UNC basketball coaching job not as attractive as people think, analyst says

· Yahoo Sports

Persistent murmurs suggest North Carolina’s head coaching job could soon open, whether the school decides to fire Hubert Davis or he chooses to step down.

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If that happens, North Carolina will have plenty of options as no other job opening will have as much prestige as the Tar Heels will. But are the Tar Heels as attractive as they think they are. ESPN college basketball analyst and former head coach Seth Greenberg doesn’t think so.

“I don't think it's as attractive a job as other people think.” Greenberg said on the ESPN Radio show “Unsportsmanlike.” “Do you think that Dan Hurley will leave to go to North Carolina? No. Do you think Nate Oats would leave to go to North Carolina? Maybe. Do you think Todd Golden’s gonna leave Florida to go to North Carolina? That’s more of a “less maybe,” but I’m not writing it off like I would Hurley.”

Greenberg thinks one of the biggest reasons the job isn’t as attractive is North Carolina’s “keep it in the family” attitude, which was a major factor in Davis being hired in the first place.

“I just think that if you have a program, you’re always going to be compared to “the firm.” That’s what I call North Carolina — the firm. Back in the day, it was the most buttoned‑down thing you’ve ever seen. They’re so tied into the Carolina family that it would be such a culture shock for someone to go in and say, “We’re changing everything.” But that’s what you have to do in a lot of ways.

“You’ve got to go in and change everything about the program and inject energy, enthusiasm, a mindset, a branding,” Greenberg continued. “You almost have to rebrand Carolina basketball into the current college athletics and college basketball landscape.”

Greenberg technically isn’t wrong here. The program hasn’t hired a coach with non-UNC ties since Frank McGuire in 1952. McGuire was highly successful and won UNC’s first national title in 1957. Four years later, Carolina promoted McGuire’s top assistant, Dean Smith, to take over the reins when McGuire left for the NBA.

Since that moment in time, every single UNC coach since 1961 has either played or was an assistant for the Tar Heels. And considering that North Carolina hasn’t had a real coaching search since the early 1950s is concerning.

Because there aren’t any viable candidates from the “family,” North Carolina will most likely have to hire a coach who has little to no ties to the program. Hiring a new coach is the best — and only — option, but real change will happen only if UNC is open to it.

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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: ESPN Analyst: UNC head coaching job not as attractive as people think

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