Three reasons why Larry Fedora won’t lose his job this season.
With a 1-6 start following a 3-9 record last year, Fedora is under heavy heat from some UNC fans who expect more from their football program. Well, that’s okay because Fedora expects more of it, too, and has actually been close to winning at least two more games this fall. But here is why The Fed will be back in 2019, regardless.
First, athletic director Bubba Cunningham hired Fedora before the 2012 season and his new coach reeled off four straight bowl teams after the one-year probationary period he inherited. So the guy proved that he could recruit and coach even under the NCAA cloud.
When the AD hires the coach, that usually buys him at least one more year. And this season is it, even if the Tar Heels win only three games again. So the second reason Fedora is safe is that Cunningham gave him a new contract two years ago with a substantial buyout to deter Fedora from leaving. The amount Carolina would have to pay Fedora on his way out the door is something like $14 million, which UNC can hardly afford on a coach in whom it is so heavily invested.
The third reason is basketball. There may be a lot of grousing right now, but coaching football here is both a curse and a blessing.
The curse is that while the Tar Heels always have good football players, some good enough to reach the NFL, they usually don’t have enough of them to make up for injuries and recruits who don’t pan out. And lack of depth has been a major issue the last two years.
But the blessing is truly the “B” word. When late October rolls around and things aren’t going so well on the gridiron, most of the attention turns to basketball and one of the perennially powerful programs in the college game. That takes a lot of the public scrutiny away from football and replaces it with excitement over Roy Williams’ next team.
Some football coaches at Carolina haven’t liked playing second fiddle to hoops. But Williams and his predecessors have always been supportive of all the other sports, and basketball’s success takes the heat of some coaches and their teams not living up to expectation.
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Doesn’t the UNC Athletic Department need the football program to generate at least a little revenue? Two-consecutive losing seasons without bowl appearances have already hurt revenue and greatly reduced fan interest in the program. How many season tickets and individual-game tickets do you think the Athletic Department will sell next year if the program returns the same coaches and largely the same players? Where would be the prospects for any improvement? Isn’t anyone in UNC Athletics tired/embarrassed of football being the weakest program in the department — not to mention a money pit? Isn’t anyone in UNC Athletics tired/embarrassed of Carolina football being among the weakest and most lifeless Power 5 programs in the country? If no significant changes are made, the on-field results won’t change either. If the University cares nothing about having a successful football program, alums and fans won’t care either. It’s one thing to be bad. It’s another to be irrelevant.
I really am tired of basketball being part of a discussion regarding football. The football program demands to stand on its own two feet as a critical viable money making sport. Saying basketball’s success and attention relieves the pressure of the need to field a quality football team is disingenuous and insults every alum and fan who likes and follows college football. Either get serious about having a successful football program or drop it altogether. As a proud alum from ‘81, UNC proved then it could be nationally relevant in football— fall of 1980’s team was probably the finest team we ever had. UNC just has to make the commitment to excellence in football as it has in men’s basketball.
Trent – I 100% agree Every other sport at Carolina is constantly competing in top 1/4 of the conference Quit using ” its basketball season ” to sweep the football problem under the rug Fix the problem – and get football where it needs to be !
Are you serious? If UNC keeps Fedora, the university is admitting that Tarheel football is irrelevant. With the amount of high school talent in North Carolina, there is no reason why UNC football can’t be top 15 program every year, with the right people in place. Fedora is ready for a change and Tarheel fans deserve a change.
This piece is a cover story to hide from all UNC fans and students the real reason. Fed will return as coach for the next three years. Get used to it. The old adage of following the money is true in this case. Fed’s contract pays him a little less than 3 million per year for the next 3 years. Cost to UNC about 7.5 million. If they fire Fed and buy out his contract it would cost 18 million. Whomever agreed to a deal like that needs to be fired and replaced. Next time hire President Trump who knows how to negotiate a contract.
Enough is enough!!! This guy has had six years to get this program going if he hasn’t done it by now he will never get it done truthfully he should have been fired after losing th east carolina