Former UNC system President Bill Friday said that North Carolina's football coach Butch Davis' contract extension was out of balance with the compensation of the faculty of the university. He also said that type of balance can establish the real priorities of a university. Is he right? Do big time schools place too much of a priority on athletics by paying coaches higher salaries and the faculty?
Everyone knows how out of balance sports vs education has gotten and this raise just adds fuel to the fire! If Davis is as good of a man as he thinks he is a coach, he would refuse this new contract stating that he has not proven himself yet and thus does not deserve any additional increase in money or time!! he is already way overpaid as are most of the high profile coaches today.
It is fine with me. The academic reputation at UNC has been significantly enhanced by the visibility of the athletics. Athletics also contribute to the sense of community at the school which influences future donations of alumni.
Davis' new contract is, like most contracts for Division I football coaches, out of line with the mission of a university. But that's the problem: most contracts for Division I football coaches are out of line with the mission of a university. The situation at UNC is hardly an aberration, and it would be unreasonable to expect UNC to deny reality.
If Friday, or anyone else, wants to prevent this thing from happening, it will take changing the system.
Unless you are a player, you normally do not pick out a school because of the athletic program. As an alum, the only reason to abandon a school is if you discover your "sheepskin" is worthless.
I'm guessing that the two title items are rarely seen in print this close to each other (no offense meant to MIT folks).
It is becoming more and more obvious that the purpose of the the the State Universities is as a training camp for profession
al athletes and NOT as an educational facility.
So, why even waste time and money on trying to teach
these wannabe athletes. When you listen to them talk
most of them can not even compose a correct sentence.
Anybody that argues this is clearly misled. Faculty and staff produce much more money than any football coach could ever hope to. First, a good portion of the athletic revenues go back into the program. But my main point is that faculty and staff educate the very people that will one day stimulate the economy and produce more money for the university through taxes and possible donations.
Another problem is that most athletes at the UNC receive a free or mostly free ride through college straight to the NFL. This reduces the amount of students that can get into the UNC through their intelligence only.
I for one do not want my (eventual) tax paying money to go to the payment of someone who will most likely be earning much more than I will at my non-publicly funded job.
Davis Salary
Contrary to what Bill Friday has said, the compensation deserved by a major collegiate football coach should not be compared with that of a university faculty member. Not unless, that is, Friday is arguing faculty members bring in the same amount of money to the University that Butch Davis does.
Like it or not, major collegiate athletics is a primary revenue driver for universities. Furthmore, the success of a university's major athletic programs (football, basketball, baseball, etc) does factor in to a student's decision on where to get his/her education. By taking a proactive step to assure the continued rebuilding process of the football program, which Davis will provide, the University has increased its overall national appeal to collegiate students. That, in turn, improves the quality of the student body and the academic reputation of the university nationwide.
I don't know why Friday thinks having competitive athletics programs has to be mutually exclusive with devotion to high academic standards.