On The Clock: Thorp

ACC & Other General UNC Scandal45

Ken Tysiac pens an article today in the N&O, Thorp targeted online by upset UNC fans.

Nine days before the start of football practice, Thorp fired Davis, explaining that allegations of nine major NCAA violations that included academic fraud have eroded the university’s reputation.

Fans who were disappointed with Davis’ dismissal responded by creating fireholdenthorp.com.

They are organizing a campaign to finance billboards in the Triangle advancing their cause. Matt Littlejohn, a Raleigh insurance and risk management consultant and Rams Club member who’s a spokesman for the website, said fans are upset with the timing of the decision as well as the firing.

“I feel like a strong leader would have been able to handle this more appropriately,” Littlejohn said, “and I think Holden Thorp is in over his head.”

“Right now people are emotional, they’re confused,” Montgomery said. “Our fans are angry. So we’re talking with them about that mission. We’re talking with them about supporting this football team, Coach Withers, and the rest of our sports.”

Littlejohn, who represents the fireholdenthorp.com website, said he plans to continue attending games and supporting the team. He hopes the Tar Heels will bond together through adversity and play in the ACC championship game Dec. 3 in Charlotte.

But he said Thorp has mismanaged the situation, and said fans would like Thorp out before the school hires an AD to replace Baddour.

“I would say 100 percent of the Carolina fans that want to see Holden Thorp fired definitely are not comfortable seeing him make the next hire for the athletic director,” Littlejohn said. “… This is an extremely important hire, especially for Carolina football.”

The most shocking part of the article is that Ken was able to find someone who cares about UNC football enough to spend money on a billboard. Now let’s see if there are enough of them out there to actually do it.

About 1.21 Jigawatts

Class of '98, Mechanical Engineer, State fan since arriving on campus and it's been a painful ride ever since. I live by the Law of NC State Fandom, "For every Elation there is an equal and opposite Frustration."

ACC & Other General UNC Scandal

45 Responses to On The Clock: Thorp

  1. Lunatic Fringe 08/03/2011 at 7:06 AM #

    The problem for Holden is that the thing that might actually help him personally is one that will probably make it worse for the school…the “216” calls. Rock meet hard place, hard place this is rock.

  2. Hungwolf 08/03/2011 at 7:10 AM #

    How about a UNC spokeperson actually saying tickets sales are down because popular games of Va. Tech and NC State are not on the schedule?

    Also those 12 verbals now down to 10 after another decommitt at UNC-CHeat!

  3. HPWolf 08/03/2011 at 7:14 AM #

    They are turning on each other. Sports fan vs academic. Pull up a chair and pass the popcorn.

  4. Tampa-Pack 08/03/2011 at 7:22 AM #

    ACC championship game – really? Haven’t they realized the closest they got there under their “savior” Chief Davis was a couple tire bowl LOSSES? And people want to say we have unrealistic expectations. They should be happy just to be able to field a team come October…

  5. albunde6 08/03/2011 at 7:41 AM #

    I would be willing to donate to a bill board. “Keep Holden Thorp, help bring academic integrity back to UNC.

  6. OldWuf 08/03/2011 at 7:41 AM #

    Hard to believe:
    1. That there are that many tarholes that think Butch should still be their coach.
    2. That there are ignorant tarholes that don’t realize that the BOT controlled the situation.

  7. Mike 08/03/2011 at 8:03 AM #

    Just reminds me of a bunch of guys over there named Biff and Skippy who have always had mummy and daddy give them whatever they want while driving their BMers and sailing at the yacht club. They have absolutely no clue about reality and life.

    I say keep up the good work – it is a beautiful thing over there.

  8. PackerInRussia 08/03/2011 at 8:10 AM #

    “and I think Holden Thorp is in over his head.”

    They waited until AFTER Butch Davis was fired to come to this realization?

  9. MattN 08/03/2011 at 8:20 AM #

    I think Thorpe wanted Butch gone in September last year, but was 100% muzzled by BOTBob. He was screwed no matter what decision he made. Fire him last year, BOTBob likely would have immediately had Thorpe fired, (or perhaps fired Thorpe before he could fire Butch). Wait until BOTBob is gone, and the new BOT says “fire him now, or we fire YOU”. And now, everyone else wants him fired. He is not in a desireable position right now, which is a shame because I don’t think he’s nearly the idiot he’s made out to be.

    I support Todd Turner as his replacement…

  10. UnclePen 08/03/2011 at 8:23 AM #

    MattN has it. Holden probably was reluctant to support BMFD last year but had to with the Board chmn pulling his strings. Problem is, as a Chancellor you can’t let anyone pull your strings; it just accurately makes him look like a flip-flopper. He’s a goner in time.

  11. WTNY 08/03/2011 at 8:50 AM #

    If the reason Thorp fired Butch is the BOT (I still think the McAdoo paper plus other still-hidden skeletons such as the 216 records played a part), my question is this: where was the BOG?

    The BOG exists precisely for situations like this: step in when the BOT is exposed as corrupt and/or can’t manage the issue.

  12. timberwolf 08/03/2011 at 9:02 AM #

    “Eating their own” is starting up. Like front row of a Gallagher show – bring a plastic sheet b/c this is going to splatter.

  13. Wulfpack 08/03/2011 at 9:08 AM #

    Thorp wanted Butch ousted from the get go. He did not have the support of the BOG until the recent changing of the guard. Baddour has always been in Butch’s corner. UNC fans that still want Butch around are lunatics. It’s hilarious to watch the continued implosion over there. And WE are the lunatics???

  14. Hungwolf 08/03/2011 at 9:09 AM #

    BOG has done nothing except want to know how recruiting is going? 50% of football players needed a special committee to enact a special waiver to admit them to UNC-CHeat. Why? Did they not meet NCAA requirements? ACC only allows 2 partial qualifiers in men’s sports? Were exceptions made and if so why is the ACC compliance office not investigating this? What good is a conference rule if it is not enforced? With a 2.5 GPA, NCAA says you got to have ~830 on the SAT (math and verbal), 2.0 needs like 1100. With 50% of the football players being in the bottom half of their graduating HS class, do we really think they all scored that high?

    And is anyone looking into the Hokies fans claim that Davis/UNC-Cheat covering up players DUI’s and other things? Didn’t a player named blue get a DUI this year?

    Lot of Rocks that still need to be looked under!

  15. tuckerdorm1983 08/03/2011 at 9:14 AM #

    I like Thorp. I think he is a decent fellow, but in way over his head. If you read his Wikipedia entry he is quite an impressive person. In the end he did not have the BALLS(testicles) to do what needed to be done. Another Chancellor would have perhaps before the LSU game last year fired Butch and surely by the end of the last season. It took the Board of Trustees to force his hand. Thorp, Baddour and Butch were probably good friends.
    In the end I see Thorp as a nice guy, but when you are the CEO you can’t always afford to be nice. I am giving the Chemistry Professor a break here, but he should go back to teaching chemistry.
    They should have never made Thorp Chancellor. They should have brought in some ball buster. It is pretty rare for the Chancellor of a major university to come from within. Usually, they get someone that has been chancellor elsewhere and had a proven track record.
    I am not sure that in the end he will go also.

  16. newt 08/03/2011 at 9:20 AM #

    The reaction of these fans may cause some disconsternation among the academics that will lead to the digging in and them truly deciding to de-emphasize football.

    Anybody that cared about UNC-Chapel Hill on the whole would want Butch gone last year, this year, next year, whenever. And the reaction of these vocal fans definitely shows a culture that is putting athletics above all else.

    I’m saying, it’s clear the BOT will not tolerate athletics that tarnishes UNC’s academic image. They are 100% behind Thorpe on this. There is no way Thorp gets fired for firing Butch Davis, so these fans calling for his head are only making it more likely that UNC will de-emphasize football for the sake of academic reputation and raise academic requirements for all sports.

    That would be similar to what the leadership at NC State did in the early 90s.

    They should shut up.

  17. wolffpride 08/03/2011 at 9:25 AM #

    I am giving Thorpe as much help as I can to bring back academic integrity (giggle). I wrote an email to the NCAA inquiring whether or not there would be an investigation into UNCs academics, considering the infamous Swahili plagiarism. Join me in my venture to reunite UNC with “The Carolina Way”. Seriously, write an email or send A comment on the NCAAs contact us webpage. Hell, maybe It will work

  18. JeremyH 08/03/2011 at 9:44 AM #

    Ram’s Club? What is that? You can’t have two mascots, either you’re the Rams or the Tarheels, pick one. It’s not like when you have Wally the Green Monster chasing kids around in left field.

  19. LRM 08/03/2011 at 9:44 AM #

    In my experience, there are a plethora of UNC fans unwilling to spend money to support football.

  20. Prowling Woofie 08/03/2011 at 10:20 AM #

    As Thorp came from in-house academia, the more crap the fanbase (including the Walmart fans) gives the school about firing him, the more the faculty will get involved.

    UNC certainly doesn’t want to repeat the blueprint that NCSU laid down 20+ years ago, where faculty runs the athletic department.

    Would I love to see it ? Absolutely… FIREHOLDENTHORP.COM !!!!!!!

  21. logarithm 08/03/2011 at 10:35 AM #

    The more fractured their fanbase is, the better.

    Unless there are further earthshaking revelations that make them look worse, I think the nearest time to fire Thorp will be in October after their NCAA meeting if they address the academic issues. They’re hoping Davis and Baddour have at least partially answered for the athletic stuff but nobody has answered for any of the academic stuff. Nobody who had any oversight power in that arena, anyway.

  22. Prowling Woofie 08/03/2011 at 10:49 AM #

    Can’t wait for their first home game, when they dedicate the Empty Blue Zone and the Wiley Center for Academic Support !!!

  23. wufpup76 08/03/2011 at 10:58 AM #

    “We’re talking with them about supporting this football team, Coach Withers, and the rest of our sports.”

    ^You know, I’m glad most Hole fans seem to have the proper perspective. Sports really are all that matter … (snicker).

    Not exactly going out on a limb here, but Thorp’s position and clout have been eroded from many sides. A resignation may be forthcoming in the not too distant future … So Matt Littlejohn XVII may just get his way.

  24. Scooter 08/03/2011 at 11:03 AM #

    “I would say 100 percent of the Carolina fans that want to see Holden Thorp fired definitely are not comfortable seeing him make the next hire for the athletic director,” Littlejohn said. “… This is an extremely important hire, especially for Carolina football.”

    Glad that the only job of the Chancellor is to manage athletics. I can understand going after an AD, but the chancellor? Ridiculous.

  25. triadwolf 08/03/2011 at 11:49 AM #

    This is all new territory for the holes. They are used to controlling/influencing the flow of information and putting their spin on any and all situations. I actually have had great respect for the way they’ve traditionally managed their PR and image.

    Unfortunately they now have local and national entities questioning what they are doing and not accepting the status quo spin from UNC that whatever you think is going on is not that big of a deal and everything is under control. I think that they literally are over their heads as a University, not just Thorpe and company.

    Contrary to some delusional heel fans, I don’t think Thorpe with be forced out for anything athletic related. But as was previously stated, there has been no sacrificial lamb/ram for the academic side of this debacle. The honor court and plagiarism fiasco, while it involved athletes, is not an athletic issue. In the end I don’t think he’ll survive, but who knows?

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