TAMPA, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have hired former North Carolina head coach Butch Davis as a “special assistant” to new head coach Greg Schiano.

The team announced the hire Monday, saying Davis would “advise Schiano in a wide range of football aspects.” In a statement, Schiano called Davis a friend and mentor going back to the time when Schiano worked on Davis’ staff at Miami.

Davis was fired from UNC just before training camp last season amid the NCAA investigation of improper benefits and academic misconduct within the Tar Heels football program.

Davis was never cited for or linked to any violation during the investigation.

UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp said he made the change because of cumulative damage done to the university’s reputation. At the time, Thorp said Davis could receive about $2.7 million in contractual obligations that run through 2015.

He received $933,500 of the buyout by the end of 2011. He was also scheduled to receive three annual payments of $590,000 starting next January, though those payments would be reduced by any compensation he received for coaching a college or pro team.

It’s unclear whether his new role as a special assistant to Schiano would trigger that clause.

Davis previously had been an assistant to Jimmy Johnson with the Dallas Cowboys and was head coach of the Cleveland Browns. He took over at North Carolina before the 2007 season.

In all, 14 Tar Heels missed at least one game and seven were forced to sit the entire season in 2010. The school has already issued its own penalties by vacating all 16 wins from 2008 and 2009, reducing scholarships and putting the football program on probation.

The school appeared before the NCAA infractions committee in late October. The NCAA could issue a ruling any day on whether it will impose additional penalties.