Men’s Basketball Coaching Changes: How Different Hiring Methods Are Shaping 2026
This offseason in college basketball featured 51 job changes as the coaching carousel continued to spin. This article analyzes how three programs, the North Carolina Tar Heels, the LSU Tigers, and the Butler Bulldogs, used different hiring methods and faced unique challenges and opportunities during their coaching searches. These particular programs were chosen because each represents a distinct approach to hiring: North Carolina turned to an NBA coach making a rare move into the college ranks, LSU brought back a former coach with a controversial history, and Butler selected a former player to lead the program. By examining these notable hires, the aim is to illuminate the changing approaches and strategies behind college basketball coaching selections this offseason. Among those changing approaches and strategies could range anywhere from hiring an NBA coach to bringing back a former coach to even appointing a former player.
North Carolina Tar Heels
Transitioning to the first notable hire, North Carolina shocked the college basketball world with the announcement of Michael Malone as its new coach. Prior to this, Malone spent 25 years in the NBA as a head or assistant coach. He took the job after being fired by the Denver Nuggets the year before, the team he had coached to an NBA Championship in 2023. Malone hasn’t coached college ball since 2001, when he was an assistant at Manhattan, so this will be his first head coaching job at this level. This hire comes after the Tar Heels failed to land Michigan’s Dusty May, who elected to stay with his revitalized program after winning the National Championship, or Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd.
As the Tar Heels prepare for a new era under Malone, the hire comes after the firing of head coach Hubert Davis, who coached the past five seasons. His overall record as the Tar Heels' head coach concludes with 125 wins and 54 losses. Davis concludes his time with North Carolina with a 2022 National Championship appearance, a 2024 first seed, and an ACC Coach of the Year Award, also in 2024. The gap in 2023 comes from making history as the first preseason top seed to miss the tournament. Moving forward, Malone will look to avoid the fate of other NBA coaches who pivoted to college ball. Which means hiring coaching staff, preferably a current head coach who knows the system and can give him an accurate view of the college ball landscape. In addition, he will need a general manager who can navigate the realm of NIL, which is an entirely different beast from the NBA contract setting. While NBA contracts are negotiated through standardized collective bargaining agreements, in college, NIL revolves around individual athletes securing sponsorships, endorsements, and personal deals that are not managed by schools. This presents unique challenges for Malone, including ensuring compliance with NCAA rules, helping players leverage their brands responsibly, and maintaining team cohesion amid potential disparities in individual earnings. Managing these complexities requires close coordination with compliance officers and NIL specialists, a shift from the more centralized and regulated NBA environment. Malone needs a fresh start, which means he should look outside UNC to fill these positions and build from the ground up. As an NBA coach and a championship-winning one at that, his ability to manage high-level talent is unquestionable, but can he shift that mindset to one that promotes accountability and responsibility among young college players?
LSU Tigers
Turning to the SEC, the LSU Tigers will turn to former coach Will Wade after firing Matt McMahon after four seasons. This news comes after Wade spent four years away from the Tigers and reportedly signed a seven-year deal following McMahon’s departure. Before his firing and rehiring, Wade coached LSU for five years, leading them to three NCAA Tournament appearances and a program-first SEC title in a decade. He was suspended from their tournament appearance in 2019 and subsequently fired in 2022 following an NCAA probe that found he had been paying their players. Despite these past NCAA violations, LSU opted to bring Wade back because of his prior on-court success and the new era of college basketball that has made player compensation a standard part of the landscape, especially with the recent changes to NIL rules. The administration, which includes Heath Schroyer, who hired Wade when he was athletic director of McNeese and now senior administrator of LSU, sees Wade as someone who understands the realities of athlete recruitment in the current climate and believes his ability to quickly rebuild programs outweighs past transgressions, particularly given that the NCAA's approach to enforcement and athlete compensation has shifted in recent years. After LSU, he would coach at McNeese from 2023 to 2025, taking them to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2002, and then at NC State, a bubble team that lost to the Cinderella Texas Longhorns this past season.
McMahon was initially hired following his success at Murray State, but that same success never truly followed him to LSU as he went 60-70 during his four seasons. In three of those seasons, he finished at the bottom of the SEC. During all of McMahon’s seasons at LSU, they did not have a season with more than 17 wins. With the hiring of Wade, LSU looks to bring in a coach with a more successful track record, as he boasts a 266-119 overall record.
Butler Bulldogs
The Butler Bulldogs named former player Ronald Nored to succeed long-time coach Thad Matta. Matta announced his retirement after 20 seasons coaching Division I college basketball. His career record is 502-223 overall and bolsters 13 NCAA Tournament appearances. Matta has been one of the most consistent college coaches, leading Xavier to three consecutive tournament appearances and the Ohio State Buckeyes to nine tournament appearances over 13 seasons. He will remain on staff at Butler as athletic director and special assistant to the president.
Nored played under the past head coach of Butler and current President of Basketball Operations for the Celtics, Brad Stevens. He appeared in back-to-back championship games, one in 2010 and the other in 2011. With extensive experience as an assistant coach with the Hawks and, especially, in the NBA, he has built an impressive resume, including being the Butler career leader in postseason games played with 143. His most recent coaching role was as an assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks. Nored is widely recognized for his emphasis on defensive intensity and team-first principles, both as a player and as a coach. He favors an up-tempo style that pressures opponents and capitalizes on transition opportunities, drawing on the strategic flexibility he developed in the NBA in assistant coaching roles. As a player with a storied history within the program and a deep love, given his statement upon being hired, which says, "The term ‘dream job’ doesn’t do justice to how I feel about the opportunity to lead the Butler program," one can expect the Bulldogs to take some strides forward with Nored at the helm. His NBA experience may also influence the team’s future by encouraging positionless basketball and prioritizing player development, potentially making Butler more attractive to talented recruits looking to prepare for professional play. If Nored implements these modern strategies, Butler could see an increase in offensive pace and adaptability, as well as stronger connections in recruiting players with professional aspirations.
