Return on investment

The Raleigh News and Observer posted a scorcher of an article calling UNC’s football game with the University of Central Florida a “lopsided loss with few answers.” There, in black and white, was a stab at trying to understand what the heck is going on in the UNC football world.

A quarterback was injured. The team didn’t communicate well with each other. I have a boo-boo on my knee. Turns out one excuse is a good as another. The UNC record thus far this season is 2 wins and 2 losses. Conference play has not yet begun. The loser’s limp is not going to work if the University’s return on the investment they made in Bill Belichick does not improve.

The total number of points made in the first 4 games at UNC is 84. Belichick is being paid $10,000,000 per year plus a $3.5 million bonus for performance, with a $50,000,000 contract for 5 years. The cost per point scored this year is $119,470, with 8 games left in the season.

The opening game at Kenan Stadium was a spectacle to behold. The light show and hoopla were Super Bowl worthy. Belichick came into the stadium like a Greek god at a chariot race. I expect some were thrilled at the show. Then the game began. A quick score in a field-long run showed promise. Then the second play happened.

Everything quickly went downhill and by the start of the fourth quarter, the super-charged packed crowd began to leave. Disappointment hardly captures the feeling, as air came out of the hype and the crowds’ spirit sank.

The Fayetteville Observer said, “UNC football has not been this bad since 2006.”

Belichick’s record in the NFL is remarkable. His record at the Cleveland Browns was 36 wins and 44 losses, a so-so tally. When he went to the New England Patriots and brought Tom Brady on board, the Pats really started winning. Belichick and Tom Brady were the proverbial match made in heaven. The Patriots won 6 Superbowls. Belechick’s overall NFL record was 302 wins and 121 losses. He earned $25 million a year with the Patriots.

At the beginning of the first UNC game, before play started, television commentators were musing about how Belichick’s goal was to make UNC football the 33^rd team of the NFL. I don’t know how broadly that vision was cast, but between that hope and what we’ve seen on the field thus is a pipedream a long way from reality.  

It is surprising that this emphasis on football overshadows the real treasure that is UNC.  The University of North Carolina was chartered in 1789, the first public university in the United States. For years the focus of UNC was training leaders. After WWII, UNC along with Duke and NC State formed a major public research center, the Research Triangle Park. It was and is a force of innovation and discovery for our state and the world.

The names of stellar graduates in science, law, writing, and athletics reads like a who’s who.

When husband Tom was deciding on a college preference, his dad told him, “if you go to UNC, you will make acquaintances with people you will encounter the rest of your life.”

Excellence in education and socialization with people who would become leaders was reason enough to choose UNC.   

Money has become the driver in all college athletics. Even so, this huge deal with Bill Belichick seems overboard. The scandal over Belichick’s hiring was the red flag warning for what was to come.

Now, here we are. I am not a football statistician or pundit, but I do understand that any investment must earn a good enough return to be financially viable in producing profits for their investors. Belichick thus far has been underperforming and disappointing in his job.

The good news for the Belichick family is that both of his sons, Steve and Brian, are employed at UNC. Their work with the defense continues the ties between the coach and his sons who also worked for him at the Patriots. Nepotism must no longer be shunned in hiring practices.

The saddest part for me is that a series of bad decisions reflects poorly on a Board and the President of the university. Lee Roberts is good chancellor and smarter than this.

I have no real dog in this fight. My sister, her son, our daughter and two granddaughters have degrees from UNC, as do many friends. UNC remains the Flagship University of the whole system. Misplaced priorities in hiring an NFL superstar coach thus far is a bust.

Even the sideline pictures of a “hot” girlfriend who is the coach’s right-hand girl won’t rescue him.

Lib Campbell is a retired Methodist pastor, retreat leader, columnist and host of the blogsite www.avirtualchurch.com. She can be contacted at libcam05@gmail.com