North Carolina athletic director Dick Baddour has announced he's leaving his position a day after the university dismissed football coach Butch Davis. Baddour will officially step down after the school's hearing with the NCAA infractions committee in October. Baddour says he asked Chancellor Holden Thorp to hire a new athletic director in time to name a permanent head coach for the football team.
Dick Baddour: "As someone who has hired coaches for the past 14 years, I know that it is even more imperative that my successor be able to name the next permanent head coach. It is my responsibility to do what is in the best interest of the program and this is my decision."
Thorp and Baddour did not name an interim head coach. Davis could receive as much as $2.7 million as the university buys out the rest of his contract. Thorp says he made the decision to fire Davis to restore confidence in the university. The NCAA is still investigating allegations of improper benefits and academic misconduct in the football program.