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Dean Smith believed in promoting from within and upward mobility.
When Bubba Cunningham was named athletic director in 2011, he was an unknown choice. He had interviewed extensively with the chancellor and search committee, one of a half-dozen finalists that included at least two members of the athletic department.
Going outside had become imperative after the prior 15 years. John Swofford made one major coaching change in his 17-year tenure (firing subdued Dick Crum and hiring salesman Mack Brown). Swofford left to be the ACC commissioner and was succeeded by Dick Baddour, whom Smith backed.
Then Smith retired, succeeded by chief aide Bill Guthridge. Soon after, Brown left because Texas paid him way more than UNC would. Smith was among those who pushed for career assistant Carl Torbush to be promoted. Carolina football was top 10 under Mack and tanked to top 100 under Torbush.
Then came John Bunting, whom the Trustees fired after six games of the 2006 season when Baddour refused to do so. The Trustees hired Butch Davis, who was fired in 2010 by Chancellor Holden Thorp for several legit reasons. So UNC needed a new AD and coach after Baddour was forced to retire.
Cunningham was a great hire for what Carolina was willing to pay. He had been an athletic director at two mid-major schools and made a few unpopular staff changes. Asked how he was doing with the staff, Bubba said, “One third are on board, one third are on the fence and one third don’t like me at all.”
Cunningham grew into his job after a few missteps with Roy Williams and ended his AD tenure with a bad-look firing of Brown and was trying to hire a young coach when the Trustees were pursuing 73-year-old Bill Belichick.
Bubba says he had been talking to chancellor Lee Roberts about his transition when other schools were calling him about their AD jobs, including Michigan State where Kevin Guskiewicz had landed after leaving UNC. His new role working under Roberts is the perfect move for Cunningham after 14 years at the athletic helm here. He will still work with athletics and has a great off ramp to retirement and staying in Chapel Hill, where he boasts three of his four children still live in the state after growing up elsewhere.
How Steve Newmark came out of nowhere to be the next AD is a subject that has the entire Tar Heel state buzzing. Unlike Bubba, Newmark has never been an athletic director anywhere, never worked on a college campus and we hope is a good choice to help build financial resources after he did the same for 15 years at NASCAR, a priority for UNC.
Apparently, he was hired on Bubba’s recommendation that helps his off ramp; Lee Roberts is a Duke graduate who knows business better than sports and needed to make a move. But this one? It boggles the already perplexing paradigm of Tar Heel Sports.
Featured image via Chapel Hill Media Group/Dakota Moyer
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
