While Stephen A. Smith doubled-down on his take for UNC to hire Kenny "The Jet" Smith as the program's next head coach, we all waited to hear what the former Tar Heel had to say on the matter.
Smith finally spoke about all the noise during CBS Sports' halftime coverage during the Purdue vs. Texas Sweet 16 matchup, but after hearing what he had to say, most Tar Heel fans would've rathered he had not said anything at all.
Smith feels disrespected by the rumors
With the UNC job open, @TheJetOnTNT has one big requirement for whoever is hired: he wants them to want to retire as a Tar Heel. pic.twitter.com/aylVm86Vk5
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 27, 2026
From the sound of it, Smith feels disrespected that his name even came up in discussion regarding the head coaching search.
During his grandstand, Smith made sure to thank Hubert Davis for his five seasons with the program and went on to discuss how Carolina is different because of the "keeping it in the family" mindset. He cited all the coaches, talking about how they each had connections to different eras of Carolina basketball.
“First of all, Coach Hubert Davis, thank you,” Smith said. “Your service and what you did for North Carolina as a player and as a coach - you moved it forward. And I think people forget that because of one game here or there.
I also think this is a precarious position for North Carolina and us as Tar Heels because what makes us special - okay, when you fire one person, that’s Hubert Davis, but you have coach (Brad) Frederick, Sean May, Jeff Lebo, Marcus Paige, Pat Sullivan - what that is, is you have a lineage to every era of basketball that’s Carolina that was on that staff including Hubert Davis."
He went on to talk about the personnel, from equipment managers to secretaries, noting how a head coach from "outside the family" might want to bring in their own people for those roles.
Smith wasn't done, noting how Dean Smith and Roy Williams retired as Tar Heels while Davis had full intention of doing the same. He strongly indicated that the next head coach at North Carolina must retire as a Tar Heel as well.
“Every era was connected, so that’s what makes us special. Forget all that blue blood (talk) - what makes the Carolina family is the connection of all of those eras in one building at one time, and that makes everyone pay attention and have some animosity or some love for us. The other part of that is secretaries. They’ve been there for 10 years. The equipment managers, the strength and conditioning person - decades. So, when a new person comes in, if we hire someone from outside of the family and this new person comes in, they might say, ‘oh this guy was my guy, I want to bring him in as well.’ I will say this, Dean Smith retired as a Tar Heel. Roy Williams retired as a Tar Heel. Hubert Davis was going to retire a Tar Heel. Whoever we bring in, they have to want to retire a Tar Heel.”
For clarity
We talk about the "in the family" belief, but do we all forget that Dean Smith himself graduated from Kansas?
This theory is a thing of the past, and unfortunately, it's time for the program to keep up with the times and hire the right person of the job, regardless of prior ties to the University of North Carolina. While we all would've loved to have had Hubert Davis retire a Tar Heel after a long, successful head coaching career, it didn't pan out that way, as North Carolina made a decision to part ways with him due to the inconsistencies the program has had during his five seasons at the helm.
Smith, along with other alumni, need to get on board with the new era of college athletics, embracing whoever is hired to be the next head coach of the program. Help make that individual part of the family!