Wednesday was a good day for North Carolina football coach Butch Davis, who got a fat salary raise and a contract extension despite having compiled a lean record before his first season on the job was completed.

It also was a good day for Wake Forest's Jim Grobe, N.C. State's Tom O'Brien, East Carolina's Skip Holtz and any other coach who will be recruiting against Davis in the near future.

That's because it's now more obvious than ever that while Davis' wallet is in Chapel Hill, his eyes are on potentially greener financial gridirons elsewhere.

The extension and raise are an absurd development for a guy with a 3-8 record that includes losses to the Deacons, Wolfpack and Pirates. At the same time, it's impossible to fault UNC athletics director Dick Baddour and the school's administration for caving.

With Arkansas apparently interested in making a run at the coach, the Tar Heels' front-office folks were caught between a rock and a raid. Their once joyous union with Davis was in at least some danger of imploding faster than an Elizabeth Taylor marriage.

For the record, Baddour said in a statement that the university had initiated extension talks with the coach. But Davis still played the school like a fancy banjo picker. At the very least, he could have waited until after beating Duke on Saturday to press the issue of an increase. But that didn't happen.

Whether Davis really was interested in leaving for his Arkansas alma mater, by the way, is debatable. Arkansas football is nothing if not a snake pit, and anyone this side of Frank Broyles understands that. Ask Lou Holtz. Ask Danny Ford. Ask Houston Nutt.

What Davis has done in this situation is expose his soul, not to mention show his hand. Until he establishes otherwise, he has painted himself as a football mercenary -- a guy who is perfectly willing to play both ends against the middle.

True, lots of coaches fit the same mold. It's a business -- a big, bare-knuckled business -- and most coaches with two ears are going to listen to whatever comes along and use it to their negotiating advantage.

And it's also true that in exchange for his millions, Davis has given UNC fans a glimpse of hope that's been absent for years. There's no doubt he has upgraded the program, installed an impressive staff of assistants and put the team in a position to win more than it loses next season and beyond.

But he handled this one poorly. He held the Heels' feet way too close to the fire considering his record, his regional reputation and his short tenure. It's going to turn out to be a recruiting liability, too. His living room rivals will see to that.

And if he doesn't post a convincing win against Duke under struggling coach Ted Roof on Saturday, Davis could be frowning all the way to the bank.