Billy Donovan Steps Down as Bulls HC After 'Extensive Meetings' With Team

The Chicago Bulls will reportedly be heading in a new direction at head coach.

Billy Donovan's departure was officially announced by the team on Tuesday, with statements from Donovan, Bulls governor Jerry Reinsdorf and CEO Michael Reinsdorf.

According to ESPN's Shams Charania, Donovan decided to step down after "extensive meetings" with Bulls officials since the end of the regular season.

Donovan has served as Chicago's head coach since 2020.

While the Bulls are coming off a 31-51 finish in 2025-26, their decision still comes as a surprise.

ESPN's Jamal Collier previously reported that Chicago was expected to try and retain Donovan after its 2025-26 campaign. Charania noted the Bulls made it "clear" they wanted to retain the veteran coach, but Donovan opted to go in a different direction as the organization undergoes a reset.

Michael Reinsdorf also publicly supported Donovan when discussing the search for a new front office regime.

"If I interview someone and they're not sold on Billy and they're not sold on a Hall of Fame coach, they're not sold on a person who has won championships in college, who has gone deep in the playoffs with Oklahoma City, who I believe every year with the Chicago Bulls given the team he was given I think he achieved really good results," Reinsdorf said April 7, per Andrew Seligman of the Associated Press. "Not the results that we wanted, but that's not because of Billy. If someone's not interested in Billy as our coach ... then they're probably not the right candidate for us."

The Bulls went 226-256 throughout Donovan's tenure with the team, making the playoffs in 2022. They've also compiled three play-in tournament appearances over that span.

This season was Chicago's worst single-season record with Donovan at the helm.

The Bulls sold at the trade deadline, parting ways with key contributors including Coby White, Nikola Vučević and Ayo Dosunmu.

The team didn't wait for the regular season to come to a close before making significant staff changes, firing executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley on April 6.

While Donovan signed a multiyear contract extension with Chicago in July 2025, he also won't be back next season.

Donovan's 482 games make him the third-longest tenured head coach in Bulls history. Only Phil Jackson (738) and Dick Motta (656) coached more games with the team.