North Carolina coach Hubert Davis is planning changes to the staffing of the blue-blood men’s basketball program, including hiring a general manager to navigate the era of players being able to profit from their athletic fame.
The fourth-year coach talked about plans to add more support staff during his radio show Monday night. It comes at a time when the Tar Heels are at risk of missing the NCAA tournament for the second time in three years.
“The old model for Carolina basketball just doesn’t work,” Davis said, referring to past infrastructures that leaned largely on coaches. “It’s not sustainable. It has to build out because there’s so many things in play with NIL, the transfer portal, agents, international players.”
Davis’ tenure began in 2021 amid a new landscape that includes freer player movement through the transfer portal and players being able to make endorsements through use of their name, image and likeness.
Schools have responded by expanding staff in both football and basketball while taking on the look of mini-professional front offices with pro-sounding titles such as “player personnel” or scouting — including at UNC with the hiring of new football coach Bill Belichick and former NFL executive Michael Lombardi as GM.
The specific tasks can vary by program, though there’s been a common thread: The job of running a major college sports program in today’s changing era is more than a coaching staff can handle.
Several programs have hired a GM, including Jon Scheyer at rival Duke. Former Nike and NBA staffer Rachel Baker was one of his first hires after he took over in 2022 for retired Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski. Davis had opted not to hire a GM when he took over for another retiring Hall of Famer Roy Williams.
The past few years have him ready to change course.
“I am going to increase the staff, and it’s needed,” Davis said. “I never would’ve thought in the four years that I took the job that I’m 100% [on] what is needed is a general manager.
“There’s just so much stuff out there. I’ve mentioned: owner, GM, fundraiser, basketball coach. It’s so much on the plate that will take you away from doing what the most important thing is, coaching basketball. So yes, we’re going to hire a GM. We need a director of marketing and fundraising for NIL, for program needs. There needs to be video coordinator with graphics and recruiting coordinator, all those different types of stuff that have to be built out, whether it’s from specific hires or grad students.”
Changes could help stabilize what has been wild swings in Davis’ four seasons. His first team gained momentum at the end of the season in a stunning run to the NCAA championship game, only to follow that by becoming the first No. 1-ranked team in the preseason AP Top 25 poll to miss the NCAA tournament.
Last year, UNC won the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season race and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. But the Tar Heels (13-10, 6-5 ACC) are again flirting with being on the wrong side of the bubble having lost four of five entering Saturday’s visit from Pittsburgh.
