An interesting development of late for the Chicago Bulls first-year head coach Billy Donovan, as he’s now been discussed to be a potential candidate in the coaching search for the North Carolina Tar Heels. The news dropped earlier this week that the legendary UNC head coach Roy Williams would be retiring after 33 years at the helm in Chapel Hill, NC.
The former Florida Gators and Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Donovan is in his first year at the helm in Chicago and seems to have a promising foundation built with this growing team. The Bulls are one of the more improved teams in the Eastern Conference this season, although they’ve struggled more of late.
Donovan and the Bulls currently sit in a six-game losing streak and have lost eight of their last nine games, following their April 2 road defeat at the hands of the Utah Jazz by a seven-point margin. The road ahead won’t get much easier for the Bulls too as they’re getting set to take on the surging Brooklyn Nets and superstar guard James Harden on the afternoon of April 4.
Connections between Chicago Bulls HC Billy Donovan and UNC
A piece from Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated on April 1 did mention Donovan as a potential head coaching candidate for the Tar Heels to replace Williams. Forde named Donovan in the tier of Tar Heels head coaching candidates along with the likes of Mark Few of the Gonzaga Bulldogs and Brad Stephens of the Boston Celtics.
He specifically cited UNC as the one job that “could bring Donovan back to the college game”, in recent years. There is also past reported “friction” between Williams and Donovan dating back to the days of the Bulls’ head coach’s time with the Gators.
Donovan was the Gators head coach from 1996-2015. In his college hoops head coaching run in total, he spent roughly two decades with the Gators and spent another two years with the Marshall Thunder Herd in the mid-1990s.
During his tenure with the Gators, Donovan registered a record of 467-186 (.715 winning percentage). He won two National Championships, made it to the Final Four a total of four times, and won eight regular season conference titles between his time with Florida and Marshall.
Donovan has led the Bulls to post a record of 19-28 following their April 2 loss to the Jazz. And Donovan’s head coaching record in total between five years with the Thunder and one with the Bulls sits at 262-185 (.586 winning percentage).