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It seemed more like a quiz than pep rally when new football coach John Bunting
stood before Faculty Council members to answer questions some of them had
raised to Chancellor James Moeser the month before.
Judging by the polite applause that followed his remarks, Bunting appears to
have earned more than a passing grade.
At their Dec. 8 meeting, some council members grilled Moeser about his decision
to fire Carl Torbush and his apparent willingness to replace him with someone
who would come into the job with a win-at-all-costs mentality.
Moeser insisted that the candidate he hired would maintain the program's high
standards of integrity. At the invitation of Faculty Chair Sue Estroff, Bunting
appeared before the council Jan. 19 to drive that point home.
"It is an honor and a privilege to be back to the University of North
Carolina," Bunting said. "It's been 30 years -- I want to know why it took so
long."
In particular, faculty members had questioned Moeser about hiring a coach who
would be willing to recruit players based on athletic talents without regard to
their behavior off the field or their lack of performance in a classroom.
Bunting said he and his staff were in the midst of recruiting season now. They
will be doing their best to find players of good character, and once they are
here, to teach them values the campus represents both on and off the field and
in and out of the classroom.
"I think you will see that as you meet them."
To make the point, Bunting evoked the fabled story of Michael Jordan, a kid
from Wilmington who once was not good enough to make his high school team.
Jordan was a player who practiced the way he played, extremely hard, extremely
focused. He was the kind of guy who worked all the time to will himself into
the pro he would later be.
"In order to have great performance, you have to have great motivation,"
Bunting said.
Motivation, in turn, is the product of attitude, and attitude the result of
knowing how to make the right choices.
"I made the choice to come to Carolina 30 years ago, and it is the best thing I
have ever done," Bunting said.
That choice, he said, led to all the successes that followed, including his
return as head coach.
Bunting, now 50, played linebacker for Carolina from 1968 to 1971 under head
coach Bill Dooley. His senior year, he served as co-captain and helped lead
Carolina to a 9-3 record and the Atlantic Coast Conference championship.
Drafted in the 10th round, he played 11 seasons in the NFL with the
Philadelphia Eagles and in 1980 played in Super Bowl XV against the Oakland
Raiders.
He began coaching defense in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs and was the
co-defensive coordinator in 1999-2000 with the Super Bowl champion St. Louis
Rams.
"It's all the power of choice, and it doesn't cost a dime," Bunting said. "We
are going to work very hard to find those guys who make the right choices."
Estroff described the meeting with Bunting as "a great beginning" and suggested
that it would be a good idea for Bunting to make some return appearances in the
months ahead. The faculty wants to be aware of his concerns, Estroff said, and
make sure he is aware of theirs.
A letter to the faculty
Let me begin by saying how excited I am to be back in Chapel Hill to lead our
football program. My four years attending UNC and playing for the Tar Heels
were the greatest years in my life. The number one reason I dreamed of being in
this position was the chance to give back to the University and the many people
here. It's been 30 years since I was in school, but I never truly left.
Carolina has always been home to me and has always been part of my heart.
Playing in a Super Bowl and coaching a Super Bowl winner are worthy
accomplishments, but nothing compares with returning to your alma mater to help
direct it to greater heights.
I am a hands-on, emotional coach when it comes to teaching the game I love.
This is a sport of high energy and excitement. We will play hard, have fun and
play together. We will play aggressive football, but do so intelligently. The
University of North Carolina is unique to most other universities in the
country. We have everything to offer a prospective student-athlete. We will
continue to recruit student-athletes who will be able to succeed academically
and socially at Carolina, as well as make us a better football program. We can,
and we will, win football games without sacrificing the academic integrity that
makes Carolina special. Plenty of schools win football games, and many are
academically sound, but we can do both.
I understand that your counsel and guidance has strengthened the commitment to
academic integrity throughout the athletic department. In my opinion, we have
not truly become a winning football team until our student-athletes earn their
degree and make positive impacts on our University community and beyond.
I know the value of a Carolina education and what it has meant to me three
decades after leaving Chapel Hill. Winning a Super Bowl is a great football
achievement, but I treasure even more the integrity a UNC degree has to
offer.
Sincerely,
John Bunting
Head Football Coach
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