The 13-member committee tapped to select UNC’s next athletic director and the firm hired to lead the search met for the first time Wednesday to discuss candidates for the job.
Along with Bill Carr of Carr Sports Associates Inc., the search committee operated in closed session for nearly two hours. Committee chairman Lowry Caudill said he’s pleased with the amount of interest expressed for the job thus far.
Because the committee is leading a closed search, the names of candidates won’t be disclosed.
After hearing presentations from two different search firms at the committee’s first meeting Aug. 26, the University hired Florida-based Carr Sports Associates Inc. to help the committee in the search process.
“The University selected two search firms for us, and both are excellent search firms and nationally recognized,” Caudill said.
“We could only make a good decision. The committee had to decide of the two, which firm had the best fit for this particular search. We just felt that Bill Carr and Carr Sports Associates fit better for this particular search.”
Carr Sports Associates’ previous clients include North Carolina State, Duke, Virginia Maryland, Louisiana State and Texas. According to the contract between UNC and Carr Sports Associates, signed Aug. 30, the company will be paid $40,000, which will come from private funds.
Carr has firsthand experience in working with institutions across the country. At Wednesday’s meeting, he raved about the prominence of UNC.
“I think that you have a physical plant that is second to few,” Carr said. “I would place it in the upper five or 10 in the NCAA BCS programs. “(It is) Extraordinary, across the board with every sport, and I just appreciate that as we move forward.”