We Supported Butch!

The Butch Davis era at UNC is no more, leaving the majority of the UNC fan base scratching their heads.   Not so much the decision to relieve coach Davis of his duties (Nine NCAA violations in four seasons, 14 players suspended last season on Opening Day, an associate head coach on payroll with an agent, and so on) but the timing of the decision, coming only six weeks before kick off against James Madison.  Chancellor Holden Thorp did not point to a specific transgression for the abrupt firing but stated that, “What started as a purely athletic issue has begun to chip away at this University’s reputation.”

UNC will also lose athletic Director Dick Baddour, who went to bat several times for former defensive end Michael McAdoo during the hearing for McAdoo’s ineligibly appeals.  McAdoo was suspended at the beginning of the 2010 season for receiving impermissible help from a tutor and blatant plagiarism.  McAdoo's term paper appears to be a collage of sources pieced together rather than a student's work.   

Now the question has to be asked; was this worth having a relevant football program?  To befoul a prestigious public university?  To be black balled like a baseball player’s career after steroids?  UNC knew full well the risks associated with hiring a coach like Davis, like Kentucky’s hiring of John Calipari. (Just wait Kentucky, you’re time will come… just wait)  To be surprised that during Davis’s tenure these violations were possible is simply naive.

UNC had only one winning season in the past six prior to Davis’s hiring.  Did no one wonder how Chapel Hill was suddenly was overflowing with five star recruits and NFL first round draft picks?  College football programs are not built over night but Butch did just that.  He made UNC relevant on a national level with talks of BCS championship potential before the 2010 season, and the 14 players being suspended. 

Butch’s name alone made UNC an attractable option for top tier talent over night.  So UNC fans can’t be that upset.   Those were the best four years your program has seen in the past decade.  And just like that girl you dated that was way out of your league, you knew that she would break your heart someday.