North Carolina faces a stark new reality. Elite coaches may demand more than history can offer as NIL transforms the game.
North Carolina is in a sort of waiting period this spring to find its next head coach.
After parting ways with Hubert Davis last week, UNC appears to be operating at a snail’s pace to find a new leader before the start of the transfer portal on April 7.
Alabama head coach Nate Oats appears happy at Alabama. It remains to be seen if Florida head coach Todd Golden has any interest in the Tar Heels.
Michigan head coach Dusty May and Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd have been connected to the Tar Heels in recent days.
However, UNC would have to wait for both coaches because the Wolverines and Wildcats will be playing in the Final Four on Saturday.
On "The Field of 68" podcast over the weekend, a couple of college basketball minds had brutal reality checks for the Tar Heels. Former Wake Forest assistant coach Randolph Childress suggested the UNC job wasn't what it used to be.
"I think it’s just amazing to me that the Carolina job would fall that far," Childress said, via USA Today. "I would have never thought that many coaches would say no to North Carolina…you can’t tell me you’re not going to that program.
"I think it’s hard because that’s the first time they’re going to go outside the family.”
North Carolina used to pull pretty much any elite coach it wanted due to its storied history. UNC has won six national championships, but its last came in 2017.
The Field of 68 Co-Founder Rob Dauster thinks the Tar Heels have to get used to the idea that NIL runs the sport, not history.
“I don’t think that Carolina is used to the idea that being Carolina isn’t inherently better than being these other programs," Dauster said.
"I think Carolina is adjusting to the idea that…being a Blue Blood is not inherently going to make you a more appealing job, it makes it so that you have the money to make it more appealing."
North Carolina will have to provide its next head coach with a plan to get back to the top. Any elite coach would want a well-funded program before taking a high-stakes job like UNC.
That means North Carolina needs to be prepared to pay well beyond what another program is willing to offer to land a home-run hire.
Lofty expectations will come with a price tag at UNC.