By Eddy Landreth
Staff Writer
There is a Carolina football team today, but there is no Tar Heel football program at the moment.
Whether there will be one in the near future rests a great deal on what happens in Indianapolis on Friday. Chancellor Holden Thorp and Dick Baddour, retiring director of athletics, will face the infractions committee for what everyone hopes will be the end of the investigation into UNC football.
There were mistakes made, horrible mistakes for an institution that prides itself on abiding by the rules. But the scope of the entire mess is not nearly as horrible as it has been made out to be.
The biggest issues were the three players who took large sums of money from agents. There is not a school with potential professional athletes that is not subject to the same fate. It could happen to Duke or Carolina basketball tomorrow.
The other issue was Butch Davis’ blind spot, John Blake.
Blake is an egotistical, money-hungry person who preys on the athletes he is supposed to be coaching and teaching values, although Blake possesses few, if any.
Had Davis never hired Blake, Carolina may have won the ACC title last season and be on its way to being a consistent national power in football instead of a team hanging on a precipice.
The other issue was the “cheating scandal,†over which Thorp foolishly called a press conference and branded all the players guilty. In the end, only a handful were found to have cheated.
Had Thorp kept his mouth shut publicly and handled the academic issues in-house, this whole mess probably would have been gone long ago.
The fact that he did not cannot help but leave the option open that he wanted to harm football and eventually fire Davis. The two were not on particularly fond terms. Davis did not have a great deal of respect for Thorp as a leader, and Thorp has proven to be a duplicitous character who has made serious errors in judgment on the academic and athletic sides during his brief tenure as chancellor.
For an example of a different way to handle these matters, consider Auburn University. The NCAA drove through Auburn, Ala., waved at the Tigers’ play-for-pay schemes and proclaimed the matter settled.
Nobody ever even accused the Tar Heels of such, yet there is a chance the NCAA could hammer UNC with even greater sanctions than the school has already placed upon itself.
If that happens and the team loses to Wake Forest on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Kenan Stadium, there may not be a football program to speak of in Chapel Hill for five to 10 years.
Here is an interesting fact you may not know.
The most utterly disgusting part of what has happened in Chapel Hill during the past two years, and across the country, is the vile hypocrisy of it all.
The NCAA is a corrupt organization as dirty as the schools it proclaims to govern. The former athletic director at Miami was a part of the committee that placed Southern California on probation. He waved his finger in the air and chastised the Trojans and head coach Pete Carroll.
Just a few months back, we learned Paul Dee, the man with his finger in the air, was the director of athletics at Miami while an agent was supplying women, drugs and about anything else the players wanted.
Dee even allowed corrupt booster Nevin Shapiro to run onto the field with the team a few times before games.
It is people like this who are going to sit in judgment of Carolina come Friday, although Dee has now retired.
UNC fans can only hold their breath and hope Thorp has not succeeded in destroying Carolina football, the revenue it could potentially generate and the overall enthusiasm for UNC athletics that so many people had before this all began.
Thorpe has ruined this program. By firing Butch Davis this program will not have the success it was destine to have. If Thorpe loves UNC he will resign like he made Dick do.
Eddy,
That is great stuff. Quite a relief to hear a voice of reason amongst the media covering
this mess. Stay the course!
Browne
I must respectfully disagree with the tone of this article. The corruption in Butch Davis’s football program at UNC was pervasive. The NCAA should punish very severe. See summary below by manalishi, 10-27-2011.
THE UNC ATHLETIC AND ACADEMIC SCANDAL
UNC is scheduled to have a hearing with the NCAA on Friday, October 28th to respond to a Notice of Allegations that the school was presented by the collegiate association. The NOA detailed nine major violations that occurred during the tenure of former head football coach Butch Davis.
The notice accused former associate head coach John Blake of providing “false and misleading information” to both NCAA investigators and the school regarding his relationship with late NFL agent Gary Wichard. That included a failure to report $31,500 in outside income from Wichard’s firm, Pro Tect Management LLC, from May 2007 to October 2009. The NCAA said Blake worked to steer players to Wichard once they reached the NFL.
The notice states seven players received more than $27,000 in improper benefits in 2009 and 2010. In addition, the NCAA alleged unethical conduct by former tutor Jennifer Wiley for refusing to cooperate with the investigation and providing about $3,500 worth of extra benefits in travel, parking expenses and free tutoring to players.
The school was also cited for failing to monitor “social media activity” of the team in 2010 as well as the conduct of former player Chris Hawkins. Hawkins was previously connected to trips to Atlanta and Las Vegas made by cornerback Kendric Burney, and also paid $1,000 for the jersey of Georgia’s A.J. Green — a transaction that resulted in Green’s four-game suspension because the NCAA said Hawkins qualified as an agent. Hawkins had hung around the program and players in recent years, but has since been told to stay away.
THE BEGINNING
Butch Davis was officially hired to be the head football coach at UNC on November 27, 2006. One of his first personnel moves was to hire his long-time friend John Blake. On/around December 16, 2006, Blake was hired to be the Associate Head Coach and put in charge of recruiting.
The history of the two coaches is longstanding, spanning over 30 years. Davis first met Blake when the former was a teacher/coach at Sand Springs High School in Oklahoma in the late ‘70s, where Blake was a student and athlete. From there they would eventually go on to work together as assistant coaches with the Dallas Cowboys, and then hold similar positions with various different college programs.
The long history and shared career interests paint a picture of two friends who are very aware of the other’s habits and mannerisms.
THE SCANDAL
On June 21, 2010, Assistant Director of Agent, Gambling and Amateurism Activities for the NCAA Chance Miller emailed UNC to schedule interviews with football players. This began a long process of public knowledge into the problems of the UNC athletic infrastructure, but over the following months details would emerge that would indicate just how long those issues had been occurring. The first set of NCAA interviews were conducted on UNC’s campus on July 12-13, 2010.
THE AGENT
While it was social media that apparently first tipped off the NCAA about possible wrongdoings within the UNC athletic department (to be detailed later), another major red flag that quickly emerged was the relationship between John Blake and Gary Wichard – a registered NFL agent. Information gathered from those July NCAA interviews, along with records of John Blake’s university-issued cell phone, reveal some very alarming connections between the two men.
Data shows that Blake and Wichard made contact (via his cell phone) a minimum of 356 times in 2009, and a minimum of 118 in 2010.
Several notable events arose from those records (and from an article by Yahoo Sports) regarding star defensive tackle (and rising senior) Marvin Austin. It was shown that he took two different trips to Wichard’s training center in California – and those trips were paid for by his former high school assistant coach Todd Amis – who was then compensated by Wichard. The first trip occurred in mid March, 2009; the second trip in late July, 2009.
The call patterns during both of those occasions show heavy interaction between Blake and each of Wichard, Austin, and Amis. Furthermore, contact between Blake and Davis was made both immediately prior to and during Austin’s March training trip, and then several times during and immediately after Austin’s July training trip.
Davis has maintained that he was unaware of Marvin Austin’s trips to California to train at Gary Wichard’s professional agency facility.
BLAKE, WICHARD, and TODD AMIS
Documents have shown that Blake was once employed by Wichard’s sports agency…
A old brochure from Wichard’s Agency, Pro Tect Management, listed Blake as an employee. Blake was also issued a PTM credit card – while he was employed as a coach at UNC. He also at one time maintained an office with PTM. Furthermore, there evidence was uncovered showing at least six wire transfers from Wichard’s private bank to Blake.
Shortly after news of Blake’s connection with Wichard became public, Wichard was suspended by the NFL Players Association for 9 months for his involvement with Austin.
Seemingly in the middle of the Blake/Wichard connection was the aforementioned Todd Amis – an assistant coach of Marvin Austin when he was in high school. The following news excerpt from Dan Wiederer of the Fayetteville Observer details an interesting occurrence during the recruitment of Marvin Austin:
Strange as it sounds, the revival
of UNC football may have
received its most significant
boost last December at a
Metropolitan Police Department
awards banquet in Washington,
D.C.
Inside DAR Constitution Hall
that night detective Todd Amis,
also the top assistant coach at
Ballou High School, accepted a
medal of achievement. On hand
to support him: Ballou’s star defensive
tackle Marvin Austin,
widely considered the top defensive
prospect in the country. On
hand to introduce himself to
Austin: Butch Davis.
The first interaction proved
momentous.
Firm handshake. Sincere
conversation. One grand sales
pitch from an eager and proven
coach to a five-star 300-pound
defensive tackle who previously
had as much interest in North
Carolina football as he had in
skipping dinner.
Come to Chapel Hill, Davis
implored, and we can build a national
power.
Austin listened to the fantastic
proposition and envisioned
his future.
Inspired Saturday victories.
BCS Bowl trips. A paved path to
the NFL.
They were the same promises
delivered by the coaches at
Southern California, Florida
State and Tennessee, the schools
at the top of Austin’s wish list
and programs with more substance
with which to back those
claims. Yet somehow, Davis’
ambition and energy won out.
“I was sold, man,†Austin
said.
Amis has admitted to having paid for Austin’s trip to California, and to have been compensated by Wichard’s company. Itinerary report changes and canceled checks also confirm this. The contact between Blake and Amis did not end with the California training trips, however, as future escapades by Austin would unite the men (and their phones) once again – detailed a bit later.
By the numbers:
During 2009 John Blake and Todd Amis made phone contact a minimum of 80 Times
During 2010 John Blake and Todd Amis made phone contact a minimum of 69 times.
On multiple occasions Blake contacted (or was contacted by) both Wichard and Amis on the same day – and on many of those dates, within minutes of each other.
THE PLAYERS’ DECISIONS
As the date to declare for the 2010 NFL draft quickly approached, six different UNC underclassmen were projected to be mid-to-high round draft picks: Marvin Austin, Greg Little, Kendric Burney, Deunta Williams, Quan Sturdivant, and Bruce Carter.
On January 4, 2010, all six announced that they would return to school for their senior year. This surprised many analysts, especially since there was a potential lockout looming at end of the upcoming professional season.
The players’ decision immediately propelled UNC in the eyes of those same analysts, however, and on paper made them a strong contender for the upcoming collegiate season.
THE NCAA TAKES NOTICE
There appears to have been a catalyst to Chance Miller’s NCAA email to the school in June of 2010, and it wasn’t necessarily the Juniors’ decision to return to school. Instead, it was provided by way of the social media site Twitter.
In a May 29 Twitter post that went up at 3:07 a.m., Austin wrote, “I live In club LIV so I get the tenant rate. bottles comin (sic) like its giveaway,” which was a reference to a 30,000-square-foot night club at Miami Beach and champagne bottles.
It soon became evident that Austin and Greg Little, as well as several other college athletes, were in Miami at a party hosted by NFL agents.
Austin not only tweeted the above words, but also at least one picture from the 3 day trip.
His Twitter boastings were not done, however.
THE WASHINGTON, D.C. TRIPS
The Miami tweet prompted a search of Austin’s past tweet history, which uncovered the following entry from April 23, 2009:
“Jus got to DC an (sic) I’m feeln (sic) a shopn (sic) spree . . . nobody gon (sic) be fresh as ME!!!”
There were some twitter pictures of these few days in D.C., showing Marvin and University of South Carolina player Wesyle Saunders in a D.C. hotel.
A search of John Blake’s phone records during this timeframe prove very suspicious:
Marvin spoke to Blake two times on the evening of April 22nd…
** The above tweet was on April 23rd…
Marvin spoke to Blake nine times on April 24th…
and then once on the 25th, 26th, 27th, and 28th.
Furthermore, at 10:27pm on April 23rd (the night of the tweet), Blake speaks with Gary Wichard. Blake then spoke to Wichard seven times on the 24th – the same day he spoke to Marvin Austin nine times.
Bringing Todd Amis back into the picture:
On April 24th at 2:06 pm (23 minutes after getting off the phone with Marvin), Blake spoke with Amis for 20 minutes.
Prior to that call, at 1:12 pm, Blake had spoke to Wichard for 14 minutes.
He then spoke to Wichard again after the call to Amis — for 10 minutes, starting at 3:45 pm.
So a brief timeline recap of that short segment of time:
On the 24th, when Marvin was in DC, and after tweeting about a shopping spree.
1:12pm — Blake talks to Wichard for 14 minutes.
1:40pm — Blake talks to Marvin for 3 minutes.
2:06pm — Blake talks to Amis for 20 minutes.
3:45pm — Blake talks to Wichard for 10 minutes.
Twitter’s history shows that this was just the first of Marvin Austin’s D.C. trips.
On May 7th Marvin tweeted a picture of a Gucci certificate card.
Then on May 8th he tweeted the following:
“Tables, bottles, beatiful (sic) people!!!!!! LIVE . . .”.
On May 10th Austin tweeted a picture of a $143 receipt from the Cheesecake Factory in D.C., and also a picture of the dozen doughnuts (that cost another $40).
The data leading up to this second D.C. trip:
On Wednesday May 5th, two days before the Gucci tweet, Blake spoke to Marvin six times.
That same evening, Blake spoke to Gary Wichard.
On Monday May 10th Blake spoke to Marvin seven times.
Blake spoke to Wichard three times (in close proximity to Marvin’s calls).
Blake spoke to Marvin three more times on May 11th, and to Wichard twice.
Blake spoke to Todd Amis on May 11th at 7:03pm, two minutes after getting off the phone with Austin. The call lasted for 14 minutes.
May 11th is important for the following reason:
As previously maintained, Todd Amis was one of Marvin’s H.S. assistant coaches. The head coach, Moe Ware, resigned after Marvin’s graduation. The new head coach at Marvin’s old H.S. is Ed Shields.
On May 11th, 2010, Marvin Austin was still in D.C. The following tweet arrived from Ed Shields to Austin: “Marvin I will bring the wallets to u today@ANCHORMANAUSTIN.”
This was the day after the “Cheesecake Factory” receipt photo.
One final D.C. connection: Intermixed throughout 2009 and 2010, and often on the same days (and within minutes) of calls with both Gary Wichard and Todd Amis, are calls between John Blake and Marvin Austin’s mother – Donna Johnson.
Blake’s records show dozens of calls – both to and from Johnson – during both 2009 and 2010. Questions abound as to why Blake was still in contact with a player’s assistant coach (Amis) and mother (Johnson) years after that player’s recruitment has ended.
Furthermore, phone-activation records show that Marvin Austin’s phone and that of his mother were part of the same calling plan that was activated on the same date – September 8, 2007. This was the beginning of Marvin Austin’s freshman year at UNC.
THE INTERVIEWS
As previously established, the NCAA’s first email to the school was on June 21, 2010, and according to an interview with Dick Baddour on July 15, 2010:
“One of the things that they instructed us in very clearly is that we are to maintain the confidence of their visit and their review. They’ve requested that we not discuss it publicly. Obviously, we’re going to fully cooperate with the NCAA in every way that we can by making things available to them and in particular by following their instruction on discussing it publicly.â€
This indicates that the school was not to inform the players or the public about the impending interviews. This fits the usual pattern and request from the NCAA, as seen from the recent Georgia Tech football investigation. They were found guilty of informing players about upcoming interviews, and were penalized for that.
However, despite the information stated above by Baddour regarding the interviews and their supposed privacy, some troubling data is shown through John Blake’s phone records. The first NCAA interviews were to begin on the day of July 12, 2010.
On the immediately preceding night of July 11, however, records show that beginning at 10:21pm John Blake contacted a number of players who were to be interviewed by the NCAA the following day:
10:21pm — to Robert Quinn
10:26pm — to then player-development assistant Norris McCleary
10:28pm — to Quniton Coples
10:29pm — to Marvin Austin
10:32pm — to Robert Quinn
10:33pm — to then video/media assistant Johnny Vines
10:37pm — to Michael McAdoo
If this was indeed contact that was intended to somehow warn the players of the next day’s events, it would constitute yet another violation by the school – one of the exact same types of violations that led to Georgia Tech having to vacate their 2009 ACC Championship Game victory.
On August 26, 2010, the NCAA announces that they may have discovered potential academic fraud on top of improper benefits from agents.
THE INITIAL RAMIFICATIONS
Following numerous revelations of possible improprieties, numerous UNC players were suspended for the season opening LSU game. On September 5, 2010, John Blake resigns from UNC’s coaching staff – but is given a $75,000 payment. No clear reason for the payment is ever provided by the UNC administration.
On October 3rd, 2010, Butch Davis said of the man whom he worked with in two different locations, and had known for over 30 years: “I’m sorry I ever trusted John Blakeâ€.
THE TUTOR
Other information to come from the NCAA’s interviews was that a former UNC academic tutor, Jennifer Wiley, provided inexcusable benefits regarding players’ school work. The university had previously gone its separate ways from Wiley due to her supposedly being “too close to the playersâ€. However, in another surprising revelation, she was then hired directly by Butch Davis to be his high school son’s personal tutor. This, despite the fact that she had been excused from the school’s tutoring program for being too close to Butch Davis’s football program. Wiley has repeatedly declined to be interviewed by the NCAA’s investigators, and refused to help with its investigation at the time of the NCAA’s initial interviews. Soon afterward, all attempts to interview her – by the NCAA or the media – were routed (and summarily denied) through her lawyers.
OTHER CONNECTIONS
John Blake’s phone records turned up other potential connections than just Todd Amis. Among them were several low-level staff members of the football program – Johnny Vines and Norris McCleary.
Vines was a video coordinator for the football team, yet Blake made phone contact with him dozens of times in both 2009 and 2010.
Norris McCleary was an assistant with player development, and after Blake’s resignation was promoted to help with the DL. Blake made contact with him over 350 times between April 2010 and early September, 2010.
As was the case with Todd Amis, Blake’s phone contacts with Vines and McCleary were often within minutes of speaking with G. Wichard – and also often within minutes of speaking to players such as Marvin Austin, Robert Quinn, and Q. Coples – and people like Marvin Austin’s mother, Donna Johnson
PLAGIARISM
Suspended player Michael McAdoo petitioned his case for reinstatement against the NCAA. When documents about the case were made public, one of his Swahili papers was included amongst the evidence. UNC’s athletic and academic administration backed McAdoo, saying the work was his own. However, rival fans proved otherwise – scouring the internet and uncovering that a vast majority of the paper was copied word-for-word from other sources – many of which were not documented in the paper’s bibliography. This was gross and negligent plagiarism, McAdoo’s reinstatement was denied, and the university’s academic troubles were augmented.
SWAHILI AND THE AFAM DEPARTMENT
McAdoo’s case eventually led to professor Julius Nyan’goro, who was the department chair of the African American Studies department. No syllabus could be provided by the university for the course that McAdoo took (which was taught by Nyan’goro). Furthermore, the N&O’s Dan Kane revealed via information taken from Marvin Austin’s transcript that he had been allowed to take a 400 level AFAM class at the very beginning of his collegiate career, which he passed with a high grade. This was prior to Austin even taking Freshman English.
Questions as to the academic rigor of the AFAM department eventually led to Nyan’goro being removed from the department chair position. He has refused all interviews.
Several current football players declare AFAM as their major, and Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, and Jerry Stackhouse are just a few former UNC athletes who have earned degrees via the AFAM program.
AGENTS ON CAMPUS
According to the Charlotte Observer and other local media sources, Nyan’goro (while still the chairman of the AFAM Department) hired an agent to teach a summer class.
At the time of the class during the summer of 2011, the agent, Carl Carey Jr., represented two football players who had been selected in this spring’s NFL draft. He is also the agent of former UNC player Julius Peppers.
Julius Nyang’oro hired Carey to teach a month-long course called Foundations of Black Education in the first summer session. Carey is a former adjunct professor and academic adviser to football players, who left the university in 2002 to start a business advising athletes looking to turn pro.
While he was teaching, Carey was trying to retain UNC player Robert Quinn as a client. He is now suing Quinn to recover nearly $300,000 in loans and advances he said he gave Quinn in advance of a professional deal.
CHRIS HAWKINS
Former UNC football player Chris Hawkins, who later transferred to Marshall, was a common fixture in and around the UNC football program during Butch Davis’s tenure. He was reported to be a regular in the weight room – where people such as Jeff Connors (who has since resigned and moved on to ECU) and Norris McCleary had clearance.
Hawkins was arrested on April 29, 2009 on felony charges of trafficking cocaine and misdemeanor charges of possession of marijuana.
According to a police report obtained by ESPN.com, Hawkins was pulled over by a Georgia State Patrol officer while driving a U-haul moving truck on I-20 near Madison, Ga., which is about 60 miles east of Atlanta. The report said Hawkins was cited for driving without wearing a seat belt, and officers later discovered a small amount of marijuana in his pocket.
After Hawkins refused to allow officers to search the contents of the moving truck, a drug-detecting dog indicated drugs were in the back of the box truck. According to the police report, officers discovered a paper sack containing a baseball-sized amount of base cocaine, which weighed about three ounces and was covered in peanut butter and pepper.
Social media sites have indicated Hawkins to be a close acquaintance with Greg Little, Quinton Coples, Marvin Austin, and other UNC athletes (from various sports) — several of whom are from his hometown area of Kinston, NC.
PARKING TICKETS, AND CAMPUS POLICE
A review of university parking records showed that fewer than 12 football players tallied 395 parking violations from March 2007 through August 2010, leading to fines totaling $13,125. Some of these fines were paid by former UNC tutor – and at the time, current Butch Davis tutor – Jennifer Wiley.
Furthermore, records revealed that some players were using multiple license plates on the same vehicles.
A report was released in August regarding a May 29, 2010 vehicle accident on campus involving several UNC football players.
The investigating officer, Sergeant Shawn Smith, wrote in the report, “I changed the travel and impact speed of the collision from 25 to 45 based on the severity of the collision and other factors combined. To have an incident of this magnitude, the vehicle had to have been traveling higher than the posted speed of 25 mph.”
Player Herman Davidson only received a citation for not having a valid driver’s license. He was not issued a speeding ticket and none of the players were taken into custody.
Trooper Smith resigned on July 15th, but won’t say if the crash led to his resignation. Interestingly, Smith also was assigned to coach Davis for home and away games.
ANOTHER CURRENT PLAYER?
The NCAA re-interviewed player Quinton Coples in 2011 regarding a D.C. post-draft party. He was later cleared of any wrongdoing in that instance. However, a close inspection of John Blake’s phone records show calls to and from Coples’s number in close proximity with many of the previously mentioned names: Marvin Austin, Todd Amis, Norris McCleary, Johnny Vines.
BUTCH DAVIS’S 216 NUMBER: PUBLIC RECORDS
When the University was ordered by Judge Manning to release the phone records of Davis, Blake, and Baddour (based on the wording of the media organization’s request), the cell phone records of Davis revealed virtually zero calls – which led to the eventual discovery of his 216 phone line.
The fact that Davis was using a different phone for his work purposes – and that the school’s compliance department was obviously not monitoring those calls for illegal recruiting contact – is in and of itself a compliance issue/violation.
The wording of the request was later amended, yet the wait for the records continues. Manning simply has to tell Davis to release the records, which clearly appear to be part of the public domain.
THE PENALTY
UNC will have a chance to answer for its actions – and possibly even new allegations, should the NCAA look a bit closer at the university’s athletic and academic infrastructure.
For instance: Blake’s phone records show contact with other, minor agents. They show contact with people connected to Hargrave Military Academy. They show contact to the families of non-UNC NFL prospects, such as Ndamukong Suh.
Futhermore, there are the 216 records: Why would UNC essentially pay Butch Davis 2.7 million dollars when they clearly had just cause (via his contract) to fire him without pay? The un-redacted records, if ever released, would likely reveal those reasons.
At some point in the near future, probably in early 2012, the school will receive its penalty. There has been much debate over what that will be, but one thing is certain – this scandal is multi-faceted, and there are elements within it that have never been uncovered in a collegiate program before.
Last edited Yesterday 11:25 PM by manalishi