CHAPEL HILL — Interim football coach Everett Withers will not accompany University of North Carolina officials Friday in Indianapolis for the school's hearing before the NCAA's Committee on Infractions.

Withers had been scheduled to go to Indianapolis because NCAA rules state that the head coach of a team facing NCAA allegations must appear in front of the committee. But Withers was merely the Tar Heels' defensive coordinator during the time that the major violations cited by the NCAA allegedly occurred.

Butch Davis, who was the head coach, was fired in July. Team spokesman Kevin Best said that after conversations between the NCAA and UNC, it was determined that Withers did not need to appear.

That will allow Withers to focus on preparing for Saturday's 3:30 p.m. home game against Wake Forest.

"It's going to be a normal game week for me, because I'm not involved," Withers said of the NCAA hearing.

Best said chancellor Holden Thorp, departing athletic director Dick Baddour, university legal counsel Leslie Strohm and associate athletic director for compliance Amy Herman are scheduled to represent UNC at the hearing.

The hearing will be UNC's chance to make its case in front of the NCAA, which has charged the football program with nine major violations in a 16-month investigation of impermissible benefits and academic fraud.

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