UNC Associate AD for Compliance Resigns

Inside Carolina broke the news earlier today and posted this statement from Herman on Twitter.

I have enjoyed serving the UNC community over the past 12 years, and I am proud of all we have accomplished. I wish the Department of Athletics the very best moving forward

Herman has been at UNC for several years and caught in the thick of the NCAA probe into the football program. For the most part, Herman was not really a prominent figure in the NCAA investigation and seemingly did her job well. In 2011, then AD Dick Baddour promoted Herman from assistant athletic director to associate athletic director of compliance which did not sit well with at least one member of the media. This promotion was more or less a signal that (1) Herman bore no blame for UNC's NCAA issues and (2) she had likely worked very hard during the football scandal and this was a little bump in pay for her troubles.

Obviously much will be made of her sudden resignation and the short, sweet statement she made walking out the door. Speculation will be that something ominous is coming down the pipe and UNC is battening down the hatches by cleaning house ahead of time. However, UNC insists it has nothing to do with any of the current issues UNC is facing and that is probably correct.

In recent months, AD Bubba Cunningham has been making a variety of personnel moves has he reshapes the UNC athletic department to match his vision. In July, Cunningham hired two additional administrators whose focus would be in "compliance and student-athlete services." According to IC, one of those individuals is senior associate AD Vince Ille has been overseeing compliance since his arrival. That would mean Herman's position was, to some extent, redundant. At any rate, the turnover in UNC athletic department is a positive not negative. The institution is in need of some outsider views on the internal processes which is what Cunningham has been working to provide.

One more note. The timing of Herman's resignation can probably be taken as a sign that the Martin Report is likely finished or nearly finished. It is reasonable to assume Herman was interviewed by Governor Martin or his staff. Her input would have been an integral part of doing the report since it was a review of various issues that fall under the compliance umbrella. Assuming that report is done and Cunningham wanted to make a change in the compliance office, now is as good a time as any to make the change.