The Nittany Turkey

Primarily about Penn State football, this is a tale told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

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Home Archives for 2011

Archives for 2011

Shaking Things Up at UNC

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Boosters, those deep-pocketed, foul smelling would-be gladiator owners, can’t be happy about what is going down at University of North Carolina. In the wake of head football coach Butch Davis’ dismissal yesterday, athletic director Dick Baddour today announced that his own contract would not be renewed. Moreover, even though it was the right thing to do inasmuch as academic impropriety was involved, the grand football program shake-down brings major negative financial implications for UNC.

A coach is a coach is a coach, you say, and an athletic director is but a figurehead in the overall scheme of NCAA Division I semi-pro college football. It is a fancy high wire act they play, skirting the rules until they either get caught or safely move up to the real pros in the NFL.

But if they stay around long enough to put their brand on a program — and for Davis and Baddour, five years was more than enough — there is a lot more at stake than conducting a national search or two for replacements. The booster buddies they’ve made are not so easily replaced, particularly in a state in which just about everyone has a better football reputation than UNC, whose program uncharacteristically thrived under Davis. Commitments were made to these people, including a massive stadium expansion colloquially named “The House That Butch Built”, on which the university will have to make good in spite of the uncertainty in the future. And we haven’t even touched upon Davis’ $2.7 million contract buyout.

Sports Illustrated dug in and grabbed the story here.

Butchered

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Let’s hear it for head football coach Paul Hilton “Butch” Davis, Jr., who managed to get his ass canned at UNC for academic improprieties.

Wow, the guy who vowed to run a clean program at “The U” after the departure and sanction of Dennis Erickson for NCAA rules violations. Say it ain’t so, Butchy! The Hurricanes received recognition during his time there for outstanding graduation rate among football players. Maybe now we can speculate about how they graduated.

After Miami, Davis proved that he wasn’t an NFL coach by butchering the Cleveland Browns. They haven’t yet recovered.

On November 27, 2006, Butch Davis replaced the fired John Bunting at the helm of University of North Carolina football. In July 2010, the NCAA began investigating possible violations involving improper benefits provided by agents to current players at UNC. In September 2010, the NCAA opened a second prong of its investigation, this time involving possible improper tutor involvement with UNC student-athletes. In response to the investigation, local and national sports columnists penned articles calling for Davis’ termination. Over 13 UNC football players were suspended from the team’s season opener, in Atlanta against the LSU Tigers. At the end of October 2010, three star players—WR Greg Little, DT Marvin Austin, and DE Robert Quinn—were ruled permanently ineligible after it was discovered they improperly accepted gifts from sports agents. Five other players were found guilty of accepting improper benefits and/or inappropriate academic assistance.

He did manage to achieve a superior degree of success on the field, especially for a sport that is overshadowed by the basketball program at UNC. Pity.

And so now, the 59 year-old Davis, who was earning $1,800,000 annually, is on the street like so many others in these troubled times.  He’s probably finished in college football.

Free Agent Signings

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I wanted to get Casey Anthony’s picture out of the featured position on this page and get back to Penn State football, which is a scant five weeks away. With all the crap going on in Washington, Norway, Libya, and Columbus, we could use a little Saturday respite to take our minds off the world’s woes.

By the way, speaking of Columbus, have you heard that at the behest of the NCAA, Terrell Pryor won’t be allowed to go anywhere near the Ohio State athletic department for at least five years? From star quarterback to pariah in a few simple transactions.

But I digress.

The NFL lockout is over, and there have been scads of free agent signings of all flavors since the green light was lit at 10 am Tuesday morning. Both veterans and undrafted free agents are out there waiting for phone calls. Thus far, the Penn Staters who have been signed include veteran Paul Pozluszny, who takes his considerable talent to Jacksonville, where he landed a six year deal. Poz would have rather stayed in Buffalo, but the Bills are going to a 3-4 defense this season, whereas the Jags play a 4-3, in which Poz will be middle linebacker. The rookie signings are Chris Colasanti and Ollie Ogbu (Indianapolis), Bani Gbdayu and Lou Eliades (Oakland), and Brett Bracket (Miami).

Wednesday should be a fun day, too.