Former Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski has removed himself from consideration to be the next UNC basketball coach.
A five-time national champion over 42 seasons as head coach of the Blue Devils, Coach K was asked about the Tar Heels’ coaching search during The Pat McAfee Show on ESPN on Thursday, March 27. “Are you going to coach them?” McAfee asked in jest. “One, they would not want me to coach them,” Krzyzewski said with a smile and chuckle. “The second thing is: I’m through with coaching.”
No coach in Division I men’s basketball history has won more games than Coach K’s 1,202. He finished with a 50-48 record against UNC, but the Tar Heels won the final two games, including Krzyzewski’s final game as a head coach in the 2022 Final Four.
Coach K ‘sad’ UNC fired Hubert Davis, has ‘empathy’ for ‘good friend’
Mike Krzyzewski lost two of three games against Hubert Davis when the former Tar Heel assistant took the head coaching job in the 2021-22 season.
Asked by McAfee about UNC firing Davis after five seasons, Coach K said he was ‘sad’ to see the move and he has ‘empathy’ for Davis. Krzyzewski also mentioned that Bob Seigle, the late father of Leslie Davis (Hubert’s wife), was a teammate of his at West Point in the 1960s. “Hubert Davis is a good friend. … And so, I think Hubert’s one of the great guys. I’m sad that that happened. I think every coach in the country has empathy for him,” Krzyzewski said.
Coach K mentions Caleb Wilson injury in discussing Hubert Davis firing
Krzyzewski went on to mention the season-ending injury of UNC freshman Caleb Wilson, who missed the final nine games of the season after sustaining a right-thumb injury that required surgery. “Hubert Davis is a good friend and I think he’s a great guy..
It was sad seeing what happened and I have a lot of empathy for him..
North Carolina is one of the greatest programs of all time and that’s a big time position in sport”
The Tar Heels won five of their first six games without Wilson, but finished the season on a three-game losing streak for the first time in 56 years. UNC saw a 19-point lead evaporate in the second half of an overtime loss to VCU in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament. “You lose a player of the caliber of Caleb Wilson, he’s a top-five pick in the NBA draft,” Krzyzewski said. “You don’t have him the last few weeks of the season, that’s a big thing. That’s a huge thing.”
Coach K calls UNC basketball ‘one of the great programs of all-time’
UNC’s coaching search has centered around some of the biggest names in basketball, including Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd, Michigan’s Dusty May and Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan.
McAfee asked Coach K for his thoughts on the opening.
“Look, they can do what they want to do. I just have a lot of empathy for Hubert and a lot of respect for him,” Krzyzewski said. “It’s one of the great programs of all-time, in any sport. So, I’m sure they will get a coach that is worthy of that position. It’s one of the big-time positions in sport.”
