North Carolina was one of the biggest stories in the first round of the NCAA tournament when it squandered a 19-point lead to VCU on Thursday. Now, there’s a chance the Tar Heels will be searching for a new head coach this offseason, and could Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens be a strong candidate?
As of Saturday, North Carolina has not made any decision to part ways with its head coach, Hubert Davis. However, there is growing speculation that the Tar Heels might consider a change.
Stevens hasn’t coached at the college level since the 2012-13 season, when he spent six successful years at Butler, leading the Bulldogs to two national championship appearances. He then became the head coach of the Celtics. Despite this break from college coaching, he is still highly respected in the college basketball community, and here are two reasons Stevens should consider taking the Tar Heels’ head coaching job.
Get Back To Coaching
Stevens hasn’t been a head coach since the 2020-21 season, when he wrapped up his final year as Boston’s head coach before moving into his front-office role.
The 49-year-old coach may want to return to the sidelines, but that opportunity with the Celtics is unlikely to come around again. Since Stevens already coached one of the greatest NBA franchises of all time, he might be looking to lead one of the top college basketball programs in history.
North Carolina is at the pinnacle of college basketball, alongside Kentucky, Duke, UCLA, Kansas and Connecticut. Holding one of those prestigious coaching positions is often considered a mark of being an icon in the sport.
If Stevens could lead Butler to back-to-back national championship appearances while competing in the Horizon League, imagine what he could achieve by bringing the top players in the country to play for him at North Carolina and the resources it has.
Winning A Championship
Another reason Stevens might want to be the head coach at North Carolina is that it could give him the best opportunity to win a title in that role.
Stevens won a championship with the Celtics in the 2023-24 season, but he wasn’t in the head coaching role at that time. Despite all his successes with both Boston and Butler, there’s still a chance that not winning a title as head coach could be weighing on him.
It’s not guaranteed he’ll win a title at North Carolina. Still, his chances would increase dramatically, since the Tar Heels have claimed six championships, with three of those victories coming in the last 21 years: 2005, 2009 and 2017.
It would be difficult for Stevens to step away from his position with the Celtics, but North Carolina could offer him every opportunity he desires as head coach.
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