ND10 16 - 27 Football R3:2010 11/4/10 1:44 PM Page 19
ROBERT WILLETT/THE NEWS & OBSERVER
very concerned about that, and we’ve had a
lot of long talks with Coach Davis ... and
we’ve got a lot of work to do to understand
why the head coach didn’t know about this
contact with an assistant and what to do
about that and how to address it.”
A month later Thorp told a Board of
Governors committee that while they still
had questions about why Davis didn’t know
more, “We don’t have any evidence that
Coach Davis knew about or took part in
any of the things that happened.”
A long self-examination
A news conference on Aug. 26 was put
together soon after UNC officials became
aware of the investigation on the academic
side. This was in keeping with their determination to stay out in front of matters
they didn’t want reported first in the
media. As Davis, Baddour and Thorp
walked into the room, each looked as if he
had been kicked in the gut.
Thorp opened: “To everyone who loves
this University, I’m sorry for what I have to
tell you.” As throughout the investigation,
when the meeting was over there were
fewer answers than new questions.
He told the Faculty Council that all the
facts in the academic probe had been
turned over to the student attorney general. He added that the NCAA had joined
the academic part of the investigation, participating in some interviews.
Butch Davis has had plenty of
bright on-field moments to talk
about this fall, but he faces questions several times a week that
the NCAA doesn’t want him to
address in public.
