Fans Stunned as Michael Malone Reportedly Named UNC HC and Post Bill Belichick, Bad Bunny Memes

After firing head coach Hubert Davis following a 24-9 finish to the 2025-26 season, UNC landed a surprising name to replace him.

According to ESPN's Pete Thamel, the Tar Heels plan to hire Michael Malone as their next head coach. The NBA veteran coached the Sacramento Kings and Denver Nuggets, winning an NBA championship with the latter in 2023.

Fans on social media were shocked that UNC tabbed Malone to replace Davis as the team's head coach and brought up the football team's disappointing first year under head coach Bill Belichick:

Malone is the winningest coach in Nuggets history with a 471-327 career record. Including his two years with the Sacramento Kings, his overall record stands at 510-394.

After being fired by Denver, Malone spent the last year working as a studio analyst for ESPN. Thamel explained how his hiring at UNC came together, revealing that he received endorsements from some of the university's most prominent basketball figures.

"It came together fairly quickly," Thamel said during an appearance on SportsCenter (h/t Nick Kosko of On3.com). "There was some initial interest in (Michael) Malone when the search started. Carolina elected to look elsewhere for a little bit. They circled back to him in the last few days, and Malone accepted the job in the past few hours. Michael Malone is one of the best coaches of basketball in the world. He's obviously been an analyst for us (at ESPN), recently won an NBA championship with the Denver Nuggets. His respect as a tactician, I think, is really important here. Michael Jordan, Roy Williams, the Carolina brass that the gold standard of Carolina really endorsed Michael Malone as the school's next head coach."

It will be interesting to see how Malone adjusts to going from the pro game to the college level, as Belichick had a hard time finding success amid his 4-8 finish in his first year as UNC head coach. Still, it appears that Malone is ready for the challenge as he takes over the Tar Heels.