th, 2013 at 12:03 am
Take it easy people. I appreciate the site because it gives a lot of info that I would miss otherwise, especially from radio.
I even thanked “Joe” above for posting the info, because as a fellow Buc addict, I found it interesting that Butch and Turner were friends and that Butch recommended Turner, because that affects the Bucs next year.
However, I did not care for the Florio-esque “just putting it out there” speculation. There has been a lot more of it lately here, and it comes off as rumor-mongering to me.
While I find it a little cheap, and told “Joe” of my opinion as a frequenter of the site, clearly others do not mind and perhaps prefer the practice. Oh well.
@John14 – You act like your new around here. JoeBucsFan is an opinion-driven website. Joe reports news, passes on others’ news and commentary, and gives his opinion. There’s not even a hint of rumor-mongering here. What you see here is no different than what Joe’s done for the past 4 1/2 years. Joe writes about what he finds interesting. It’s a very simple concept. –Joe
January 6th, 2013 at 12:05 am
This is another speculation-fueled non-story.
Let’s see. Bucs QB coach leaves. Then he says Schiano’s right-hand man asked if him he wanted to leave and got him a new job during the football season while the QB was in a freefall. That’s a “non-story?” Joe suggests you keep your day job. –Joe
January 6th, 2013 at 12:51 am
I guess the word “FAMILY” means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. To me it would mean helping someone out if some one can leave the FAMILY business and get a better job that makes them happy than that’s what you as a FAMILY member do.
If to you FAMILY means a Robert DeNiro/Meet the Parents(Fockers)/”Circle of Trust” sort of thing than that might be very different
January 6th, 2013 at 3:55 am
yea no big deal
January 6th, 2013 at 5:10 am
I think it’s quite simple…Freeman tanked. Who is the QB coach? Bye.
January 6th, 2013 at 9:23 am
The fleck departure is the the ine that will sting.He us a damn good teacher.
January 6th, 2013 at 9:31 am
It helps in a few ways.
1. Helping Turner get a job. This is what families do, help one another
2. The Bucs were looking in another direction at QB coach and this was the best way to get rid of him
3. Getting an assistant a job is one of the best things to help make that job look attractive to other coaches. QB coaches of higher caliber will want to come him to help them get other jobs.
This is the best way to assemble the best staff. This was a plan for the long term and does not mean there is distrust or dishonesty within the organization.
January 6th, 2013 at 9:49 am
I think this is the first time I have actually heard of Butch Davis doing anything for the Bucs. His “job” is very obscure it would seem. I thought Butch was interested in the FIU job, but was unwilling to void his NC contract. If I understand correctly, Butch is pulling in two paychecks (Bucs and UNC) and from what I can tell, he isn’t doing much to earn either of them. Pretty good gig I would say.
January 6th, 2013 at 10:05 am
If Sully leaves the team, that would mean that PJ Fleck (WR coach), Ron Turner (QB coach), and the OC would be gone after just one year. IMO the offense was the best part of the team despite the QB inconsistency. We should be changing defensive coaches and players instead.
After doing a little research. McNulty has past history with the NSO, and might plug in very easily and with ARI cleaning house, that seems likely to me. Maybe that is the master plan after all.
Joe, thanks for feeding us all things Bucs. I’ve only discovered your site at the start of this season, and have read every article since. I am a long time Bucs fan, and since I know longer live in the TB area, its a little harder for me to get my fix of Bucs news.
January 6th, 2013 at 1:16 pm
@Seany
That’s not a fair statement. You have no idea what Butch does behind the scenes. Saying he is pulling in 2 checks and hasent done much to earn either is somewhat ignorant when you have no idea what you are talking about. That’s not to say you arent right because I have no idea either but I’m not going to pretend I do nor make statements as if I do that would demean a coach or player.
January 6th, 2013 at 1:42 pm
There is always something snarky lurking around the Butch Davis presence. College? NFL? It’s just there, like a recurring disturbing dream.
January 6th, 2013 at 9:49 pm
If we don’t go all in on Geno Smith. Which by the way, I’m all for! We should look at Aaron Murray from UGA, Colin Klein from KSU, or my favorite. Derek Carr out of Fresno State. He completed 68% of his passes, while throwing 36 TDs with only 5 INTs. He would look great in a Bucs uniform!
January 7th, 2013 at 7:53 am
Why do some people act like Ron Turner did a bad job with Freeman? A lot of Freeman’s mechanics related flaws were cleaned up this year imo. Those accuracy issues however may never go away no matter who the QB coach is.