March 20, 2007

By Adam Lucas

Butch Davis knew this week would be about challenges. After all, it was his first week of spring practice at North Carolina; his first foray back onto the college practice field since leaving the University of Miami after the 2000 season.

All who observed the first day of practice on Monday commented on his high energy and hands-on approach. Sporting a white Carolina visor, Davis was involved in every drill. At one point, he stopped an offensive lineman who had been going only half speed.

"Can you run?" he asked the player, who nodded in the affirmative.

"Then you run full speed," Davis said. "That's how we do things all the time here."

It's no surprise, then, that that's exactly how he's attacking a new challenge that he confirmed on Tuesday afternoon: the new Carolina football coach recently had a growth removed from his mouth that turned out to be non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The growth was discovered by Davis's Cleveland-based dentist, Dr. David Koski, during a routine dental cleaning four weeks ago. A biopsy revealed the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma diagnosis, which led to a subsequent battery of tests over two full days in Cleveland over spring break.

"Part of those tests was a normal executive physical to get the picture of my health," Davis said. "That was as good as it's been in years. My weight is down, blood counts are good, and I had an EKG.

"The second half of the first day and all of the second day they put me through a lot of tests to find out if it's cancer and where it might be. The good news on that was that after going through every exhaustive exam, there is no evidence of cancer in my body. But the fact remains that in that piece of tissue they removed (from his mouth), there was evidence of it being there. Through a lot of consultation, the school of thought by all the experts was that it was important to achieve complete and total eradication and go through chemotherapy."

Davis has already undergone the first round of chemo, which was done in Cleveland. Now his treatment will shift to Carolina under the eye of Dr. Thomas Shea, who is listed in America's Top Doctors--an honor conferred by his peers, who nominate the doctors recognized in that publication--for medical oncology.

Davis, who has never smoked or chewed tobacco, met with his team Tuesday afternoon to explain the situation and answer their questions.

"I felt like that was important," the coach said. "It's important to tell the truth and talk about things. We're going to call the parents and call the recruits...My plans now are to put 100 percent total focus on this football team."

The treatment plan going forward is somewhat uncertain. Davis will undergo between three and six chemotherapy treatments, taking one 2-hour session every two weeks. His doctors have suggested he might feel slightly fatigued at the end of treatment but that should have no impact on his participation--as hands-on as ever--in spring practice.

As is typical for a man who has already lined the bookshelves in his office in the Kenan Football Center with books on a variety of topics, Davis immediately threw himself into researching his diagnosis. He discovered good news: "These are the things I know," he said. "Early detection is awesome. Being in great health is a huge advantage. And being very proactive is important. Those are the three things every physician we've talked to has said are important."

The second day of spring practice is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, and Davis will be on the field--just as he will be for every subsequent session. He understands the news will come as a jolt to Carolina fans, just as it did to him when he was first diagnosed in late February.

"I know people are going to be concerned," he said. "But it's going to be OK. We're going to get through this and we're going to have a great season next fall."

Adam Lucas's third book on Carolina basketball, The Best Game Ever, chronicles the 1957 national championship season and is available now. His previous books include Going Home Again, focusing on Roy Williams's return to Carolina, and Led By Their Dreams, a collaboration with Steve Kirschner and Matt Bowers on the 2005 championship team.