UNC A.D. Baddour Steps Down Amid Football Scandal

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UNC Athletic Director Dick Baddour will step down, the school announced on Thursday.

Baddour, who was set to retire at the end of the year, announced Thursday he will step away immediately.

UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp said Baddour will serve out the remainder of his contract and help to find his replacement, but will step aside when a new athletic director is hired.

“(Baddour) will serve out his contract through next year but will step aside as athletic director when a new athletic director arrives,” Thorp said. “Dick Baddour is a true, true Tar Heel.”

“We need to rally behind the chancellor, his leadership and this football team and pull together as Tar Heels,” Baddour said on Thursday. “Holden Thorp has my complete support. The decision that was made was unquestionably in best interest of UNC.”

Thorp said Baddour is expected to continue handling the internal aspects of the NCAA investigation, which includes attending the NCAA hearing in Indianapolis in October.

“There is nobody I would rather have with me in Indianapolis than Dick Baddour,” Thorp said.

Thorp said that Davis is owed an additional $2.7 million on his contract.

“We recognize $2.7 million may be what this costs us. The department will need to pay whatever we need to pay to make the separation happen,” Thorp said. “We anticipate we won’t be dismissing Coach Davis for cause (when asked if the school will seek a way to escape Davis’ contract).”

Joe Mazur, a reporter for WTVD, asked the chancellor about why the university would not seek firing Davis “for cause” to avoid paying him his $2.7 million salary.

Reporter: “You are talking about the reputation of the university. Given the budget crisis of the university and you’re saying you will not fire (Davis) for cause. I have the contract in front of me: it says ’serious disrespect for the integrity and ethics of the university. Given the crisis you’re currently in, what would motivate you to pay him to go away?”

“Like I said earlier, that’s what makes this a tough decision. Any money that is paid to (Davis) will come from the athletic department and not from University general funds. That is the conclusion we have come to.

Thorp also acknowledged the timing is questionable with the season set to begin in less than two months.

“I know the timing is terrible. But whenever I did this, there would be people who said the timing is terrible. Everything we have been through was required to get to this point,” said Thorp.

The search for a new athletic director will begin immediately.

On Wednesday, officials announced via a press release that Butch Davis had been asked to step down.

Baddour’s replacement will be the one to hire a new football coach.

PDF: Read the UNC Press Release

The announcement came after the Board of Trustees met in a closed door session on Wednesday. The future of the football program was discussed during the meeting, school officials said.

“To restore confidence in the University of North Carolina and our football program, it’s time to make a change,” said Thorp. “What started as a purely athletic issue has begun to chip away at this university’s reputation.”

Thorp said the decision was not related to any change in the NCAA investigation, but it was the result of the cumulative damage to the university’s reputation over the past year.