North Carolina Urged to Pursue NBA Head Coach to Replace Hubert Davis

The North Carolina Tar Heels and head coach Hubert Davis saw their 2025-26 season come to an end in depressing fashion.

Despite holding an 18-point lead with 12:27 remaining in the game, the Tar Heels watched VCU come storming back. As has become something fans are now used to, North Carolina blew the lead and was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament by a final score of 82-78 in overtime.

Since the loss, the calls for the Tar Heels to fire Davis as head coach have grown deafening. Fans are clearly done with the current direction of the program.

Davis took over as the head coach of North Carolina back in the 2021-22 season. He has compiled a career record of 125-54 in the regular season with the Tar Heels.

While the regular season success is nice, it has been awhile since North Carolina was viewed as a legitimate National Championship contender. In each of the last two years, the Tar Heels have been eliminated in the Round of 64.

Keeping that in mind, if North Carolina did decide to fire Davis, who could the program target to replace him? A current NBA head coach has been suggested as a possible fit.

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North Carolina Tar Heels Urged to Replace Hubert Davis With NBA Coach

Sporting News analyst Bill Bender has named Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan as a possible option. Before becoming the head coach in the NBA, Donovan led the Florida Gators to a lot of success at the college level.

Bender made the case for the Tar Heels to target the two-time National Championship winning head coach.

“Donovan, 60, is the oldest candidate on this list. He’s also the only one with two national championships,” Bender wrote.

“He won two national championships at Florida. He has been a NBA coach with Oklahoma City and Chicago – but the Bulls are close to missing the playoffs for the fifth straight season. Donovan could return to the college game – and maybe he should – and UNC would be a good landing spot.”

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Would Billy Donovan Consider Leaving the Chicago Bulls for UNC?

Honestly, there is very little arguing to be done about the fit itself. Donovan would be an excellent replacement option if North Carolina did move on from Davis.

However, leaving an NBA head coaching job would be a difficult decision.

First and foremost, the Tar Heels would need to pay up in order to get him. Donovan would not leave his current position cheap. If North Carolina is willing to offer him big money, Donovan could consider the option.

At this point in time, the Bulls are stuck in the middle of no man’s land. They have some talent on the roster, but they don’t appear close to being NBA Finals contenders.

If the Tar Heels came calling, it would be reasonable to think that Donovan would consider the option. He might not choose to leave, but he would be well worth a conversation.

Evan Massey Evan Massey is a sports reporter and analyst located in Indianapolis, Indiana who covers the NFL, NBA, MLB, WNBA, and college sports. He has been featured on many publications, including Newsweek, Athlon Sports, ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, Forbes, Bleacher Report, Sporting News, and many others. In his free time, Evan enjoys spending time with his wife and son. More about Evan Massey