UNC coach Blake resigns

John Blake, a North Carolina assistant football coach, resigned yesterday, effective immediately.

Blake's decision came less than 24 hours after UNC lost 30-24 to LSU in Atlanta on Saturday night in its season opener. Blake said in a prepared statement released by UNC that he had become a distraction because of an NCAA investigation of the UNC football program.

"While I have enjoyed my tenure at the University of North Carolina, it has become apparent to me over the course of the past few weeks that my presence has become a distraction to my family and to this great university, too," Blake said in his statement. "Consequently, I have determined that it is in the best interests of my family, the university community at large, and the football program for me to step down from my position as associate head football coach effective today."

Blake was in his fourth season on the UNC staff. He is known as one of college football's top recruiters, one of the traits that Coach Butch Davis of UNC found most appealing when hiring him in the 2007 season. He also was UNC's recruiting coordinator.

Blake is also known as a top defensive line coach, the other job he held on the UNC staff. His annual salary was $240,000, and his contract would have expired on June 30, 2011.

UNC officials said yesterday that Blake will be paid $74,500, which is about the amount of money he would have earned coaching through the football season. UNC officials said that Blake will be paid by football revenues.

Blake is friends with Gary Wichard, a sports agent who is linked to the investigation. The NCAA is trying to determine whether a sports agent paid for trips to Miami this summer for UNC players Marvin Austin and Greg Little, who attended a party there. Wichard has denied paying the expenses for either player.

The school is also conducting an investigation into the program for possible academic impropriety. School officials decided last week to hold 13 players out of the LSU game because of the investigations. Austin and Little were among six players declared ineligible by the school for undisclosed rules violations.

Dick Baddour, UNC's athletics director, said in a telephone interview last night that Blake said last week that he would resign if he thought his presence was damaging the football program. Baddour declined to say whether Blake's presence had become a problem.

"We determined that it would be in the best interests of the university and of the football program if we accepted that resignation," Baddour said.

Baddour also declined to say whether Blake's resignation was forced by school officials.

Baddour did say that Blake's resignation was the only personnel move on the football coaching staff expected.

Davis did not say in a prepared statement how the UNC staff will share Blake's coaching duties. Baddour said that Davis was thinking yesterday of what might be done to make up for the absence, with 11 games left in the regular season.

"He hasn't absolutely concluded that," Baddour said. "Obviously he's spending a lot of time on trying to sort that out. I know that he told me late this afternoon that he had some options that he wanted to consider, but to my knowledge he has not resolved it as of right now."

UNC school and athletics officials are hopeful that the two investigations can be completed before the next game in two weeks and that all remaining player-eligibility issues can be resolved.

Baddour said in Atlanta on Saturday night before the game that the school and the NCAA have finished a great amount of work in the investigations, but said that much work remains and that the investigations could continue for weeks.

UNC has this week off and won't play again until Sept. 18 in its home opener against Georgia Tech.

"We now have a much better handle on what the situation is in each individual case," Baddour said in Atlanta on Saturday. "So that means now we can start to move to find some solutions and remedies for those situations.

"We're now dealing with situations on an individual basis. So yes, we can have some time now to work on those, to gather information when we need to, and hopefully to get some of them resolved.

"That's not to say that they all can get resolved in that (two-week) time period. We are fortunate now that the next game is not (this) week, so we have already started that process."