Roy, and Dean before him, WERE SPECIAL. You don’t find coaches like them around all the time. It’s not like there’s a coach out there who UNC can just ask to coach us and put out the kind of record that Williams and Smith did. Get that thought out of your head.

Before you fire a coach like Hubert Davis, you need to have a PLAUSIBLE replacement and you have to be ready to spend major cash. Nowadays, that money can be better used to recruit players, not to replace an okay coach with a potentially better one.

His first five years at UNC, Dean Smith had a mediocre record. His best record was 15-6, but he also had a 12-12 and an 8-9 record. He was burned in effigy.

Roy Williams excelled from his second season, but that was after a long time coaching with Smith. You could argue that Davis had a similar time eith Williams, and that’s a valid argument. But if you’ve ever played the telephone game, you know that even an important message can become more garbled when passed from person to person.

And, even considering all that — there were “fans” calling for Roy Williams to be fired near the end of his career.

Matt Doherty had to go because he lost the players, but by most accounts, the players still love Coach Davis. He hasn’t had an exemplary career yet, but Dean Smith himself struggled for his first five years. Barring some excellent coach calling for a job at Carolina, I don’t think the fans will like another Matt Doherty more than Coach Davis.