After throwing support behind Butch Davis for the past 13 months, University of North Carolina chancellor Holden Thorp decided Wednesday night to fire the football coach just nine days before the start of fall camp.
Thorp called an emergency meeting with the Board of Trustees for Wednesday to discuss the ongoing situation regarding the football program, which learned in June of nine infractions charged by the NCAA in an official Notice of Allegations. UNC is to meet with the NCAA in October to make its case regarding the allegations and decided to do so with a new coach at the helm.
"To restore confidence in the University of North Carolina and our football program, it's time to make a change," Thorp said in a statement. "What started as a purely athletic issue has begun to chip away at this University's reputation. I have been deliberate in my approach to understanding this situation fully, and I have worked to be fair to everyone involved.
"However, I have lost confidence in our ability to come through this without harming the way people think of this institution. Our academic integrity is paramount and we must work diligently to protect it. The only way to move forward and put this behind us is to make a change."
Davis went 28-23 overall and 15-17 in the ACC in four seasons at UNC. He inherited a program that had been through perhaps its worst stretch ever under former coach John Bunting, whose teams were responsible for eight of the program's 11 worst defensive performances.
Davis was charged with restoring interest, breaking fan apathy and eventually putting Carolina back on the winning track. The program has had significant success under various different coaches in different eras, so winning at UNC has always been possible. But in Davis, the administration was looking for someone to compete for a national championship.
After consecutive 8-5 seasons, the Tar Heels appeared prime to make a national push last season. Loaded with returning players who could have gone to the NFL, UNC was considered a quality quarterback away from perhaps playing for the national title.
But the scandal that broke last July — including allegations of players receiving extra benefits from agents, an associate head coach accused of having a financial relationship with an agent, and accusations of academic misconduct alleged to have been spearheaded by a tutor employed by Davis' family — eventually led to Wednesday's decision.
Up to 14 players were suspended last season, including 13 for the opener against LSU, a game the Tar Heels nearly won. It's tantalizing to consider the what-ifs.
Had UNC been at full strength, it likely would have won that game and may have had a shot at running the table. And with a win over LSU factoring into the computer rankings, it's possible the Heels could have beaten out Oregon for a spot against Auburn for the national championship.
But that never materialized, and while Davis and his staff did a fine job insulating the team from outside distractions — leading it to an 8-5 finish and a win over Tennessee in a bowl game in Nashville — support for the coach slowly deteriorated.
Davis had support from Thorp and athletic director Dick Baddour, plus some prominent Board of Trustees members for the last year. But after the NCAA's Notice of Allegations became public, sentiment against Davis continued to wane. Fans who had championed UNC's half-century streak of no run-ins with the NCAA were embarrassed, and the program was suddenly placed among Southern Cal, Ohio State, Auburn and LSU — but for the wrong reasons.
"The last 13 months have been some of the most difficult that anyone associated with the athletic department and football program have dealt with," Baddour said in the same university release. "At this time, a decision has been made to change the leadership of the football program to help the entire University community move forward."
The irony regarding Davis is that he is credited with cleaning up Miami's rogue program in the mid-1990s before leaving to coach the NFL's Cleveland Browns in 2001. The Hurricanes he left behind won the 2001 national championship and nearly won the 2002 crown.
UNC, which opens the season Sept. 3 versus James Madison, will hold a news conference Thursday morning to introduce the interim head coach.
Thorp called an emergency meeting with the Board of Trustees for Wednesday to discuss the ongoing situation regarding the football program, which learned in June of nine infractions charged by the NCAA in an official Notice of Allegations. UNC is to meet with the NCAA in October to make its case regarding the allegations and decided to do so with a new coach at the helm.
"To restore confidence in the University of North Carolina and our football program, it's time to make a change," Thorp said in a statement. "What started as a purely athletic issue has begun to chip away at this University's reputation. I have been deliberate in my approach to understanding this situation fully, and I have worked to be fair to everyone involved.
"However, I have lost confidence in our ability to come through this without harming the way people think of this institution. Our academic integrity is paramount and we must work diligently to protect it. The only way to move forward and put this behind us is to make a change."
Davis went 28-23 overall and 15-17 in the ACC in four seasons at UNC. He inherited a program that had been through perhaps its worst stretch ever under former coach John Bunting, whose teams were responsible for eight of the program's 11 worst defensive performances.
Davis was charged with restoring interest, breaking fan apathy and eventually putting Carolina back on the winning track. The program has had significant success under various different coaches in different eras, so winning at UNC has always been possible. But in Davis, the administration was looking for someone to compete for a national championship.
After consecutive 8-5 seasons, the Tar Heels appeared prime to make a national push last season. Loaded with returning players who could have gone to the NFL, UNC was considered a quality quarterback away from perhaps playing for the national title.
But the scandal that broke last July — including allegations of players receiving extra benefits from agents, an associate head coach accused of having a financial relationship with an agent, and accusations of academic misconduct alleged to have been spearheaded by a tutor employed by Davis' family — eventually led to Wednesday's decision.
Up to 14 players were suspended last season, including 13 for the opener against LSU, a game the Tar Heels nearly won. It's tantalizing to consider the what-ifs.
Had UNC been at full strength, it likely would have won that game and may have had a shot at running the table. And with a win over LSU factoring into the computer rankings, it's possible the Heels could have beaten out Oregon for a spot against Auburn for the national championship.
But that never materialized, and while Davis and his staff did a fine job insulating the team from outside distractions — leading it to an 8-5 finish and a win over Tennessee in a bowl game in Nashville — support for the coach slowly deteriorated.
Davis had support from Thorp and athletic director Dick Baddour, plus some prominent Board of Trustees members for the last year. But after the NCAA's Notice of Allegations became public, sentiment against Davis continued to wane. Fans who had championed UNC's half-century streak of no run-ins with the NCAA were embarrassed, and the program was suddenly placed among Southern Cal, Ohio State, Auburn and LSU — but for the wrong reasons.
"The last 13 months have been some of the most difficult that anyone associated with the athletic department and football program have dealt with," Baddour said in the same university release. "At this time, a decision has been made to change the leadership of the football program to help the entire University community move forward."
The irony regarding Davis is that he is credited with cleaning up Miami's rogue program in the mid-1990s before leaving to coach the NFL's Cleveland Browns in 2001. The Hurricanes he left behind won the 2001 national championship and nearly won the 2002 crown.
UNC, which opens the season Sept. 3 versus James Madison, will hold a news conference Thursday morning to introduce the interim head coach.
