UNC Press Conference: Common Sense and Institutional Control

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Never have I heard a group of individuals sound so dejected and distant.  Then again, I guess there is a lot of distance to be gained from the heights UNC has fallen since the beginnings of the agent-gate investigation.  Chancellor Thorp, Athletic Director Baddour, and Head Football Coach Butch Davis gave a press conference today at 7:30P (for those who live under a rock) and attempted to shed some light on the most recent investigations regarding tutor cheating and the UNC program.  Spoiler alert: the tutor is a former nanny of Butch Davis’ family.

The most shocking thing to me was the mention that The Nanny, as I will for now on refer to her, apparently was not employed when news of the investigations broke, per Thorp’s own comments.  So wait a minute, Thorp… you mean that after you knew your football program was staring down the barrel of a loaded NCAA gun, you didn’t think “wait a minute, maybe we should be extra sure of who has access to our players” and instruct Baddour to get on that?  Also, when hearing that a university employee, part-time or otherwise, would have access to several (6-12, according to Greg Barnes of Inside Carolina) high profile players, your university saw absolutely no problem with hiring someone who was previously employed by Davis?  I have a very hard time believing that somebody didn’t know about this connection.  We all know that people talk and name-drop whenever possible to make themselves seem important.  Anyone want to place bets that the tutor didn’t once tell one of these players “oh, you are on the football team?  You know I use to nanny for Butch’s kids!”  Ridiculous!!!

There are so many things worth railing on Carolina for, but the last one that stepped out to me was the fact that Chancellor Thorp mentioned that the investigation was “two-pronged”.  Read into this a little bit with me: two-pronged implies two parallel, yet independent investigated charges.  Basically, Thorp is telling us that Carolina is dealing with two separate issues and wants to comment on the academic issue, not the athletic issue.

News flash for Chancellor Thorp: THE TWO ARE ABSOLUTELY RELATED!!! The two are related because they point to one subject that has been murmured, almost whispered, in the shadows of Chapel Hill for months now: The UNC administration has lost institutional control of Carolina’s football program.

StateFansNation prides itself in not rumor milling, but from a common-sense point of view, Carolina has lost control if it’s players athletically (agentgate) and academically (tutorgate).  That equates loss of institutional control.  Period.

About NCStatePride

***ABOUT THE AUTHOR: NCStatePride has been writing for StateFansNation.com since 2010 and is a 2009 graduate of the College of Engineering.

ACC ACC Teams Big Four Rivals UNC Scandal

23 Responses to UNC Press Conference: Common Sense and Institutional Control

  1. McCallum 08/26/2010 at 8:42 PM #

    Washburn and Shack can now have their peace.

    Lord knows the two guys have been blistered for years but go in peace fellas.

    We’ve chapel hill to thank.

    McCallum

  2. hoop 08/26/2010 at 8:45 PM #

    To J.P. Giglio’s credit, he asked this very question (lack of institutional control) during the press conference. Of course the UNC ‘alludinati’ side stepped the question.

  3. MattN 08/26/2010 at 8:53 PM #

    This absolutely could not happen to a more deserving, arrogant group.

    Three cheers for Twitter, and Austin’s complete lack of intelligence…

  4. JBS 08/26/2010 at 8:58 PM #

    They better burn for a minimum of two years for this. Loss of scholarships, post-season play, etc. Nothing less can be justified.

  5. Southbeachstyle 08/26/2010 at 9:03 PM #

    This is…………………….AWESOME!

  6. NCStatePride 08/26/2010 at 9:10 PM #

    To me the last part is key. Carolina has lost the ability to guide it’s teenagers/young adults on the football team academically and athletically. What else is there? If you can’t improve a player academically or athletically, you institution has failed.

    …loss of institutional control. Hopefully if I have realized this, the NCAA has realized this as well.

  7. highstick 08/26/2010 at 9:13 PM #

    I love you Marvin Austin!!!

  8. Old MacDonald 08/26/2010 at 9:15 PM #

    What a perfect time for them to be spending a boatload of money to expand their stadium!

    Oh, CBS is reporting sources saying Brown and Burney (sp?) are already off the team.

  9. hoop 08/26/2010 at 9:18 PM #

    I am celebrating this with expensive cup cakes!!

    Hey, how many of you guys will be having gourmet cup cakes at your tailgates this year?

    I know I will!!!!!!

    HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAA

    😀

  10. Southbeachstyle 08/26/2010 at 9:21 PM #

    Old Mac, according to IC, Burney has tweeted tonight that he is “going to bed….class in the morning and practice tomorrow afternoon.”

  11. Old MacDonald 08/26/2010 at 9:37 PM #

    I’m just saying what CBS is (or was) saying. Hold on I will find a link.

  12. Old MacDonald 08/26/2010 at 9:40 PM #

    Here you go. Don’t take my word for it. They even moved it into the headline since I last checked.

    http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/13826589/unc-kicks-brown-burney-off-team-as-investigation-widens

  13. hoop 08/26/2010 at 9:48 PM #

    ^I saw that too but it took a lot of searching just now.

    It was written before the presser and is no longer listed as an active UNC article of news.

    Lots of good details in it though.

  14. Alpha Wolf 08/26/2010 at 9:52 PM #

    If they are going to go to the mattresses to keep their players eligible, they are taking a big risk: if the NCAA thinks that UNC is screwing around and putting their football team over their academic mission, they WILL get the hammer of God upon their heads.

    [NOTE from NCStatePride: I wanted to highlight this point because I didn't explicitly state it. When Thorp was advocating the "two pronged investigation" line, IMO he was trying to decouple the issue of agents to the issue of academic integrity. The NCAA is going to be very concerned about students getting stars in their eyes and talking to agents, which could 'possibly' compromise their academic careers, but when you couple that with the fact that the university, in some capacity, is ALLOWING the players to compromise their academic careers, it paints a much worse picture and starts bringing up that "whispered" phrase I spoke of. Good catch, Alpha.]

  15. tjfoose1 08/26/2010 at 9:52 PM #

    I bet they’re having second thoughts on deciding to play in the Chick-fil-A game and to use it as a national showcase for the university and football program.

    As the first game of the season, in prime time, we couldn’t have dreamed up a better scenario with better timing to get maximum exposure.

    Hahahahaha. Too funny.

  16. Old MacDonald 08/26/2010 at 9:54 PM #

    Why did they go through such pains at the press conference to make sure nobody makes any assumptions due to suspensions? I mean, it’s either because of taking money from agents or because of academic cheating. Is one significantly more honorable than the other? What am I missing?

  17. FullMoonRising 08/26/2010 at 10:24 PM #

    I am considering having the #9 and Austin printed on an NCSU football jersey.

    I feel like it’s Christmas!!!

  18. GoldenChain 08/27/2010 at 8:20 AM #

    “but when you couple that with the fact that the university, in some capacity, is ALLOWING the players to compromise their academic careers, it paints a much worse picture and starts bringing up that “whispered” phrase I spoke of. Good catch, Alpha.”

    DEATH PENALTY!!!!!!!!!

  19. coach13 08/27/2010 at 9:05 AM #

    Death Penalty is not likely. Wo was the last group to get that?

    Firings, suspensions, removals, loss of schollies, no bowls…very likely I would think.

    TWO things…

    1-When this first started in July, everyone was saying “UNC should take action first to stay ahead of the NCAA.” That said, why are they not taking action? They have to know some of these guys are not salvagable. Why not take that first step to be ahead of the NCAA? Are they seriusly gonna try to defend and make excuses for everyone caught up in this mess?

    2-I hope Yow and TOB are seriously looking at what is happening over there and looking through their own program with a fine tooth comb. I am sure we are not perfect but I am also confident that if TOB finds out our players have been invovled in this same kind of crap, he will give them their walking papers without hesitation.

    That leads me to this. It seems since TOB has been at NCSU, every year a player or 2 is excused from the team, sometimes without much of an explanation. I assume and hope this is because TOB is on top of (at least moreso than Butch) what is happening with his players. When have you heard that UNC (Butch) gave a player their walking papers? Apparently they don’t. Apparently they cover up and keep movin on.

  20. GAWolf 08/27/2010 at 9:36 AM #

    Butch has given lots of walking papers… they’re called medical hardships to get rid of class-going, non-contributors to make room for highly paid… I mean… highly touted… recruits coming in.

  21. Paramarine 08/27/2010 at 11:39 AM #

    The UNC alums are now describing this as shameful and those responsible need to be held to account.

    What they’re failing to notice, or in denial of, is that this isn’t a series of individuals with problems — it’s that the problems are systemic.

  22. islandbreeze 08/27/2010 at 7:40 PM #

    Who has said that the NCAA has stopped looking at agent involvement at unc-ch? 😉

  23. Southbeachstyle 08/27/2010 at 7:47 PM #

    Vontae Davis, according to a recent Joe Schad tweet, did NOT pay for Marvin Austin’s trip to Miami as apparently MA stated.

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