…and the wait for the John Bunting spoof cartoon from the News & Observer will have to continue.
With the news that Carolina will now be searching for a football coach, we are all very excited to read Barry Saunders (surely) imminent column about the lack of diversity – historically and currently – on Carolina’s coaching staff. It will be great to see the News & Observer apply the same editorial bent to UNC’s Department as they do NC State’s whenever something arises. Saunders effectively called for the firing of known discilinarian and ‘good-guy’ Mike O’Cain about a decade ago after a few players had gotten into misdemeanor legal troubles.
But, Saunders has never penned an article attacking Mack Brown or John Bunting, who BOTH ran football programs with far more legal issues than O’Cain. We are guessing that old Barry is just gearing up for a huge piece on the loing history of off-the-field problems and the lack of diversity in pristine Chapel Hill. Can’t wait for it!!
It’s probably a good move to go ahead and get it announced now. It gives the school a head start on its search and getting positioned for their next coach while saving the fan base and the the administration from ripping each other apart until the end of the season. Additionally, the announcement alleviates pressure from the team the rest of the season and should allow the Tarheels to ‘turn it loose’ the next few games.
Expect high emotions when State travels to Chapel Hill on November 18th.
John Bunting will not return as head coach of the University of North Carolina football program in 2007, Director of Athletics Dick Baddour announced this evening. Bunting, a 1972 UNC graduate, is in his sixth year as the Tar Heels’ head coach. Bunting will continue to coach the Tar Heels through the rest of this season.
Bunting and Baddour met on Sunday at which time Baddour informed Bunting that he would be relieved of his duties at the end of this season. The team was told Sunday evening at a meeting after the players returned from Fall Break.
Bunting became head coach in December 2000. He led the Tar Heels to a Peach Bowl win following the 2001 season and wins over No. 5 ranked Florida State in 2001 and No. 4 Miami in 2004. He has three seasons remaining on his contract (2007-08-09) at $286,200 per year.
Caulton Tudor has some great commentary available by clicking here and 85o The Buzz had the following to say in this entry:
Needless to say, this is going to throw plenty of people off who thought it wasn’t the “North Carolina Way� to out a coach in the middle of the season. Most of the speculation was that if there was going to be a change for 2007, it would be handled in a way that would respect Bunting. In other words, he wouldn’t be fired and would be allowed to resign on his own terms. Not so much after today’s events, where it appears Baddour had to make the tough call.
Why the sudden change of heart for Baddour, who has plenty riding on the Bunting hire? Erskine Bowles. We’ve heard chatter that the new UNC system president (and a man with deep roots to Chapel Hill) wasn’t happy with the current situation. He even made a few comments about the team a couple of weeks ago that a few people thought were intriguing. Eddy Landreth of the Chapel Hill News hints at the Bowles connection, and in his Sunday column calls for sweeping changes to take place in Chapel Hill.
