UNC Athletics Scandal - Willingham's book

[uh_no]

Can you believe UNC hired this guy? (If you don't see the problem, google: Gene Chizik paid USA Today.). What are they thinking?

are you kidding me?

hope the SACS says it demonstrates a lack of concern about their academic integrity :P

[crdaul]

Sounds like a perfect fit to me...

[wilko]

are you kidding me?

hope the SACS says it demonstrates a lack of concern about their academic integrity :P

Thats like "Flipping the bird" doing a "Cock a snoot", sticking their tongue out and pointing to their bare posterior - all at the same time.

What more can they do to demonstrate they simply don't care?

[oldnavy]

Can you believe UNC hired this guy? (If you don't see the problem, google: Gene Chizik paid USA Today.). What are they thinking?

They are thinking that he will help their anemic defense, beyond that they either are clueless to how it looks or they couldn't care less, I just don't know...

But, my first thought was "Really"? You are under investigation, and the world outside of UNC now thinks you are a bunch of cheaters and you hire a guy with a past?

I would think, that the rational mind would be looking for coaches with character and spotless resumes... not recycled SEC losing coaches with questionable pasts... but hey what do I know compared to the UNC mind trust? After all, their way seems to be working... oh, wait... never mind.

[OldPhiKap]

They are thinking that he will help their anemic defense, beyond that they either are clueless to how it looks or they couldn't care less, I just don't know...

But, my first thought was "Really"? You are under investigation, and the world outside of UNC now thinks you are a bunch of cheaters and you hire a guy with a past?

I would think, that the rational mind would be looking for coaches with character and spotless resumes... not recycled SEC losing coaches with questionable pasts... but hey what do I know compared to the UNC mind trust? After all, their way seems to be working... oh, wait... never mind.

It's pretty obvious -- they don't give a @#$# about what the NCAA thinks. They don't care if they have a rough patch, because if sanctions are coming they're coming regardless. They are going to compete in football, whatever it takes.

[jv001]

Can you believe UNC hired this guy? (If you don't see the problem, google: Gene Chizik paid USA Today.). What are they thinking?

Sounds like this guy can help the football program win some games, by paying athletes to stay in school and not go pro and his greatest attribute will be obtaining passing grades for failing student athletes. The unc way. GoDuke!

[sagegrouse]

It's pretty obvious -- they don't give a @#$# about what the NCAA thinks. They don't care if they have a rough patch, because if sanctions are coming they're coming regardless. They are going to compete in football, whatever it takes.

Sounds like this guy can help the football program win some games, by paying athletes to stay in school and not go pro and his greatest attribute will be obtaining passing grades for failing student athletes. The unc way. GoDuke!

I think the UNC Board of Governors read the headline at breakfast and snorted in their oatmeal. Meanwhile, the PR firm that UNC engaged is preparing a new proposal to cover the Chizik hiring.

[BD80]

Chizik may be a big step forward for unc.

If current and recent athletic department employees are to be believed, they have no clue about what goes on with their "student" athletes away from athletics.

Chizik has a history of being very attentive to his athletes

Since it is clear that unc need not follow rules, Chizik is the perfect hire

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

I don't know why I do it. I just can't help myself I guess... ventured over to IC for a few minutes to see what they are saying about the Chizik hire. Front page article says nada about how/why he was fired or the concerns about cheating. And 5 pages of "discussion" where just one poster raised an honest question, was beaten down by the mouth breathing horde and then others piled on about there being no responsibility on the part of Chizik b/c he didn't know. Sounds oh so familiar. Yes, he in fact is a perfect fit and a great hire for UNC. Their mascot should be a ostrich. Uch, I feel so dirty and grimy.

[Tom B.]

They are going to compete in football, whatever it takes.

The thing is, that's been their attitude since the mid/late 1990s, and what have they done? Jack squat. Since Mack Brown left, they're not even .500 -- they're 100-109, and that's only if you include the 16 wins they vacated from 2008 and 2009. They've never finished higher than third in their division of the ACC, except for one season (2012) when they tied for first in the division, but were ineligible for the postseason. Duke has played in more ACC Championship Games than Carolina.

That's the real scandal here. All that cheating, all that "investment" in becoming a big, bad football program, and they've been barely mediocre at best. If you're gonna cheat, you should at least have something to show for it.

[hudlow]

They hired Chizik so they could fire him to show their proactive stance for academic/athletic integrity.

ETA: or what Sage said...

[devildeac]

are you kidding me?

hope the SACS says it demonstrates a lack of concern about their academic integrity :P

Didn't see a link to this anywhere, so, here ya go:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...hizik/2051041/

Like I said yesterday and others have echoed, this seems like a match made in heaven.

[blueduke59]

The thing is, that's been their attitude since the mid/late 1990s, and what have they done? Jack squat. Since Mack Brown left, they're not even .500 -- they're 100-109, and that's only if you include the 16 wins they vacated from 2008 and 2009. They've never finished higher than third in their division of the ACC, except for one season (2012) when they tied for first in the division, but were ineligible for the postseason. Duke has played in more ACC Championship Games than Carolina.

That's the real scandal here. All that cheating, all that "investment" in becoming a big, bad football program, and they've been barely mediocre at best. If you're gonna cheat, you should at least have something to show for it.

Couldn't have said it better myself. UNC last won the conference in 1980. !980!

[dudog84]

Thats like "Flipping the bird" doing a "Cock a snoot", sticking their tongue out and pointing to their bare posterior - all at the same time.

What more can they do to demonstrate they simply don't care?

As usual, Monty Python nails it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3I5XcsReT0

[Henderson]

It's a lot easier to say "everybody does it" when you can roll out you own guy as proof.

[JasonEvans]

To me, the funny part is that Chizik was a very mediocre coach at both Iowa St and Auburn. He won a national title in a magical year at Auburn (made possible by Auburn boosters supposedly paying vast sums of money to acquire Cam Newton for one year) but aside from that amazing run (made possible by Gus Malzahn's genius at offensive coordinator) he was anything but impressive in all his other seasons as a head coach. I know UNC is hiring him to run the D, but I find the guy less than really impressive.

When you combine that with the fact that he has the stink of scandal all over him, it really is mystifying. I mean, were there really no DC candidates out there who had not been accused of rampant rules violations in the past?!?!

-Jason "the fact that they don't see any of this stuff in advance... I swear, they are so tone-deaf over there, it is just shocking" Evans

[richardjackson199]

Sports talk radio in NC (whoever the guy was covering for Dave Glenn show) called it a brilliant hire. He said the guy was an excellent defensive coach, and even moreso was known to be an outstanding recruiter. He said he expected UNC recruiting to have a major upgrade with Chizik. At least Chizik has proven aptitude for the Carolina Way. Vomit

[devildeac]

To me, the funny part is that Chizik was a very mediocre coach at both Iowa St and Auburn. He won a national title in a magical year at Auburn (made possible by Auburn boosters supposedly paying vast sums of money to acquire Cam Newton for one year) but aside from that amazing run (made possible by Gus Malzahn's genius at offensive coordinator) he was anything but impressive in all his other seasons as a head coach. I know UNC is hiring him to run the D, but I find the guy less than really impressive.

When you combine that with the fact that he has the stink of scandal all over him, it really is mystifying. I mean, were there really no DC candidates out there who had not been accused of rampant rules violations in the past?!?!

-Jason "the fact that they don't see any of this stuff in advance... I swear, they are so tone-deaf over there, it is just shocking" Evans

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[alteran]

They mentioned Frank McGuire in today's broadcast, which reminded me that this thread needed to be put back on the front page.

[BigWayne]

Latest Dan Kane/UNC piece.

Possibly leading to future developments as it explains how Baddour's pension was boosted by bonuses for post season play and academic performance, both of which could be "vacated" as part of the aftermath of the scandal.