Chancellor Holden Thorp’s long overdue decision to fire head football coach Butch Davis, paired with Athletic Director Dick Baddour’s resignation, represents a much needed reinforcement of UNC’s values. But his attempt at damage control is overshadowed by the months of unnecessary waiting that have left the University’s reputation scarred by scandal. Thorp and Baddour owe the entire University community — especially the latest class of recruits Davis asked to join it — a sincere apology for problems that could have been nipped in the bud if not for their hesitance.
For months, Thorp, Baddour and trustees stood idly by, looking past Davis’ blatant administrative oversight and even confirming he would coach in 2011. To this day, they say he had no direct knowledge of the money changing hands between his assistant John Blake and the late sports agent Gary Wichard. Nor was Davis necessarily a party to the inappropriate academic support a tutor provided to his players.
That doesn’t matter. Blake’s resignation and evidence of improper benefits to players brought into high relief Davis’ incapacity as leader of the team. Some players were seemingly aloof to what they could get away with, while others committed egregious acts of academic misconduct. Combined with Blake’s business dealings, it was clear months ago that Davis had lost control and had failed to instill a culture of absolute compliance.
Thorp deserves credit for waiting until the NCAA’s suspicions were confirmed, but he hesitated so long after that point that the team now enters training camp without a clear leader. More decisive action could have spared Thorp the awkwardness of firing Davis just two days after he represented the University at Atlantic Coast Conference media day in Pinehurst.
Thorp said the decision was intended to protect the University’s academic integrity. But the wait to dismiss Davis already sent a clear message to faculty about the University’s priorities. As the NCAA investigated, the University attempted to fire star researcher Bonnie Yankaskas for a mistake that allowed access to confidential information about women in a mammography study. Yankaskas wasn’t personally responsible but was blamed because, as the project’s principal investigator, she was ultimately responsible. It was in that vein that Baddour fell on the sword. Yankaskas has since agreed to leave the University, and it’s only fair that Davis do the same.
The scars to the University’s reputation have only deepened with Thorp’s wait, but they are not irreversible. Davis’ gross managerial oversight will leave a stain on the University’s history, but the program can now finally pick itself off the turf and restore itself as a source of pride for its fans. That will take a fresh perspective from a coach who puts the chalkboard before the scoreboard, who takes a personal stake in the behavior of his staff and players.
Davis was hired to breathe life into a UNC sideshow. And, in four full seasons, he succeeded. But the national spotlight he recently brought to the team came for all the wrong reasons. It’s now time to learn and build back up. There is no time to waste when it comes to restoring what was once an unsullied reputation.
