For someone who is in his last few months as Athletic Director, Bubba Cunningham isn’t keeping quiet.
Both fellow Tar Heel Blog writer Thomas Blackington and myself wrote about Cunningham’s appearance on the Carolina Insider podcast, and that interview alone was illuminating in the specifics he gave out for revenue distribution between the two revenue sports on campus. Normally, as the focus shifts to football season, that would likely be seen as enough as he embarks on his last academic year as UNC’s
Athletic Director.
It turns out, though, he’s not done.
On Wednesday, two more interviews were released. One was done live with 99.9 The Fan’s Adam Gold, and the other was recorded on Tuesday with the Ovies and Giglio Podcast. Both interviews went on without interruption, and while they went in different directions both were a sign of how Cunningham isn’t just content with sitting in the shadows during his last year.
First up was the Ovies & Giglio Interview:
This is not the first time that Cunningham has sat for this podcast, as they have running jokes about UNC’s “real” rival in Pittsburgh, and Cunningham has previously done an interview from the passenger seat—at least I hope it was the passenger seat—of his car. That means he knows the questions aren’t going to be softballs, and considering the information he had already released, he had to know that some of the discussion was going to be based on that prior interview.
It was also hilarious to see him metaphorically roll his eyes when the first six years of his tenure are brought up and the multiple fights that he went through. What Cunningham has gotten good at over his tenure is saying things without saying them. It’s what made his answer to the percentage split so shocking last week in that he gave that much detail, but this interview was a lot lighter on specifics but heavier on subtext that — as the two Joes noted — if you know what he’s talking about, you know what he’s trying to say.
The whole interview is worth the listen, as is the discussion between the two Joes afterward. As they have talked to Cunningham multiple times, they are able to delve in and translate some of the things he said without outright saying them. From Cunningham himself you get a discussion about why the revenue split was done the way that it was, some hints about the future of a Carolina Basketball Arena, his thoughts on the outside opinions that he didn’t have a say on any of the revenue sports, and about Carolina’s future with the ACC.
The Joes discussion afterward adds some context to the arena discussion and how they expect the Carolina Basketball coaching process to play out. It’s informed speculation, mind you, even if it is some speculation.
Next up, Cunningham spoke live with Adam Gold on Wednesday
Gold focused more on the future and what is coming down the pike with the transition at Carolina. Hearing Cunningham talk about Notre Dame’s history of Athletic Directors that didn’t necessarily have a collegiate background, and how going to Steve Newmark isn’t that big of a change as they were doing much the same thing — just finding the person with the right skillset for the job ahead.
Cunningham also explained about how UNC will be accepting new revenue streams that they had passed on previously, another way to prep the fans for the idea that you’re going to see a lot more advertising in places you hadn’t before. He credited former chancellor Holden Thorpe with the philosophy as to why they took on advertisements over a decade ago, and to some extent that philosophy exists today.
The interview continued with the working relationship with Bill Belichick and what it’s like to have him on campus. Cunningham sold the coach’s pedigree, and he did note that since the hiring, Carolina had been able to get the money to make that work. They continued with discussion of the idea that exhibition games should be allowed in football and that they wanted to do something like that, but weren’t allowed.
The discussion wrapped up with a look to the future, and how while Cunningham will be working with the Chancellor more than with athletics, there’s little doubt his voice will still be out there as they work out this evolving landscape.
Overall, it was about an hour of discussion with Cunningham, and meaningful discussion. It’ll be interesting to see as the year winds down — and results start coming in — how available Cunningham continues to make himself.
