Tom Suiter: Bunting Did Good Things At UNC, Just Not Enough

Posted 2:17 p.m. Oct 23, 2006 — Updated 2:17 p.m. Oct 23, 2006

I'm on vacation today and just heard about the dismissal of John Bunting at Carolina, effective the end of the season.

John Bunting is a good man who loves Carolina, but I think this decision was inevitable and was going to be made one way or the other and last night's decision will end what would have been weeks of speculation. Now, Carolina gets a head start in looking for its new coach.

Bunting did some good things but not nearly enough. Quite simply, he couldn't win games. This year's team performance has been appalling. No matter what other things a coach accomplishes, the bottom line is, like it or not in major college football, a coach has to win some games.

Bunting had a winning record in just his first season and now in his sixth year, the UNC football program is on a downward spiral that seems out of control, and I don't think Bunting was the coach to get it turned around. He had his chance. I don't think anyone at the start of this season thought that this team would be as bad as it is. The one-sided loss at less-than-stellar Virginia was very, very telling.

So Carolina's search begins. A question I'm sure a lot of Carolina fans are wondering is whether Athletic Director Dick Baddour is the man to make the hire? His two previous hires, Carl Torbush and Bunting, have been failures. He also hired Matt Doherty for the basketball coaching job. Yes, I know about Roy Williams, but how much of that was Baddour?

Barring something unforseen at his press conference, Bunting will coach out the rest of the season. It will be interesting to see if this team will now try and rally around a man who loves with all his heart his alma mater. I know one thing, John Bunting will still be fighting. Will his team fight with him?

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