UNC
The more time passes and more tid bits come to surface about the NCAA investigation, the more thoughts come to me. Some of them good and most of them not so good, but for now I think I will focus on a couple that keep coming back over and over. When it’s all said and done, be it a couple of players (like I believe to be the case) or more than a dozen (as some reports have said it to be), what will happen to the way people (fans, recruits, boosters) will think of North Carolina football? And is this the beginning of the end of the Davis era at Chapel Hill? Yes, when I think about it enough the first and second thoughts are probably attached to one another. Before I go on, I know one thing that bothers me a lot, I am usually a very positive person, but on this one I am not seeing that side!
But let’s start with the first part shall we. It’s no secret than until head coach Butch Davis came to UNC the football program was definitely not being followed with the same intensity and numbers as it is now. But, if this NCAA investigation proves things were done wrongly, be it by a single individual acting on his own or not, will this put a dent on the fan who had just now began to warm back up to the gridiron? Could you lose the passer by fan who reading all of this says “I don’t want anything to do with this”, or maybe the diehard one that is ticked off because he believed in the product and the Tar Heels have long been known for not committing major NCAA violations/infractions. Would you lose the family that is not going to spend their hard earned money on a program that had cheaters in it, or just because the parents do not want their kids to idolize people that might have broken the rules to get ahead. Sure, you could say not to each and everyone of the above points, but say UNC did lose just one fan, just one family, wouldn’t they have taken a step back. Not because they can not replace them, but because of why they have stop coming to see the games.
And the recruits? Everytime I think of this side of the story the old quote by Charles Barkley talking about the SEC “Man, we’re in the SEC, if you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying.” and just replace the conference name with any agent’s name you want. Now by all means I know this would not have happened if the temptations had been not met by weakness, but on the other hand, had no one shown the willingness to give the player would not have had the chance to take. Am I trying to say that it was all the agent’s fault? No, it takes two to tango, we all know that. On the other hand the agent does know what it means to have kids ready to make it big, and he should know better than to give them the possibility to make a mistake before they are done with their college career.
Now, what does all of this have to do with recruits you might ask. Simple answer: everything. From the one that might not want to end up in a situation like some of the UNC players did, to the one whose parents might not think Carolina is the place for their son after all of this goes down. Add to the the fact that I have that strong feeling that if this gets big we might be looking at a change in the guard at the top and you can see the effect it would have on incoming classes.
And last but definitely not least, the people we always talk about the least but we should talk the most, the boosters. They are the people that have put in a lot of money and they are also the people that in certain ways the school needs to please and keep up the most. I am not saying that North Carolina lives to make the boosters happy, but we all know that any and all universities needs them when upgrading their facilities. And from what we have seen UNC has put a lot of effort (and cash) into Kenan Stadium of late. Losing any support from here could truly hurt Carolina, and not just the football program, but all of the programs that might need help down the line.
This whole thing then turns on the head coach, Butch Davis. If this gets bigger, or better said, get uglier, would cutting the head of the snake be the solution that the university go with? Or would Davis himself begin to think it is time to move on? I know this is the worst case scenario, but it is also something that could easily happen: a below average season due to the players not being able to play, an NCAA violation slapped to us, fans turning their back on the program and the coach headed out. Welcome back to “Step One”!
So, in the end, the more this keeps growing the more concerns I have. This is nothing little, and I have a feeling it is also nothing that is going to go away anytime soon. Then you think back a bit more and remember the story that had come out with Ed Davis being on a agent’s web page while the team was still playing and you wonder if the hardwoods could also take a hit because of what happened this past week in Chapel Hill. I sure hope not, but the way things have gone of late I am going to worry about all of this for a long time to come!
