Continued Fallout: Baddour Resigns (Updated 3pm)

General UNC Scandal62

This chaos clearly still isn’t over for the Flagship.

Today, AD Dick Baddour “resigned.”

Dick Baddour announced his resignation on Thursday in order for chancellor Holden Thorp to find a new football coach.

Thorp said he would interview interim candidates today but would not name a successor for football coach Butch Davis, who was fired on Wednesday.

From Chip Patterson at CBSSports.com:

Baddour’s contract is set to run through June 2012, and he informed the media that he has told Thorp to begin the search for his replacement “as soon as possible.” Thorp elaborated that Baddour would join the school in representing the program in Indianapolis before the NCAA Committee on Infractions. Once the school selects a replacement, Baddour will step aside from day-to-day duties but he will remain under contract until it expires in June.

Meanwhile, Holden Thorp offers more nonsense on why Butch Davis was fired (WRAL.com):

Thorp said that he believes that Davis was unaware of any improprieties that were going on that led up to the investigation and the total buyout package could add up to $2.7 million.

“I don’t believe Butch Davis knew about the things that went on,” Thorp said. “This was really about the cumulative effect on the university.”

$2.7 million…well, that makes as much sense as the rest of this, no doubt about that.

Dennis Dodd at CBSSports.com offers his confusing take, albeit one with which most UNC fans probably agree, “North Carolina killed Butch Davis:”

North Carolina football killed Butch Davis. Not the other way around.

Sure, Davis is to blame for allowing the program to go rogue on his watch but that’s part of my logic. A coach successful enough to get to the highest level of the NFL, a man diligent enough to bring Miami back from the brink of scandal in a relatively short amount of time, a man who then basically delivered Miami a national championship, caved.

He caved because he knew North Carolina was not your normal salvage job. Even in the mediocre ACC, North Carolina’s football mediocrity stood out. The last coach to win 10 in Chapel was the first to do it in 16 years. Mack Brown got the hell out 14 years ago because he knew it couldn’t last. Butch Davis took the job because he was the latest in a line to believe he could make a difference.

But knowing the history of North Carolina football Davis was desperate enough to hire John Blake, a guy he had known for 30 years. That’s what makes the events of Wednesday even more tragic. It wouldn’t have taken much because Carolina fans don’t demand much.

That was Davis’ greatest mistake. He should have known better. He didn’t have to hire Blake, the coach by his notorious nickname “Black Santa”. Davis knew Blake’s recruiting coordinator’s rep. Hell, it looks like he hired Blake because of the dark side of that rep.

Davis ultimately concluded that Blake is what Carolina needed because it’s Carolina. There are reasons why the administration failed time after time to get it right, why a school with a glorious athletic tradition elsewhere has averaged 5 1/2 football wins since 1998.

1:45pm Update:
A couple ESPN folks have more to say.

Heather Dinich on the cost to UNC:

“We recognize that $2.7 million may be what this ends up costing us,” chancellor Holden Thorp said, “and I’ve reached the conclusion that even though this is a terrible time, the athletic program will need to pay whatever it is we need to pay to make the separation happen.”

Oh, they’ll pay.

It will cost them fan support.

It will cost them recruits.

It will cost them years.

It will cost them wins.

It will cost them their longtime, loyal athletic director, who announced his resignation effective June, 2012.

And the NCAA hasn’t even begun to levy sanctions for nine major violations.

Dave Hooker talks about its impact on recruiting and has some comments from 2012 commits.

The L.A. Times compiles the response of writers from various news outlets around the nation, who all agree that the timing of this makes no sense whatsoever. It’s hard not to suppose something else is going on that forced the issue rather than waiting until a more opportune time.

If there was any doubt that Carolina garners national attention as one of the premier programs in the NCAA, the sheer magnitude of the response to this by the national media erases it. But let’s see how one of the local folks reacts:

Season Ticket holder Dion Graham was also surprised by the firing.

“They fired him? You’ve got to be kidding,” he said.

This probably isn't Dion

It’s also a good time to once again point out, to all you Carolina faithful out there: it’s Tar Heels (two words), not Tarheels (one word). But don’t fret, Butch probably didn’t know that, either.

3pm Update:
All along, there have been questions about whether the 216 phone records would be turned over, and what they would look like after Butch self-redacted them. With such precarious timing for his firing, it’s certainly plausible that the 216 records at least factored into the decision. Well, Dan Kane of the N&O blogs that we may never know:

Davis told reporters last week that the university reviewed the records in the fall of 2010. That’s true, but the university never made copies.

“He didn’t give us the records,” said Nancy Davis. “We hired outside legal counsel to take a look at them, but he retained the records, and he has them now.”

Nancy Davis said she did not know what the university’s counsel reported back regarding Butch Davis’s personal cell phone records, but it so far has not been tied to any NCAA violation. Thorp said Thursday that there are no new allegations surrounding the cell phone or any other information requested by reporters.

To see what others have been saying, go here.

Since you’re probably dying to talk more about this, in addition to the comments below, you can head on over to the SFN Forums.

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General UNC Scandal

62 Responses to Continued Fallout: Baddour Resigns (Updated 3pm)

  1. HPWolf 07/28/2011 at 4:15 PM #

    The smurf picture is great. I have been sharing it with my carolina friends and man o man are they taking this hard. My best friend is not talking to me or answering my calls. My buddy from high school that attended UNC while I was at state is in total denial and thinks they will still escape sanctions. He believes this is a one year setback. After all these years of arrogance and jokes about cow college they are in a full blown meltdown on a national stage for everyone to see. Damn its a good time to be a state man!!

  2. mafpack 07/28/2011 at 4:16 PM #

    Yeah… so as I was saying yesterday. Along with BOTBob, I’m sticking to this reasoning for this really odd timing for Butch’s firing.

    http://blogs.newsobserver.com/accnow/unc-releasing-phone-records-up-to-coach-davis

    “But his firing this week makes it hard to say whether those records will ever become public.

    “That’s up to Coach Davis,” UNC chancellor Holden Thorp said this morning.

    University spokeswoman Nancy Davis said that the records have yet to be turned over by Davis. They come from a cellphone that he has used since his days coaching the NFL’s Cleveland Browns.”

    This firing means that Butch no longer has to turn them over. Which means UNC can’t be implicated by anything that would have been found in them…

  3. Alpha Wolf 07/28/2011 at 4:19 PM #

    ^ mafpack – hammer, nail, head. The records will never see the light of day and Butch Davis has 2.77 millions reasons to see that they don’t.

    To the end, they are going to be scum over there. They aren’t enough man enough to own up to what they’ve done. Oh wait, that’s the Carolina Way. Sometimes I confuse the myth with the reality.

  4. TruthBKnown Returns 07/28/2011 at 4:33 PM #

    I still say those phone records are a matter of public (state) record, regardless of Butch’s CURRENT job status.

  5. HPWolf 07/28/2011 at 4:52 PM #

    Just curious, what would the NCAA sanctions be if it is proven that asst coach blake aka black santa paid recruits in cash to commit to UNC football. I mean… What does the NCAA think the 31,000 was for?

  6. packhammer 07/28/2011 at 4:57 PM #

    Ok here, seriously, is what Thorp means: We hope to God that Butch takes another coaching job so that we don’t have to pay out the full amount through 2015, but if he doesn’t do that then we intend to pay him off per the terms of the contract, and that may come to $2.7 million.

    Hmmm, so why would Butch even look at coaching jobs? And who would want him? Doesn’t he just “retire” and enjoy the checks in January?

    And by the way, does the Unc athletic department have this kind of money to throw around? And they still have to hire a new coach. Mike Leach isn’t going to come for nothing. As my Dad used to say, may he RIP, some people have more money than sense. This whole thing from Blake, to Wiley, to Butch, to Baddour stinks of payoffs and hush money.

  7. NCSUadsimmons 07/28/2011 at 5:38 PM #

    I just hope they don’t hire Chuck…

  8. T-Pack 07/28/2011 at 8:27 PM #

    I agree with TruthBKnown. If the 216 phone records created during Butch’s term of UNC employment were public records on Tuesday, the fact that he is no longer employed at UNC on Thursday does not change their status. The question is, will the various media who brought suit to obtain the records still be interested enough in getting to the truth to press the matter, now that Butch has been rung up. In light of the result of that suit, refusal to provide the records should constitute contempt of court. Any lawyers here to provide insight on this matter?

    Seriously, there’s enough “junk” in this situation for a three-volume set of “Personal Fouls,” much of it (IMHO) still to “ooze” out week by week for months to come.

  9. wolfamidpirates 07/28/2011 at 8:30 PM #

    Everyone is overlooking the fact that UNX licensed merchandise brings in MAJOR $$$ for the NCAA. Any potential penalties they (the NCAA) levy WILL affect their income stream. As bad as this is looking to everyone with State-red glasses, no way the ‘holes come out of this worse than USC or OSU.

  10. transylvania 07/28/2011 at 9:12 PM #

    i hear lee fowler is looking for work

  11. McCallum 07/28/2011 at 9:39 PM #

    Well I’ll say this: Ben Pace owns the Armadillo Grill and his prices are too high and the portions are too small.

    McCallum

  12. Virginia Wolf 07/31/2011 at 4:57 PM #

    Well, I’ll say this: It’s a great day to be a State fan!!! I just don’t understand why Thorpe doesn’t just say, “We’re going to get to the bottom of this and make it all public.” Start an investigaion and brings out the facts before they come out and cause more embarrassment. Of course, I’m enjoying this! More fun is on the way as more comes out and the holes continue the slide to hell.

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