UNC football looks to move forward after Wainstein report

Tim Scott has seen all the cracks with the North Carolina football team.

An interim head coach his freshman season. Then, a bowl ban and another new coach as a sophomore. Now a senior, his defense has already given up record-setting highs in both points and yards.

But even with all the setbacks, something even greater has plagued Scott the past four years.

Since coming to light in 2011, accusations of academic fraud and eligibility concerns have marred not only the football team, but UNC athletics as a whole. Resulting postseason sanctions, scholarship reductions and personnel turnover — including the dismissal of Butch Davis — have left the program in limbo.

Wednesday, answers finally came.

Independent investigator and former federal prosecutor Kenneth Wainstein released the results of his eight-month probe into claims of academic fraud surrounding the former African and Afro-American Studies department. Among other things, Wainstein’s report cleared all current student-athletes of any wrongdoing, but Scott said that culture was erased long ago.

“Even when I was here my freshman year, when I first stepped on, (that culture) was gone,” Scott said. “They tried to just forget all about it and just leave it alone, which they’ve been doing the last four years.”

Larry Fedora, who took over for interim coach Everett Withers following the 2011-12 season, inherited the same problems as his players.

“All I’ll say is I’m glad it’s done, I’m glad it’s over with so we can move on,” Fedora said. “We’ve been trying to do that, you know as a program for a while now.”

Now, just three days away from its matchup with UVa. (4-3, 2-1 ACC), the team plans to put Wainstein’s findings out of mind for good.

For Fedora, that means no more paper classes. No more unwarranted grades. From here on out, as the third-year coach has always maintained in the face of these accusations, everything is strictly football.

“That’s about it. I can’t tell you what they’re taking or, I mean, I couldn’t tell you what one guy’s major is right now, but I can tell you what Virginia’s gonna do,” Fedora said.

Run.

Senior tailback Kevin Parks has over 500 rushing yards and three touchdowns this season.

“Anybody ever tried to catch a mouse in a house, you know it’s kind of tough — they know where every little hiding place is,” defensive coordinator Vic Koenning said. “I’m not saying he’s a mouse, that’s not what I’m saying, but I’m saying he finds all the little creases and cracks and does a great job of getting through there.”

With both its athletic reputation and its leaky run defense, UNC wants to accomplish one thing this weekend.

Seal up all the cracks.

sports@dailytarheel.com