The man who – until his recent firing – presided over endless sports, academic fraud, and sports-related misuse of funds cases at the University of North Carolina was a saint. A saint. He did his best. He was powerless.
Big-time college athletics have long been a minefield for university administrators. They often find themselves at the mercy of highly paid coaches under intense pressure to recruit top players – who may struggle academically – and wealthy boosters who want successful teams.
… A 2009 Knight Commission survey of university presidents and chancellors found many of them feel powerless to stop or slow the financial arms race in athletic departments that has often brought scandal.
“(P)residents would like serious change but do not see themselves as the force for the changes needed,” the report said.
As poor little David Boren of Oklahoma University says of the coaches’ salaries there, “We can’t control the marketplace.”
These guys can’t do anything! They’re only the president.