North Carolina and men’s basketball coach Hubert Davis have parted ways after five seasons leading the tradition-rich program.

The school announced the decision Tuesday night, saying it had made “a leadership change” to end Davis’ tenure as successor to retired Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams. That run featured multiple high points, but also wild swings of results, an inconsistency that runs contrary to the Tar Heels’ status as a tradition-rich blueblood with a hallmark of sustained top-tier success.

In its announcement, the school said athletic director Bubba Cunningham and executive associate AD Steve Newmark — who will take over as Cunningham’s successor in July — made the recommendation ultimately accepted by chancellor Lee Roberts.

NFL prepares a backup plan

The NFL is preparing for the possibility of replacement officials in the 2026 season, proposing a rule change for one season that would allow the replay center in New York to correct any “clear and obvious” mistakes by on-field officials in case of a work stoppage.

The competition committee released its proposed rule changes for next season on Tuesday, including some small tweaks to the kickoff rule and allowing the replay center to eject players for flagrant acts on plays that were not penalized on the field.

The changes will be considered by the owners at next week’s league meetings in Arizona and would need to be approved by at least 24 of the 32 teams to be implemented.

The biggest proposal regards the contingency if there is a work stoppage with the officials and the league once again uses replacement officials as it did to start the 2012 season.

The current collective bargaining agreement with the NFL and the NFL Referees Association expires on May 31.

The NFL used replacement officials for the first three weeks of the 2012 season with several mistakes and bad calls being made.

The Associated Press