UNC trustees trust Butch, criticize NFL

At UNC-Chapel Hill, several trustees say the NFL should shoulder some of the blame for problems within university's football program.

In the News & Observer today, several trustees say that while the buck ultimately stops with Head Coach Butch Davis, the NFL should take a harder stance with agents who routinely tempt college athletes - at UNC and elsewhere - with money, jewelry and other enticements, hoping to get their business once they go pro.

Trustees and university administration - most notably Chancellor Holden Thorp and Dick Baddour, the athletics director - have backed Davis and said his job is not in jeopardy.

And they say they believe Davis, who claims he had no idea that assistant coach John Blake accepted what has been characterized as "gifts" from an agent.

Blake is no longer with UNC.