Will Kenny Smith be the next head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels?
Hubert Davis was fired just days after No. 6 seed North Carolina blew a 19-point lead in a loss to No. 11 seed VCU in the opening round of this year's NCAA Tournament. He finished his time at UNC with a 125-54 record and an appearance in the national championship game.
During this Wednesday's edition of "First Take," ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith suggested that North Carolina should hire "The Jet" as its next head coach. Kenny Smith was an was an All-ACC player for the Tar Heels and even had his No. 30 honored by the university.
“Knowing North Carolina, they’re looking internally first. … I believe that Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith is that dude,” Smith said. “You don’t even think about hiring another coach, you hire Kenny Smith. I believe he can recruit.”
On Thursday night, CBS host Nate Burleson asked Smith about being linked to his alma mater's job opening. His response was telling.
"Yeah, we can talk about North Carolina," Smith said. "But [being linked to] that vacancy – I thought that was honestly disrespectful."
Suffice to say, Smith won't be coaching the Tar Heels next season.
Who should North Carolina hire?
According to Smith, the Tar Heels should target a coach who wants to spend the rest of their career in Chapel Hill.
"Dean Smith retired as a Tar Heel. Roy Williams retired as a Tar Heel. Hubert Davis was going to retire a Tar Heel," Smith said, via On3. "Whoever we come in, they have to want to retire a Tar Heel. I don’t care what that means. You don’t want to look for, ‘Oh, [what] J.J. Redick has done in LA. I want to be a Laker.’ You retire a Tar Heel, the next person."
Billy Donovan, Todd Golden, Nate Oats and T.J. Otzelberger are just a few of the names being thrown out there for North Carolina.
We have no doubt that North Carolina will be aggressive in its pursuit of a new leader.
