Fellow SB Nation blog Hogs Haven ran down and put together an excellent interview with Butch Davis this past week – Part 1 is here and Part 2 is here. It mostly focuses on his time at Miami, were he coached and recruited current stars Clinton Portis and Santana Moss, but there's a couple of good insights into his general philosophy, especially with regards to moving players to new positions:
Every place I’ve ever coached we’ve always experimented moving players around. That was one of the things Jimmy Johnson was brilliant at going all the way back to our Oklahoma State days. Dexter Manley was originally an OLB that we moved to DE and obviously he had great success with the Redskins. A variety of guys at Miami and Dallas. Tony Tolbert who was a great player for the Cowboys. He was an OLB at the University of Texas El Paso and he came in and we made him a DE. It’s wise. I think all coaches are looking for gifted athletes that have a lot of versatility. You’re always trying to create matchups. That’s probably the biggest change in football the last 15-20 years. Slot receivers against nickel backs. Corners and multiple personnel. You’re looking for matchups.
He's also got nice things to say about Hakeem Nicks and his chances of success in the NFL. As they say, read the whole thing.