Davis settling in with Tar Heels

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Butch Davis hasn&#39;t had much time to look for a house or take care of the Christmas shopping yet. And things are about to get a lot busier for North Carolina&#39;s new football coach.<br> <br> In his first few weeks, Davis has been on the road recruiting and meeting with high school coaches in the state. He&#39;s working to hire the coaching staff that will try to reverse the Tar Heels&#39; sagging onfield fortunes. He&#39;s even made time to meet with former coach John Bunting, whose midseason firing opened the door for Davis&#39; arrival.<br> <br> ``There&#39;s no shortage of irons in the fire these last couple of weeks,&#39;&#39; Davis said. ``Come January, we will amp it up considerably.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Davis met with about a dozen reporters Tuesday for the first time since the news conference to introduce him as coach three weeks ago.<br> <br> Since then, recruiting has been a priority. Davis went to South Carolina for last week&#39;s Shrine Bowl the matchup of prep all-stars in the Carolinas to meet with coaches and players. He visited with Charlotte Independence coach Tom Knotts, whose team became the first in North Carolina to win seven straight state championships and pushed the nation&#39;s longest winning streak to 108 games.<br> <br> Davis has worked to shore up verbal commitments from recruits who planned to play for Bunting. He also said the Tar Heels are getting interest from new recruiting targets, though Davis joked he&#39;s just starting to figure out how to send text messages to prospects.<br> <br> ``There&#39;s been a very positive reaction to the change here,&#39;&#39; he said. ``We are fielding calls from places that probably weren&#39;t on the radar and certainly from athletes who weren&#39;t on the radar here.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> He&#39;s also working on his staff. So far, Davis has hired three assistants and is still deciding whether to retain four members of Bunting&#39;s staff including Kenny Browning, a former high school coach with strong instate recruiting ties who has been with the Tar Heels dating to the Mack Brown era.<br> <br> ``To me, putting a coaching staff together is one of the most important tasks of a head coach,&#39;&#39; Davis said. ``So many things go into it ... because these guys have got to be extensions of the university.<br> <br> ``It may take three more weeks, four weeks or whatever. I&#39;m not in a rush. I want to make sure when we do finalize it, we get it right.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> As for the past, Davis said he&#39;s not reviewing game film of the current players, opting instead for a ``fresh slate&#39;&#39; approach heading into spring practice. He also met with Bunting shortly after taking over, spending about 90 minutes chatting over lunch.<br> <br> It&#39;s part of Davis&#39; efforts to reach out to the program&#39;s former players, including Bunting a linebacker here from 1969-71.<br> <br> ``I know it is a tender time for him,&#39;&#39; Davis said. ``But the one message I wanted him to feel comfortable with was that he is a Tar Heel and that he will always be welcome here.<br> <br> ``Whether they played for Mack Brown or Carl Torbush, I really don&#39;t care. They laid it on the line and sold their souls out to be great players here, and I want them to feel welcome.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> When he&#39;s not working long hours at Kenan Stadium, Davis is living in an apartment until the family buys a house. He&#39;s leaving that search to his wife, Tammy, who he joked will likely leave a post-it note on the refrigerator when she&#39;s found the right place.<br> <br> Like everything else, it&#39;s crammed into an already packed schedule.<br> <br> ``We don&#39;t have nearly enough hours in the day to get it all done,&#39;&#39; he said.