The Hubert Davis reign has ended with North Carolina. Now, the historic college program faces an unprecedented choice. Do they go outside the ‘family’ and look to shock the culture? If they decide not to, Stephen A. Smith is advocating for his ESPN colleague Kenny Smith to take the helm. He’s a former UNC alumnus who Smith thinks could rejuvenate the program.

Particularly, he points to the program’s recruiting ability in comparison to its eternal rivals, Duke.

“There’s no way he has the top recruiting class in four of his five years at Duke if Kenny Smith is at North Carolina. Somebody coming to North Carolina. If Kenny is the head coach. Somebody coming. I’m telling you, they’ll go back and forth,” Stephen A. Smith said on First Take. 

Reputation matters. Kenny Smith is among the most popular broadcasters working for the most successful NBA show. Furthermore, he’s a celebrated UNC athlete. That pedigree could tempt top prospects to join North Carolina. But in Smith’s question, there’s also a huge decision to be made.

He’s currently working for Inside the NBA. No matter how you look at it, Smith can’t balance workload as a head coach while maintaining his position with the show. If he does get the job, Kenny Smith would have to either leave the show or only make sporadic appearances. Would he want to go down that road even though Inside the NBA carries a more certain future?

Smith hasn’t expressed a desire to coach. However, he’s the guy in the studio breaking down actions in an NBA game. He has the knowledge and, due to his professional success, the gravitas to attract the right talent.

Charles Barkley wouldn’t want to be a coach

Stephen A. Smith wasn’t the only person intrigued by Kenny Smith being the next UNC coach. Dan Patrick raised that question to Charles Barkley on his show recently. He came with supporting arguments. Smith’s son, Malloy Smith, committed to UNC during a segment on Inside the NBA.

Now there’s a connection that might draw the two-time NBA champion to a coaching gig. But Charles Barkley doubts he could handle it. “Kenny could even make it through the weekend, Dan. He got sick this weekend,” said Barkley.

However, that wasn’t his primary drawback to Kenny Smith coaching. The 76ers legend expanded on the changed environment in college basketball. Players actually have influence as they land generous NIL deals. Barkley doubts whether a coach could essentially do their job under such circumstances.

“In college, you got to pay all these guys every year. And if they don’t produce, you the one going to get to blame… You can’t even yell at them anymore. When you yell at somebody when they do something wrong, that’s called being a coach,” Barkley added.

There’s some truth to his statements. At a blue-blood college like UNC, results matter. At the same time, the dynamic between coaches and players has changed. Previously, Barkley and Smith didn’t make money playing college basketball. They chose the best program to grow their talents. The intention was to tap into the coach’s mind and evolve their games.

Nowadays, with money involved, those values can get compromised. Still, with the right set of players, a coach can still coach. This really just comes down to whether UNC sees Kenny Smith as a prospect and, subsequently, whether the analyst would want to coach.

The Jet might want to let his son have an exclusive college experience, for all we know. For now, North Carolina has promised to search for a candidate to bounce back from back-to-back first-round exits. If not from the family, which coach do you think could lead them to success? Let us know your views in the comments below.