Slight Diversion Edition.
- UNC opens baseball season today at 3 PM against VMI as the #2 team in the country. This game will reopen Boshamer Stadium which was being renovated all of last season and by all accounts is totally awesome now. If NC State's Lee Fowler has taught us anything it is that having great facilities is the key to winning. I fully expected the new stadium to push the Heels over the hump in the College World Series.
- All sorts of attrition in football. Three UNC players(one walk-on, two scholarship) were dismissed from the team by Butch Davis for the always reliable "violation of team rules." Cue the waiver wire talk on Pack Pride since these dimissals also help to alleviate the numbers game so many were concerned about. All of those folks can go back to their lives knowing Davis has it under control now.
- On the coaching front, three UNC assistants have left to take jobs elsewhere. Special teams coach John Lovett went to Miami, linebackers coach Tommy Thigpen, a UNC alum, left for Auburn and in three years will come back after Gene Chizik is fired. Tight ends coach Steve Hagen also left for the Cleveland Browns.
- Two of the three football coaches who left have already been replaced. Art Kaufman comes in from Southern Miss to handle the linebackers. Troy Douglas was plucked from South Florida to coach the DBs. Hopefully he has some super duper secret to playing a prevent that does not permit opposing teams from scoring at will with under two minutes left. Granted swapping assistants at this level is not something we can really get a read on but given some of the troubles on defense Everett Withers is going to feel some pressure seeing that he has two new coaches in his department.