Back in July of 2025, the buzz about Bill Belichick permeated the annual ACC football media days in Charlotte.
Suffice it to say that there has never been such anticipation over ACC football that engulfed those four days in the Queen City.
With the addition of SMU, Cal and Stanford to the ACC, it was the largest preseason media event the conference had ever staged. There were now 17 football programs represented by coaches and administrators from each school plus representatives from all forms of media. But in every corner, at every table, at every booth, the questions were the same over and over.
“Is Bill coming?”
“Will Belichick show up?”
“Is his girlfriend coming?”
It was a football event, but there was also chatter about UNC men’s basketball. In the 2024-25 season, Carolina almost didn’t make it into the NCAA tournament — but at the last minute, were invited to the First Four. Many said UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham, who recused himself from discussions about the Tar Heels while sitting on the NCAA selection committee, still pulled some strings. But a few months later, in the hallways and breakout rooms of the Hilton Charlotte Uptown, there were some whispers about Hubert Davis’ bad season.
That’s the nature of ACC basketball.
And speaking of Bubba… there was also buzz about the man who accompanied him to the event. Steve Newmark, a Chapel Hill native, had been selected just a few weeks before to succeed Cunningham as UNC’s athletic director on July 1, 2026.
Newmark was a bit of a mystery man within broad Carolina circles. A William & Mary graduate. UVa Law School. Professional work in NASCAR, not in college sports. Except…he was on the search committee that had hired Bill Belichick. Everyone was curious about him and wanted to get close to him on radio row. Some media members even joked that Newmark would make a coaching decision his first day on the job — about a new basketball coach, in tongue-in-cheek fashion.
That was 10 months ago and now things are far more complicated. And serious.
Belichick’s debut college season was a disaster, with awful play on the field and tabloid-like headlines off of it. There was talk of buying Belichick out for $20 million — but he has remained to coach for a second season with an extremely hard schedule. To be successful, the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach will need to recruit better players, new quarterbacks, and several new skill players. That takes money through revenue-sharing, NIL deals and donors. And while the first season of Belichick might financially pay off, will the following ones? UNC’s massive investment into football is meant to help pay for its other sports, and better support for men’s basketball was cited last winter.
Back to Hubert Davis, who just had the best home court record (18-0) in UNC history but now finds himself in hot water after his second straight first-round loss in the NCAA tournament. In five years, his record has been 125-54. He was ACC Coach of the Year in 2024.
And what about beating Duke in Coach K’s final game in Cameron Indoor Stadium — and then beating the Devils again weeks later in the Final 4? To do that in his first season was remarkable. But those peaks were four years ago. A lot has changed since then, both on the Chapel Hill campus and across the world of college sports.
UNC head coach Hubert Davis celebrates during his men’s basketball team’s game vs. Duke in the 2022 Final Four. In the four season since then, Davis’ program has only made it through the first weekend of the NCAA tournament once. (Photo by Todd Melet/Chapel Hill Media Group.)
Hubert grew up in the “Carolina Family” as a player, head coach of the JV program, assistant coach of varsity team, and now well-liked head coach. Roy Williams wanted him as his successor, reportedly seeing a lot of himself in Hubert and believing he would grow into the job. That endorsement carried immense weight.
But as Andrew Carter — formerly the UNC sports beat writer for the News & Observer — said on social media Friday, “This era of college hoops is antithetical (I think) to everything [Hubert] believes, in terms of allegiance to a place and school.”
“It’s a different game now,” Carter added. “For a lot of reasons…HD’s most admirable qualities seem at odds with the game’s evolution. The pressure appears immense, based on his media interactions.”
What should UNC do? They could let Davis keep growing in the job and working to find new and better players. Or buy out his contract for $5 million and find another coach who will have to be paid more millions. That coach will also likely need to find new, better players and pay them who knows how many millions.
There are no guarantees.
Who is going to decide on Davis’ future, if the head coach himself would prefer to stay? Inside Carolina reports that the trio of Newmark, Cunningham and Chancellor Lee Roberts would likely lead a unified charge. But big donors can hold a lot of sway in decisions like a head coaching change. God forbid, let the Board of Trustees decide.
All the while, there is the civil war raging within the UNC fanbase over renovation vs relocation of the Dean Smith Center. Davis has said he would prefer to stay put within his mentor’s namesake arena. One would think if the topic would come up with other coaching candidates if Carolina decides to move on. Does a potential coaching change sway anyone’s decision around where the men’s basketball future home will be? Or does that influence who would be hired?
One thing is for sure: this basketball offseason looking like a three-ring circus for Carolina. And that’s no joke.
Featured photo by Todd Melet/Chapel Hill Media Group.
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
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