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Bunting tenure coming to end at UNC-Chapel Hill
From a news release and staff reports
©2006 Bonesville.net
A new
coach will be at the helm of the North Carolina football program when the
Tar Heels visit East Carolina next season.
UNC-Chapel
Hill Director of Athletics Dick Baddour announced Sunday evening that John
Bunting will not return as head coach of the Tar Heels in 2007.
The
announcement was somewhat at odds with previous pronouncements by Baddour
that no decision would be made about Bunting’s job status before the end of
the season.
Bunting, a
1972 graduate of the school, is in his sixth year as the Tar Heels' head
coach. He will continue to coach the team through the rest of this season,
according to the announcement.
The news
comes in the wake of the Tar Heels' 23-0 shutout by Virginia on national
television last Thursday night. The loss dropped North Carolina's record to
1-6 heading into perhaps the toughest part of its schedule. The Tar Heels
face Wake Forest, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech and N.C. State over the next four
Saturdays, before closing the season at Duke on Nov. 25.
North
Carolina's only win this season came in a 45-42 squeaker on Sept. 16 over a
Division I-AA Furman team.
Bunting
took over his alma mater's football program in December 2000. He led the Tar
Heels to a Peach Bowl win following the 2001 season and wins over No. 5
ranked Florida State in 2001 and No. 4 Miami in 2004.
North
Carolina defeated East Carolina on each of the two occasions the teams have
faced off during Bunting's tenure. The Tar Heels
prevailed in a 24-21 thriller in Chapel
Hill in 2001, a season that culminated for North Carolina with a Peach Bowl
championship.
In 2003,
each team was winless heading into a midseason matchup in which the Tar
Heels
beat the Pirates 28-17 in their
first-ever meeting in Greenville.
In
addition to North Carolina's trip to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in 2007, ECU has
a future home date with North Carolina in 2011 and will meet the Tar Heels
in Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill in 2009 and 2010. [View
East Carolina's future football schedules.]
Baddour informed Bunting in a
Sunday meeting that he would be relieved of his duties at the end of this
season. The team was told Sunday evening at a meeting after the players
returned from fall break.
Names that have surfaced in
the media as potential successors to Bunting include some with area ties:
Washington coach Tyrone Willingham, a Kinston native and Jacksonville High
School alumnus; former East Carolina coach Steve Logan, who has been
successful as an offensive coach in NFL Europe and carved a niche as a
popular broadcaster since his departure from the Pirates; and Navy coach
Paul Johnson, a native of Newland and graduate of Western Carolina.
Bunting,
whose departure may jeopardize a North Carolina recruiting effort for the
freshman class of 2007 that has been characterized by online services as one
of the most fruitful in the nation,
has three seasons remaining on his contract at $286,200 per
year.
The
school's announcement, which indicated that Baddour and Bunting will meet
with the media today at 11 a.m. on the fifth floor of the Kenan Stadium
North Box, included statements
from Baddour, Bunting and UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser.
Statement from AD Dick Baddour:
"Changing
coaches is never a pleasant experience, but it is even more difficult when
you consider the character and integrity of someone like John Bunting. He
and his wife, Dawn, have given so much to the University, to Carolina
athletics and to the local community. John led us to some of the most
exciting wins in Carolina football history, put character and academics
first, and never once compromised his or the University's principles. This
is simply one of those times when it is in the best interest of the football
program to make a change. I appreciate and applaud John's commitment to his
alma mater, to our football program, and most important, to his
student-athletes and coaches.
"I have an
extraordinary amount of respect for John and have thoroughly enjoyed the
relationship we have forged over these six seasons. We've gone through great
highs and disappointing lows, but John always remained focused on the next
game, the next practice, the next recruit. He cares deeply for the
university and the game of football and takes great care to see that the
game is played with unbridled passion and enthusiasm. He is a Tar Heel for
life."
Statement
from Coach John Bunting:
"I am
disappointed and of course I don't agree with the decision, but I know I
must accept it. My love for this great university has not and never will
waver. I am very proud of the many great things we have accomplished over
the past six years. We simply have not won enough games this year.
"Dick
Baddour has supported Carolina football and me in every possible way. I
appreciate the opportunity he gave me six years ago. We've developed a very
strong working and personal relationship that I value very much.
"My
thoughts and concerns are for my players, coaches and staff, and my focus
for the next five weeks will be on helping them. I will do all I can to
prepare them for our remaining games, challenge them to accomplish all they
can academically and ensure that they continue to represent this university
in a first-class manner.
"My staff and I are committed to maintaining our current recruiting class.
We currently have a strong recruiting class and we will work hard to
continue to impress upon them the many incredible aspects of the University
of North Carolina and the Tar Heel football program. We have many components
of a winning program on the right track and I am confident Carolina football
will reach great heights in the future.
"I want to thank our many great supporters that have hung in there with us
through thick and thin. That includes those faculty and staff with whom I
have developed a strong bond as they helped us strive to reach our goals on
and off the field."
Statement
from Chancellor James Moeser:
"John
Bunting is a great Tar Heel, and he has run our football program with
integrity and honor. We have utmost respect for John, his passion for the
university and his commitment to his student-athletes and staff. We are
pleased that he will coach the rest of the season and hope that this
decision will put to rest some of the questions surrounding the future of
the program, and allow the team its best chance to be successful in the
remaining games."
©2006 All rights rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. A UNC-Chapel Hill Athletics
press release contributed to this report.
02/23/2007 11:32:53 AM |
