Where does Bubba Cunningham's focus turn now that the academic scandal has been put behind UNC?
On Friday it was announced that North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham received a six-year contract extension with a base salary of around $740,000, plus performance bonuses and deferred compensation that easily push his total package to the neighborhood of a million dollars per year. Based on his performance of the past six years, most UNC partisans would say he is worth every penny. Cunningham was hired in 2011 as the UNC football troubles with the NCAA were coming to a close and the AFAM troubles would soon begin. Cunningham has been a wartime consigliere that would make Michael Corleone proud. He has led the athletic department through the aggressive UNC response to the NCAA over the AFAM scandal that resulted in no sanctions against the university. He has stabilized athletic department operations after the tenure of former athletic director Dick Baddour left portions of the department in disarray, especially after the NCAA football investigation. Tar Heel teams have won six national titles during his tenure and the department is in the middle of a $115 million capital campaign with four brand new or renovated facilities slated to open in the next few years.
As eventful (and successful) as Cunningham's first six years have been, his legacy in Chapel Hill may well be defined more by how he faces a series of impending situations. Here are six key challenges Cunningham will likely face before his new contract expires:
The Roy Williams succession plan
With the NCAA burden finally lifted, Roy Williams seems reinvigorated, and after winning his third NCAA title last spring, Williams is at the top of his game. However Williams is 67 years old and is in his 29th year of coaching. Coaching six more years is certainly not out of the question as long as his health holds up, but certainly Cunningham will be needing to craft a plan to handle Williams' retirement, whenever it may be. Of course the obvious questions are A) will this be a "family" hire and B) how much input will Williams himself have in the selection of his successor? If Williams leaves in the next six years, what happens next will be as crucial as it was for Baddour, when he had to replace basketball coaches three times before he was able to coax Williams to Chapel Hill.
Replacing Larry Fedora?
Carolina's sixth-year football coach does not seem to be going anywhere, given that he is locked into a long-term deal and reportedly has passed up a couple of offers to leave the Tar Heels already. But history is not on UNC's side in keeping coaches for long periods of time. If Fedora were to stay in Chapel Hill through the end of Cunningham's new deal, he would be in his 12th year and would be the longest-tenured coach in the history of Carolina football. Bill Dooley coached the Tar Heels for 11 years, while Mack Brown and Dick Crum each coached for 10. In many ways, it could be a Catch-22 regarding UNC's football fortunes. If Carolina recovers from this injury-plagued season so that it is just a blip, does Fedora jump at the chance to coach closer to his SEC and Big 12 roots? Or if this is the beginning of a Crum-like decline toward the end of a tenure, does UNC part ways with Fedora? The status of the football coach is always a challenge to a UNC athletic director, frankly.
Replacing Sylvia Hatchell?
Women's basketball coach Sylvia Hatchell, once thought to be most likely to take the fall for the AFAM scandal, emerged unscathed though her program has probably suffered most of all due to the NCAA unpleasantness. Hatchell is beginning her 32nd season at Carolina and should reach her 1,000th career win this season. But the women's program has been in a state of decline for the better part of a decade now, finishing higher than fifth in the ACC only twice in the past nine seasons, with back-to-back losing seasons the past two years and already a bad loss to Hampton this year. There was a period about four or five years ago where it looked like the program was rebounding but the AFAM scandal hit, players left, and the program cratered out in the tough ACC. One has to wonder how much longer the 65 year-old Hatchell will keep going, or how long Cunningham will allow the decline to continue before taking action.
Replacing Olympic sports coaches
The strength of UNC's overall athletic program has rested in the success of its Olympic sports, and a number of highly successful Olympic sport coaches may look to retire before 2023. Chief among these is 66 year-old women's soccer coach Anson Dorrance, who is in his 41st year at Carolina. Though the women's soccer team is not the overpowering dynasty it once was, Dorrance's 2017 team just won its first ACC tournament title in eight years and remains a national power. Field hockey coach Karen Shelton, who turned 60 this past week, just completed her 36th season in Chapel Hill and remains at the top of her sport, guiding the Tar Heels to their 20th ACC title and the NCAA Final Four this season. Also in the 60-and-over club are softball coach Donna Papa (32 years at UNC, 34 overall); volleyball coach Joe Sagula (28 years at UNC, 37 overall); fencing coach Ron Miller (50! years at UNC and overall); and baseball coach Mike Fox (20 years at UNC, 35 overall). These sports have shown a remarkable stability and replacing any or all of these coaches will be a significant task for Cunningham should it happen during his tenure.
The Smith Center dilemma
The Smith Center was a state-of-the-art basketball arena when it opened in 1986, but the past 30 years of stadium advancements have left it somewhat antiquated. The Smith Center's narrow concourse, lack of visitor amenities, seating sightlines, and lack of opportunities for revenue generation really hold back the building from reaching its full potential in the 21st century. Funded completely by private donations in the early 1980s, the seating arrangements for donors have contributed to a certain lack of atmosphere in the building as compared to other college basketball arenas. Cunningham has not been shy about pushing the need for either major renovations to the Smith Center or a new arena altogether. Earlier this fall, Cunningham told Inside Carolina that any plans for the arena would be on hold pending completion of the Olympic sports projects and the NCAA investigation. Now that the NCAA cloud has passed and the Olympic projects near completion, this will be the next major issue to face. Costs will be significant, however; the Smith Center was built for an absolute bargain at $34 million, or about $88 million in today's dollars. A new, top-notch arena would likely cost two or three times that amount. Deftly navigating the politics, finance, and tradition of the university's most important program will test Cunningham's skills and abilities.
Navigating the post-NCAA waters
Obviously the first six years of Cunningham's tenure have been defined by the ongoing NCAA issues. With those in the rear view mirror, how will he and the athletic department transition into a mode of normalcy? How will the department operate under what will certainly be increased scrutiny of all operations in the NCAA aftermath, not just the interactions between athletics and academics? What will the impact of the lifting of the NCAA cloud be fundraising, and what opportunities will be opened for growth and expansion? If Cunningham was the perfect wartime consigliere, how will he and the department operate in peacetime?
Bubba Cunningham has clearly been the leader the UNC athletic department has needed for the last six years. The department weathered the NCAA storm and has not just survived but flourished during this time, much to the chagrin of Carolina's rivals. Now that he has been handsomely rewarded for his work, he may find the challenges - and scrutiny - are only beginning.
