Column: UNC’s choice to take a chance on Chizik shows no sign of change

This month, UNC sent its final $590,000 check to Butch Davis, severing ties with the walking NCAA investigation formerly known as a coach.

For what we know, his replacement, Larry Fedora, has been as clean as Roy Williams’ gameday Legend Blues in his tenure, while still maintaining a relevant football team.

But where’s the fun in that? The same month UNC sent that last installment of the 2011 buyout to Davis, it announced Gene Chizik as defensive coordinator.

C’mon, man! Have we learned nothing?

Here’s the deal.

Chizik has not been found guilty of any of the charges levied against him. But sweet sassy molassy, there have been a lot of charges levied against him. Chizik and his staff have been accused of paying players not to enter the NFL draft, improper recruiting, and — the icing on the tainted cake — fudging grades to keep players academically eligible.

Want to know how Chizik’s mind works? In 2012, he was asked about two of his assistant coaches who had been taken off the recruiting trail after NCAA investigations targeted them.

“That has nothing to do with us winning,” he said. “I’ve got one track, and that is our players and our coaches, and trying to get us to the next win, so, all of that stuff, I have no comment on that.”

UNC has tried the one-track mindset before when it comes to athletics. Spoiler alert: It hasn’t worked. Since the seemingly never-ending stream of NCAA investigations and lawsuits, you would think UNC would do its best to, I don’t know, not hire football coaches who have been even close to the same time zone as any athletic scandals.

Chizik is a good football coach. At Auburn, he led his team to a 2010 national title, and even though it went downhill from there, his defensive prowess is undeniable. Neither is UNC’s need for a defensive overhaul.

This hire makes sense from purely a football perspective. But even though I thought this was abundantly clear by now, it must be said again: North Carolina has to stop looking at decisions from purely a football perspective.

Once Vic Koenning was fired, there truly was only room for improvement. You’re telling me UNC couldn’t find one squeaky clean coordinator who can manage to not give up 40 points per game?

After nine years, UNC is finally done paying a scandal-riddled coach. What better way to celebrate than to start paying another?