Miami reportedly taking 'fresh look' at Butch Davis as coach

Miami has been taking "a fresh look" at former Hurricanes coach Butch Davis, examining the circumstances surrounding his exit at North Carolina and evaluating his viability as a candidate, the Miami Herald reported, citing multiple unidentified sources.

Davis, 63, led Miami to a 51-20 record from 1995-2000 and has strong support among fans as well as, according to the Herald, a few notable Board of Trustees members.

"He hasn’t been written off; he’s among people given initial consideration," one unidentified university official said, noting Davis will be given more scrutiny.

"There’s pressure being placed by the public and some of the Trustees to hire him," one unidentified high-level trustee said.

However, the Herald said former university president Donna Shalala has been clear she feels strongly that Davis shouldn't be considered for the job.

North Carolina fired Davis in July 2011 after an academic-fraud scandal that covered 18 years and multiple sports, though Davis was never directly implicated. Despite the fact that the NCAA found North Carolina guilty of academic fraud and failure to monitor the football program, Davis has said he has a letter from the NCAA that clears him of wrongdoing.

Interestingly, the Herald reported Miami is "under the impression" Texas coach Charlie Strong and Cincinnati coach Tommy Tuberville have some level of interest in the Hurricanes job. Other names frequently connected to the job: Mario Cristobal, Rob Chudzinski and Greg Schiano.

Miami fired Al Golden midway through this season after he went 32-25 mark with two bowl appearances in four-plus seasons.

A Brief Look At Vikings/Raiders History

Over the course of their history, the Minnesota Vikings have had a lot of success against a lot of different franchises.

The Oakland/Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders are not one of them.

The Vikings have come out on the short end of the stick more than their fair share of times against the silver and black over the years. The Raiders handed the Vikings the fourth of their four Super Bowl defeats in Super Bowl IX XI by a score of 32-14. As you'll see in our post here, the regular season hasn't been any kinder to our favorite football team over the years.

So, let's take a look back, even though it's a little on the ugly side. As always, all of the facts and numbers in this post are brought to you by the good folks from Pro Football Reference.

Total Games Between the Vikings and the Raiders: 14 (13 regular season, 1 post-season)

All-Time Head-to-Head Record: Raiders, 9-4 (Raiders 1-0 in post-season play)

Total Vikings' Points Scored, Head-to-Head, Regular Season: 250 (19.2 points/game)

Total Raiders' Points Scored, Head-to-Head, Regular Season: 321 (24.7 points/game)

Longest Vikings' Winning Streak Against the Raiders, Regular Season: 1 (four different times)

Longest Raiders' Winning Streak Against the Vikings, Regular Season: 4 (11 December 1977 - 14 October 1984)

Most Recent Vikings' Victory in Oakland: 17 November 1996 (Final score 16-13)

Most Recent Raiders' Victory in Oakland: 16 November 2003 (Final score 28-18)

Biggest Vikings' Victory in Oakland: 3 points, 17 November 1996 (Final score 16-13)

Biggest Raiders' Victory in Oakland: 22 points, 11 December 1977 (Final score 35-13)

Current Streak: Raiders, 1 victory

And a couple of random things about the history between these two teams. . .

-The Vikings' regular season win percentage of .308 against the Raiders is their second-lowest against any opponent in franchise history. The only team that Minnesota has a lower winning percentage against is the New York Jets (2-8, giving them a winning percentage of .200).

-You probably figured this out from the facts listed above, but the Vikings have only defeated the Raiders on the road once in team history, back in 1996. That game saw the Vikings jump out to a quick 10-0 lead on an 82-yard touchdown pass from Brad Johnson to Jake Reed. After a pick-6 for the Raiders, the teams traded field goals for the rest of the afternoon, with Scott Sisson eventually getting the better of Cole Ford in a 16-13 Minnesota win.

-Overall, the Vikings have a record of 1-5 against the Raiders when they have to travel out to the West Coast. Granted, they're only 3-4 against them at home, but that's a heck of a lot better than 1-5.

-The last two games in this series took place at the Metrodome. In 2007, with Adrian Peterson out with a knee injury, Chester Taylor put the Vikings on his back and ran for 164 yards and three touchdowns in a 29-22 Minnesota win. In 2011, the Vikings got on the board first and took a 7-0 lead, but the Raiders controlled things from there, scoring the next 24 points and holding the Vikings off in the fourth quarter to win 27-21.

-That 2011 game was Peterson's only appearance against the Raiders in his career, and it was not his best day. He did find the end zone, but only carried the ball six times for 26 yards in the contest. He left that game in the second quarter with an ankle injury.

-The last time Minnesota traveled to Oakland was in 2003. The game featured Phillip Buchanon intercepting Daunte Culpepper for a pick-6 on the second play from scrimmage and the. . .bleh. . .Rick Mirer-led Raiders getting out to a 21-3 lead. Minnesota managed to close the gap to 21-18, but couldn't complete the comeback as the Raiders got one more touchdown to seal a 28-18 win.

And that's a quick look back at the history between the Minnesota Vikings and the Oakland/Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders. Here's hoping that the Vikings can generate a significant reversal of their fortunes on Sunday afternoon.