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Bubba Cunningham has reasons to go to Michigan State.
The Carolina athletic director, in his 14 years at UNC, has been one of the most respected administrators in college sports. He has enhanced the athletic plant, especially in Olympic sports facilities, and helped maintain the Carolina brand during challenging and changing times.
He has had some battles with a fickle Board of Trustees but drew mostly support from his bosses, Carol Folt, Kevin Guskiewicz and lately Lee Roberts. Guskiewicz had his own problems with the trustees and left to be president of Michigan State last year.
Guskiewicz fired the embattled athletic director he inherited, and Bubba has been among the names floated as the possible new AD of the Spartans. Cunningham was born in Flint, Michigan, before his family moved to Naples, Florida. And the generational tenures of athletic directors are long gone.
Michigan State has had its own struggles, lately with the Trump administration threatening to cut funding from research institutions like MSU. Eight months before Guskiewicz took office, football coach Mel Tucker was fired with plenty of cause and paid a mid-seven-figure buyout upon leaving.
Hall of Fame basketball coach Tom Izzo is 70 and nearing retirement, and his name is also in the speculation to be the next AD. And like many major universities with billionaire alumni, Michigan State will have other voices to consider: Spartan alumnus Mat Ishbia is the majority owner of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and will have a say in the new hire.
Cunningham would certainly have to answer for Carolina’s controversial hires of basketball coach Hubert Davis and new football coach Bill Belichick.
Davis has an up-and-down four years going and received criticism for not getting top level players UNC has had by tradition and for doing a poor job of developing some recruits and transfers he has signed. And then there is NIL to blame.
Belichick, the NFL legend, is entering his first season of college coaching, and his $30 million guaranteed contract and millions more in upgrades have been in the news along with his 24-year-old girlfriend who is a social media influencer, a real estate investor, beauty pageant contestant and lately publicized for her unconventional roles as Belichick’s personal and professional partner.
If Cunningham has to address either or both of those situations during an interview process, he could say the two hires were not completely his. Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams pushed hard for Davis to succeed him, and the Trustees’ improper role in the Hoodie’s hire was hand-slapped by the Board of Governors for overstepping their role in the Belichick negotiation.
Cunningham, who has a plethora of honors and accomplishments, is paid about a million dollars, below most ADs at big brand power schools. A few years ago, Bubba had a contract from Florida for more money but chose to stay. Michigan State would have to beat his deal here.
People might say he would be leaving a mess at Carolina, but also not of his own making.
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Featured image via Associated Press/Chris Seward
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
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