Since the postseason exit on Friday, rumors of Steve Kerr’s exit have been rampant. Veterans Stephen Curry and Draymond Green were also uncertain if the head coach would return. Amid this, the Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob has already zeroed in on the next target, with whom he shares a great rapport.

Yahoo Sports’ Kevin O’Connor said on his podcast that the Warriors will pursue Florida Gators’ head coach Todd Golden. “Golden is the coach that they’re targeting, and that’s in part because the Lacob family has a relationship with him. Golden was the head coach of the San Francisco Dons for 3 years before he went to Florida and won a national title there. They’ve been together. They’ve had lunches together.

Those guys know each other, and Golden is a very, very talented young head coach, so I think for the Warriors, Golden would be near the top of their list, if not at the top of the list.”

Accolades of the 2025 National Championship and 2026 SEC Coach of the Year do show his ability to coach effectively. Four seasons in, he’s a national championship coach, 2025-26 SEC Coach of the Year, and the fastest coach to reach 100 wins, doing so in 139 games. In fact, the demand for the 40-year-old remains high as the program’s athletic director, Scott Stricklin, has had to fend off interest in Golden from other programs, including North Carolina, which ultimately chose Mike Malone. For now, Golden remains under contract with the Gators as he is about to enter the second year of his six-year deal in the 2026-27 season. But it won’t be a hurdle for the Warriors.

He has an $11 million buyout for other college programs, and only a $2 million buyout for NBA teams through March 2028. If he chooses to jump to the NBA, it will be similar to former Florida coach Billy Donovan’s path, which led to the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2015. However, we have already seen great college basketball coaches reject NBA jobs before.

A few years ago, UConn’s Dan Hurley declined a six-year, $70 million deal to coach the Lakers as he wanted to focus on his dream to three-peat. Similarly, Golden can choose to focus on the Gators and make them better instead of choosing the uncertain NBA territory. He will have immense pressure on him to contend in Curry’s final seasons after the recent debacle of missing out on the playoffs twice in the last three years.

“The thing is, would Golden even want to leave the Gators? He has a great situation there in Florida. They’re 1 year removed from a national title, no guarantee he would want to be going to an uncertain situation with the Golden State Warriors. That said, though, that’s what I’m hearing for the Warriors as their main target at the college ranks when it comes to who that college coach is, it’s Todd Golden,” concluded O’Connor.

While Joe Lacob is trying to look out for the future, the doors for Steve Kerr to return are not completely shut.

Warriors veteran remains uncertain about Steve Kerr’s return

ESPN’s report from Ramona Shelbourne and Anthony Slate stated that Kerr has “placed a timeline of about one to two weeks, which is in alignment with management’s desired urgency.” It further stated that the Dub nation remains keen to have the head coach for a “multiyear deal, instead of setting up a last dance farewell tour that would feel more about emotion and nostalgia than wins.”

While reports state this stance, the mood inside the locker room is completely different. “I hope he’s our coach next year,” stated Draymond Green. “I also hope I’m on this team next year. We also don’t know that, which we’ll get into. But I don’t know, man. It felt like that was it.” After the exit, Stephen Curry even said that the viral huddle with Green and Steve Kerr was “definitely weird.”

As the veterans remain shocked, Pat Spencer credited the head coach for his growth and pleaded for his return. Now, it depends on the front office, which timeline they want to expedite. Bring in a new head coach with no NBA experience for the final years of Curry. Or depend on the foundation that Kerr had led despite the recent setbacks.