UNC coaching search: Best backup options, if Tar Heels swing and miss on top big name candidates

As North Carolina enters the second week of its search to find its next basketball coach, the focus for the Tar Heels has narrowed to Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd, Michigan’s Dusty May and Billy Donovan, who coaches the Chicago Bulls. Lloyd and May face off on Saturday in the Final Four with the winner advancing to the national championship game on Monday.

The financial impact of coaching hires is a substantial detail search committees must take into account and economics will undoubtedly come into play during the final stages of UNC’s pursuit for a new leader of its men’s basketball program.

The Tar Heels are going outside of the “Carolina family” for their next hire, hence why the initial reported list of top targets includes Lloyd, May and Donovan, a former two-time national champion at Florida. However, getting Lloyd to commit would take a sizable investment for UNC to the tune of an $11 million buyout, one of the most expensive within the program’s wish list of options, along with additional resources allocated to a long-term deal and staffing. 

It’s hard to envision one of college basketball’s top jobs turning to page 2 of possibilities, but if the Tar Heels fail to coax Lloyd, May or Donovan to Chapel Hill after the Final Four, there are other calls Carolina could make to coaches who could still win and do so quickly.

Some, however, would be more cost-effective than others.

Iowa’s Ben McCollum, Texas Tech’s Grant McCasland and Vanderbilt’s Mark Byington are three coaches who have been linked to UNC interest beyond the Lloyd-May-Donovan trifecta. 

Byington’s buyout with the Commodores is unknown, but he did agree to a contract extension on March 28 and TarHeels247 reported Saturday through industry sources that his buyout number is believed to hover around $10 million. That’s more than double what UNC would have to pay for McCollum by comparison, whose buyout at Iowa drops to $4 million after April 1.

Byington just wrapped up his second season at Vanderbilt, where he has gone 47-22 across two seasons. In 2025-26, Byington led the Commondores to a 27-9 record, which included an SEC Tournament win over Florida and a win over McNeese in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. 

Byington has been a head coach at three different schools. He spent seven seasons at Georgia Southern and led James Madison to a 32-4 record in his fourth season in Harrisonburg.  Byington had assistant coaching stops at College of Charleston, Virginia, and Virginia Tech before he began his head coaching career.

McCasland’s under contract with the Red Raiders through the 2029-30 season, and his buyout would be 40% of his remaining deal, to be paid within 60 days of his departure. Considering the money-printer Texas Tech has used for football after last season’s College Football Playoff berth, prying McCasland away from the basketball program might prove difficult for UNC.

A former junior college coach, McCasland coached at Division II Midwestern State, Arkansas State and North Texas before taking the Texas Tech job. He has led the Red Raiders to a 74-31 record across three seasons and has made an NCAA Tournament appearance each year. McCasland took Texas Tech to the Elite Eight in 2024-26

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McCollum, who led the Hawkeyes to a 24–13 record in his first season with the program, shot down the idea he would leave Iowa for another job prior to his team’s loss to Illinois in the Elite Eight. Maybe the Tar Heels revisit a conversation with McCollum in the coming days if they swing and miss on others.

“Those are … whatever those are … those are all lies,” McCollum said. “The only person that would ever know would be — well, three people, would be my athletic director, my wife and … that’s about it, I guess. Two people.” 

Long-shot candidates for Tar Heels

Iowa State’s T.J. Otzelberger has a buyout structure similar to McCollum with the Cyclones and was reportedly near the top of UNC’s initial wishlist after the firing of Hubert Davis, but has since removed himself from consideration, according to Jeff Goodman. 

Another long-shot option is Alabama’s Nate Oats, whom the Crimson Tide have seemingly locked down with an $18 million buyout. That number decreases to $10 million after April 1, which is around the same figure the Tar Heels would be paying in full for an A-lister like Lloyd. Oats hasn’t reached his ceiling at Alabama, but has played second fiddle to football despite five trips to the Sweet 16 and a Final Four appearance (2023-24).

At UNC, Oats would have the athletic department’s full focus on basketball first and Bill Belichick’s football program second. That’s never going to happen in Tuscaloosa, not at a football mecca. Oats holds a .700 winning percentage with the Crimson Tide and said during the NCAA Tournament he’s in active talks with his administration about an extension.

“While it’s flattering that a high school guy that caught a couple breaks would be mentioned with some of these jobs, because they’ve got a lot of tradition, I’m not a guy that’s looking to get out of here anytime soon,” Oats said. “I love it here, and my girls love it here. I love working with the people at Alabama. Yeah, names are going to get mentioned. I’m probably one of 10 or 12. Like whatever. It is what it is. That’s the business. I haven’t talked to anybody, nor do I plan on talking to anybody.”