While the anti-football people wail about Butch Davis' contract extension, thousands of North Carolina football fans are thrilled and can enjoy this off-season with gusto because Davis said as resolutely as possible this week that he is not interested in any other job.

Davis quashed the continuing speculation about going home to coach Arkansas or taking some other job opening. The only place Butch Davis is headed is out to recruit more, and even better, athletes to help make UNC a winner in football.

"No, no, no," Davis said. "There is no interest in the University of Arkansas coaching job. I hope they hire a good coach. I played football there."

Davis left no wiggle room about leaving Carolina, not just for Arkansas but for any other job.

In fact, Davis said he spent some time Thursday morning talking with Dick Baddour, UNC's director of athletics, about the progress of the stadium expansion. There are mockups sitting outside the coaches' offices that show how the stadium might appear after it is expanded. Davis said Baddour told him the plan for the renovations should be ready to present to the Board of Trustees in the next 30 days or so.

"I know there was interest out there," Davis said of other schools looking at him, "but my interest was to stay at the University of North Carolina. I love being here, and I love being a part of it. I look very much forward to being a part of the future of this program. I had an opportunity to sit out of coaching for two years and survey the landscape of jobs that were open over the last two years and jobs that might potentially come open. My family and I really, truly love Chapel Hill.

"We chose it as place to raise our son. We chose it as a place to stay. We're thrilled to be here. I'm fortunate to have this job, and I love being a part of it."

This does not mean there will not be speculation next season or the one after that about other schools trying to hire Davis. John Swofford, commissioner of the ACC and a former UNC football player and director of athletics at Carolina, used to say if a school has truly outstanding coaches there will be a steady line of suitors who hope to steal that man or woman away.

Thankfully for all those people who buy season tickets or watch faithfully on television each week, and have dreamed of football once again being a true power, Davis is here.

The fruit of his presence, and that of his excellent staff, began to once again reveal itself this week with the commitment of running back Jamal Womble of Arizona, who chose the Tar Heels instead of hometown Arizona State, South Carolina and others.

Womble is ranked the No. 9 prospect in Arizona and the No. 17 running back prospect nationally in the Class of 2008. The young man ran for more than 1,700 yards and 20 touchdowns this past season. At 5 foot 10, 220 pounds, he combines speed with the kind of solid base that makes for an excellent runner.

He is just the start of what will likely be a monster class by this staff. The Tar Heels have a great chance to land the No. 2 linebacker prospect in the country, a kid named Arthur Brown of Kansas.

There are also a group of exceptional athletes in the Miami area that the staff is recruiting, the kind of players Davis used to build what might be the best college football team in history -- the 2001 Miami Hurricanes. Practically every kid off that team played in the National Football League, and a huge number of them were drafted in the first few rounds.

For example, one of those was Ed Reed, who now plays for the Baltimore Ravens and was the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year a couple of years ago -- at safety.

There will be other players as well, kids that few are paying all that much attention to but players who Davis can tell have the chance to be outstanding.

Charles Brown of Ohio, a freshman defensive back on this UNC team, is a prime example. Brown was not a highly recruited kid. But when Davis took the job at Carolina a little more than a year ago, one of the first commitments he took was Brown. A year later, Brown has been named to the all-ACC freshman team by some media outlets.

If you watched the Tar Heels play this season, it is obvious Brown is an excellent player. Better yet, he was primarily a wide receiver in high school, but now is a cornerback who improved as he gained experience.

Davis saw this potential when others did not.

When Carolina does sign this class, another reason it will probably be one of the best in the country is the way Davis and his staff have inspired the kids on the team already. Players recruit new players, if they like their coaches.

When one asks players about their coaches, they will inevitably say good things because they have to live with those guys. But they do not have to get a tone of genuine enthusiasm and excitement in their voices.

Anyone who questions whether Davis is the man for this job, and all the critics of Davis' contract, should one-by-one privately interview these young men and see just how much they respect and admire these coaches, Davis in particular. That is what UNC did when it decided to get rid of Matt Doherty. It asked the kids.

Ask about Davis and you'll get a glowing response.

The ability of these coaches to teach is one of the reasons, but not the main one. They treat the students of the university with respect. They teach them without degrading. They inspire rather than belittle. These coaches do their jobs in a fashion that anyone who cares about kids and the students enrolled at this school should want them treated.

Those are the kinds of things that get lost in the whining about Davis' contract extension.

UNC has Butch Davis for at least another year, and Carolina is darned fortunate that is the case.