UNC’s Next Basketball Coach

There’s still some runway for Hubert to salvage the season and his job. I will say this though: if we keep trending in this direction and end up being a fringe tournament team that fires the staff in March, I guarantee that won’t be something that scares off prospective new coaches.

Frankly, any of the top guys that would be interested in the UNC job probably look at us and think they could do a lot more with the program than what the current staff is getting out of it at the moment.
 
finesse said:
I think, when push comes to shove, we might find coaches willing to be the first coach at UNC after the position leaving the family to be a bit more hesitant than you might think, especially with us being so quick to abandon Hubert. I know and understand the objections to Hubert although I'm nowhere close to being in full agreement. That doesn't mean that everyone will feel like he's been that terrible. Even those that do are likely to be just a bit gun shy about doing better when they are likely to start off more disadvantaged. Do you really imagine our fan base developing more patience or our program in more disarray?
Click to expand...
I understand the point but I also know the unlimited ego of really good coaches. I guarantee you Dusty May watches us and goes "they fucking suck and I would be undefeated there with their name". That's just how those dudes roll.
 
wmheel1287 said:
Also, considering Kentucky and Kansas are both likely looking, we need to do something quickly to make inroads and progress.
Click to expand...
I’m not sure what’s happening at KU. Self will be there as long as he wants, hopefully that’s a few more years.

And if Mark Pope keeps pulling wins out of his butt, he’ll get at least one more season.
 
wmheel1287 said:
Also, considering Kentucky and Kansas are both likely looking, we need to do something quickly to make inroads and progress.
Click to expand...
Maybe we can get Bill Self.

Fun fact: Bill Self and Mark Few were born on the exact same day: December 27, 1962. That means the last two NCAA championship games the Heels played in were against two different coaches born on the exact same day.
 
I am very anxious about the same (essentially) crew doing a search and hire of our basketball coach as did what they did in hiring our football coach. I don't want one scintilla of Roberts' input in the hire as well. I don't see any respect for Coach Smith or his principles among them -- just the opposite. I realize that sort of thing doesn't matter to a great many folk involved, even alumni, and there are people 'out there' that just want to win regardless of tradition, history, or a "way." I don't want a rat or a knight or a hurley type. I'd rather lose games than the heart and soul of a way of seeing that has meant the world to me. Coach Smith's book, A Coach's Life, is practically a Code for Living for me. If you have read it at least you know what I mean. If you haven't then you probably don't and likely don't agree.

All that is just my tiny 2 cents. I suspect that way of thinking will neither be heeded nor even figured in as we move forward. It may just be how things are going to be -- college basketball may very well have changed that dramatically.

By the way, @LeoBloom wrote earlier about innovation and technological upgrades -- state of the art -- I find that sort of thing in keeping with Coach Smith's way and am 100% behind that.

For the time being I'm going to rally around the well rather than throw someone down it.
 
donbosco said:
I am very anxious about the same (essentially) crew doing a search and hire of our basketball coach as did what they did in hiring our football coach. I don't want one scintilla of Roberts' input in the hire as well. I don't see any respect for Coach Smith or his principles among them -- just the opposite. I realize that sort of thing doesn't matter to a great many folk involved, even alumni, and there are people 'out there' that just want to win regardless of tradition, history, or a "way." I don't want a rat or a knight or a hurley type. I'd rather lose games than the heart and soul of a way of seeing that has meant the world to me. Coach Smith's book, A Coach's Life, is practically a Code for Living for me. If you have read it at least you know what I mean. If you haven't then you probably don't and likely don't agree.

All that is just my tiny 2 cents. I suspect that way of thinking will neither be heeded nor even figured in as we move forward. It may just be how things are going to be -- college basketball may very well have changed that dramatically.

By the way, @LeoBloom wrote earlier about innovation and technological upgrades -- state of the art -- I find that sort of thing in keeping with Coach Smith's way and am 100% behind that.

For the time being I'm going to rally around the well rather than throw someone down it.
Click to expand...
I too am wary about Roberts and some others controlling the search. It worries me.

I don’t think we have to be win at all costs. However, let’s also remember that Coach Smith wanted to win and won a lot.

It somewhat baffles me that the man who built our program was such an innovator and yet we appear to have lost that. Coach Smith obviously was an innovator when it came to social justice but he was also an innovator on the court. He used advanced metrics before there was really a term for it. He was always cutting edge.
 
LeoBloom said:
I too am wary about Roberts and some others controlling the search. It worries me.

I don’t think we have to be win at all costs. However, let’s also remember that Coach Smith wanted to win and won a lot.

It somewhat baffles me that the man who built our program was such an innovator and yet we appear to have lost that. Coach Smith obviously was an innovator when it came to social justice but he was also an innovator on the court. He used advanced metrics before there was really a term for it. He was always cutting edge.
Click to expand...


Was Coach Williams an innovator in any great respect? One could say that he called for even more speed/pace that Coach Smith did but that might just be me taking account of the years prior to the shot clock when more cerebral strategies were actually possible. The game for Coach Williams and even moreso today relies so utterly on the physical. I guess surrendering to the increased physicality is a form of innovation. Seems to me though that we backed away from innovation, flexibility, and diversity as soon as Coach Smith retired. Thankfully we kept most of the principles.
 
Turd Ferguson said:
I wonder which one has the best odds - getting a foot of snow in the Triangle, winning the lottery, or UNC winning a national championship with Hubert Davis.
Click to expand...
Hubert was less than a minute from a NT. When was the last time the Triangle got 11.5 inches of snow?
 
I think they should look for a coach who is versed in the new reality of the transfer portal and NIL. Old school guys aren't the ones.
 
donbosco said:
Was Coach Williams an innovator in any great respect? One could say that he called for even more speed/pace that Coach Smith did but that might just be me taking account of the years prior to the shot clock when more cerebral strategies were actually possible. The game for Coach Williams and even moreso today relies so utterly on the physical. I guess surrendering to the increased physicality is a form of innovation. Seems to me though that we backed away from innovation, flexibility, and diversity as soon as Coach Smith retired. Thankfully we kept most of the principles.
Click to expand...
I think Roy's innovations, as they were, was figuring how to use known strategies in new ways in order to create a successful scheme. He married the secondary break with high tempo along with dominating the interior on defense plus a focus on rebounding. None of those things were novel, but the way that Roy used them was.

I don't think that "cerebral strategies" were more "possible" during Coach Smith's tenure, as I think Roy's system asked a lot of his players from a BB IQ perspective, but I do think Dean entered CBB when the sport was much younger and there were a lot more opportunities to innovate. It's a lot easier to be innovative when the field is younger and when the "traditional practices" are much less established. It's also a lot easier to teach your players a wide diversity of styles and schemes when nearly all of them stay for 4 full years instead of your most talented players going to the NBA after 1-2 years.
 
Our system always emphasized getting the best shot possible, often by going up tempo, in order to get a layup or dunk. In essence, an inside - out offense since the best shot was always the closest to the basket.

I think we can all recognize that modern basketball does not function in the same fashion. An open 3 pt shot is now the goal for many schemes, and that is the "best shot possible".

While we certainly have embraced shooting 3s, and even now allow our bigs (Veesar, Jarin anyway) to shoot 3s. But i do not think our offense is designed for the 3 to really ever be our "best" shot.

Unfortunately, until we can either find a way to do that "in house" or go out and find someone who can our program will continue to flounder. That is the "innovation" that really seems to be the separating issue for Heels basketball since our last Natty.
 
donbosco said:
I am very anxious about the same (essentially) crew doing a search and hire of our basketball coach as did what they did in hiring our football coach. I don't want one scintilla of Roberts' input in the hire as well. I don't see any respect for Coach Smith or his principles among them -- just the opposite. I realize that sort of thing doesn't matter to a great many folk involved, even alumni, and there are people 'out there' that just want to win regardless of tradition, history, or a "way." I don't want a rat or a knight or a hurley type. I'd rather lose games than the heart and soul of a way of seeing that has meant the world to me. Coach Smith's book, A Coach's Life, is practically a Code for Living for me. If you have read it at least you know what I mean. If you haven't then you probably don't and likely don't agree.

All that is just my tiny 2 cents. I suspect that way of thinking will neither be heeded nor even figured in as we move forward. It may just be how things are going to be -- college basketball may very well have changed that dramatically.

By the way, @LeoBloom wrote earlier about innovation and technological upgrades -- state of the art -- I find that sort of thing in keeping with Coach Smith's way and am 100% behind that.

For the time being I'm going to rally around the well rather than throw someone down it.
Click to expand...
I don't think most Carolina fans want the Carolina Way to disappear altogether, I think most of us simply want it to adapt to the modern era. In a previous conversation, I summarized the Carolina Way as something like this...

- Success on the court
- Good sportsmanship
- Success in the classroom
- Professional development toward pro career
- Personal development toward creating good people
- High ethical actions by staff in building/maintaining the program
- Program is a positive influence on the community

I think most Carolina fans still want this, although there is a recognition that it will look significantly different than it did during Coach Smith's time in charge of the program. Of course, there are fans who only care about wins and championships, but those fans existed during Coach Smith's tenure, as well.

I would hope that when we hire our next coach that continuing these things is made a central part of the hiring process, along with an emphasis that the Carolina Family runs deep and that the next coach should have a plan to engage our basketball alums in a meaningful way.

I believe that a new - outside the family - hire can continue these things in an acceptable way while leading the program into the next era of college basketball. I think that the above ideas will look significantly different in the modern era than they did under Coach Smith and even a bit different than they did under Roy. However, i do think they're able to be continued even in the modern era.

I do understand your trepidation concerning the current leadership making the hire. That's where I hope that Roy and the Carolina Family can be ok with the idea that we are very likely at a point of going outside the family for the next coach and can be a force that can push the PTB toward hiring someone who will attempt to continue the Carolina Way and will continue to support the Carolina Family. If so, my hope is that we can continue to see the Carolina Way continue on for decades more in Chapel Hill.
 
donbosco said:
Was Coach Williams an innovator in any great respect? One could say that he called for even more speed/pace that Coach Smith did but that might just be me taking account of the years prior to the shot clock when more cerebral strategies were actually possible. The game for Coach Williams and even moreso today relies so utterly on the physical. I guess surrendering to the increased physicality is a form of innovation. Seems to me though that we backed away from innovation, flexibility, and diversity as soon as Coach Smith retired. Thankfully we kept most of the principles.
Click to expand...
Roy was not really an innovator. He did push tempo and had a refined, effective secondary break. It was not innovative, per se, but the way they tracked rebounding emphasized competition and led to great rebounding teams (most of that he got from Coach Smith, of course.)
 
LeoBloom said:
Roy was not really an innovator. He did push tempo and had a refined, effective secondary break. It was not innovative, per se, but the way they tracked rebounding emphasized competition and led to great rebounding teams (most of that he got from Coach Smith, of course.)
Click to expand...
Was it innovative to refuse to play zone defense ever? Maybe.
 
Not sure if this is the right thread for this but I'm going to give my opinion on the state of UNC basketball - I think our issues really started back during the Paper classes scandal - regardless of your opinion on if that was a legit investigation or not our recruiting never fully recovered - now Coach Williams was able to recruit well enough to still compete and even win a national championship - he would find players who weren't quite good enough to be one and done but players who could develop over 2-3 years to be really good players - occasionally we'd have a guy like Colby White who was so much better than expected that he was one and done - I also think we've been slow to adapt to changes in how basketball is played - say what you will about the NBA but it's basically a Three point contest every game and players coming up want to play that style and by the end of Roy Williams tenure his offense was considered antiquated - when Hubert Davis took over he even said he wanted to modernize the style we play but outside of 4 weeks his first season and one year he really hasn't been able to achieve that - finally our athletic department has a whole has struggled to adapt to the new NIL - whomever the Coach is next year we have to get better at that - sorry for the long rambling post
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top