Dec. 22, 2008

FOX Sports Carolinas announced the debut of In My Own Words: Butch Davis, spotlighting the University of North Carolina head football coach, on Tuesday, December 23 at 7:30 p.m. ET. In the 30-minute interview special, Davis chronicles his childhood in northwest Arkansas and collegiate career at the University of Arkansas; coaching with the legendary Jimmy Johnson at Oklahoma State University, the University of Miami and the Dallas Cowboys; returning to the college gridiron at the University of North Carolina and fighting non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

In My Own Words: Butch Davis premieres on FOX Sports Carolinas on Tuesday, December 23 at 7:30 p.m. ET and will re-air on Friday, December 26 at 10:30 p.m. ET.

On coaching with Jimmy Johnson
· "Jimmy is just an unbelievable recruiter himself. He could tell you about a vision he had, and you just felt an enormous amount of energy being around him. So I went home, resigned from my job at Tulsa Rogers (high school) and took the job at Oklahoma State...and that started the first of 15 years that I spent with Jimmy."

On winning the National Championship with the University of Miami
· "1988 was supposed to be a rebuilding year, it was supposed to be a year that we would reorganize; we had some good young players. And magically we went 12-0 and won the National Championship. Coaching never ceases to amaze and surprise me with what motivates players. Losing that National Championship (the previous year) had an unbelievable effect on the remaining kids. They took it personal and put the program in a position to play for the National Championship the next two years and we were fortunate enough to win it."

On battling non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
· "I went through a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma situation almost immediately after the very first recruiting class. We signed the class in the first of February and within the next couple of weeks you find out that you're diagnosed with cancer. I think I'm blessed beyond belief for several of reasons - I had a great group of friends and a great family support that immediately jumped the call and started placing calls with different cancer places around the country and different hospitals and almost unanimously everybody said `Well, the best one is right here at the University of North Carolina.' Sometimes you wonder how God plays a role in your life, maybe that's the reason that leads you to this place."

The regional sports networks serving the Southeast - Fox Sports South, Fox Sports Carolinas and Fox Sports Tennessee - collectively reach more than 12 million cable and satellite television households in seven states in the Southeast and are the television home of the Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Hawks, Carolina Hurricanes, Charlotte Bobcats, Memphis Grizzlies and the Nashville Predators, as well as the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Southeastern Conference. SportSouth reaches more than nine million homes in six Southeastern states and is the television home of the Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Thrashers and Southern Conference. SportSouth also offers expanded coverage of the University of Georgia, University of South Carolina and University of Tennessee. Combined, the four networks produce more than 800 live local events each year, including 180 in high definition.