Strong denial?
Via WRAL:
Asked directly about the Tennessee job after practice Tuesday, Davis said "the long and short of it is, the administration and I are completely and firmly committed to building a championship football program at North Carolina. My family and I are very happy in Chapel Hill."
--
"I guess the easy answer is, in some respects, obviously, you're flattered a little bit. (It) kind of goes with the territory" of being at a high-profile program, Davis said. "It's kind of an unfortunate thing, all the speculation and stuff, for any coach. There's lots of coaches that deal with that. ... I think coaches today, you just kind of grin and bear it."
--
"In 34 years, I haven't seen anybody successfully" avoid speculation, he said. "You just kind of gut it out until they hurry up and name somebody at a place, and then - like in the case of Arkansas last year - the sooner, the better."
Here is a question: Is stating a committment the same thing as denying interest in another job? Granted I am taking the cynical approach here but I think you get my point. Saying you are committed to building a championship program and loving the town you are in by no means dismisses the notion you would think about jumping to Tennessee if they came calling. In other words, I would have rather him say he had no interest in the Tennessee job at all.
Now to move away from the cynic's corner a bit here, Davis does acknowledge that this is part of the deal and all he can hope for is the job to close up as quickly as possible. That statement makes it sound as though he wants these questions to go away as soon as possible, preferably by someone getting hired since the media speculation will not end until that happens. The line of thinking along with his statement of committment could be taken to mean Davis is not looking elsewhere.
Unfortunately we can never be sure. As much as I would like to take this at face value, I know better. Such is the cynicism of modern college football where coaches say one thing about staying then leave a beat later. You also have the machinations of Davis' agent Jimmy Sexton who is a major power broker representing several high profile coaches. Sexton has a reputation of showing his clients the money which makes him an X factor in terms of what UNC might be asked to do in order to keep Davis happy. Winning has a price and like Davis I hope these jobs get filled soon so we can fully enjoy the successful season at hand.