Well, one. I appreciate everybody being on. I appreciate, uh, those of you that we're on to cover Coach Williams, um, press conference, which I thought was so typically Coach Williams. Um, and the place means so much to him. He has meant so much to this place, and it gave him a great opportunity to reflect on his time. Here is our head coach. It gave him the opportunity to to thank some people. It, um you know, it's and it was a tough, really tough call for him to make that choice that he was going to step away. And I have tremendous respect for him because, as you heard on the call, you know, he's he's a great coach and that's all he's ever done. But he didn't feel like he was connecting and getting out of the players, everything that they had in them. And because of that, he decided that it would be better to let somebody else do it. And I was really glad that he was able to express that to you guys, and I appreciate it, and I know that Kirsch really didn't want to limit questions, but I just didn't think it was right for coach to be there. I wanted to be there, and I thought even as kids were going to be there, that would be answering questions about Okay, what's next? And, uh so I'm glad it went that way. So thank you for keeping everything focused on coach. And so so now I mean, I can open up the questions and I give you some my initial thoughts on on where we're headed and when I do that first. Right now, um, you know, I believe we've got the best job in college basketball, and, um, this job doesn't come open very often, and we need to spend a great deal of time thinking about who is the right person right now. And I do think that, you know, the often used word is fit. I think that is part of it. And I think time and circumstance is all part of that as well. Um, the history and tradition here is winning. The, uh we've had it in the family for a long period of time, and that is important. But it's not the only factor in trying to make a decision like this. And so At this point, we are not going to have a search committee. It's gonna be myself and the chancellor, uh, doing all the work and the research and attempting to identify candidates that we think makes sense for the university at this point. And then we'll make recommendations to our board of trustees. Um, that doesn't mean we're not going to have all kinds of help from outside. Um, there's a number of people number of Carolina people that are in the basketball business. I have tremendous respect for them. I've certainly talked to many of them already. Um, so understanding the basketball landscape in General Carolina specifically, and relying on those folks, many of which played here, Um, that's who I will be relying on for information and insight. And then ultimately, the chancellor now will make that recommendation to the board. So why don't I stop there and curse? We can go to specific questions? Yep. First question. Erin Beard, then seal brown. Go ahead. Aaron. Hey, Bubba. Thanks for doing this. Um, I was curious to me. I guess it's never a specific timeframe. You can never necessarily put on it, but do you have any type of time frame or timeline, you hope to have something in place. And also, how does it work? In terms of Roy? Williams has been around college basketball a long time. He knows coaches and so forth. Do you anticipate him having input in the decision? Sure. So two questions. One. I want to go as quickly as I can. Um, you know, we didn't let much time elapse between Larry and Mack Brown. Um, we won't let much time elapse here because, you know, people in the portal people are transferring. It's very important, but it's more important to get it right and to be comfortable with the decision that we make than expediency. But we will go very quickly and and trying to get something done. I'd hate to give you a date and not hit it, but it will be soon. Yeah, Okay. I'm sorry, Bobby. Go ahead. Well, Erin, what was the second half of it? Just you've gotta go. You've got a coach and Roy Williams that knows the industry and so forth. Would he have input in the decision? Absolutely. And he shared his opinion with me a lot, and he shared it with the chancellor. So in discussing, you know, his future and not coaching, we say Okay, well, what's next? Obviously all the things that you said, he's got enormous experience. He knows everybody in the profession. And so he gave us his thoughts. We continue to have an exchange, and I'll continue to to ask for his help along the way. He's, uh, one of the many. Carolina alone is that in the business and understands the importance of this job, so certainly will use him. Thank you. See, Elvin Andrew Jones. Uh, how important do you feel head coaching? Prior head coaching experience will be in this decision. Is this thing where, uh, that is a requirement of prerequisite for it, or is there some leeway to, uh, maybe take a chance to think outside the box? Um, it is important. I've always said that my preference is I'd like to hire people have done it before head coaches, but it's not a requirement. Um, there's a lot of different attributes that people bring to the table that need to be considered for it. And, you know, if there was a perfect person out there, you know, I'd like to find them. But there's going to be pros and cons of every every person out there whether they have a Carolina connection or not, have been a head coach or not, UM, where they play in the NBA or not, where their coach in the NBA or not, there's, You know, there's there's a lot of different qualifications for a job. And as I mentioned, you know, it's the time. It's the circumstance. It's the right person at the right time, right? Roy talked about being the right man for the job, and I do think there are periods of time where certain attributes are going to outweigh another. But we'll consider all of them Andrew Jones and Brendan. Hey, Bob Roy mentioned today that on Sunday you tried talking him out of it. So you've known about this for several days? Have you already begun the process of reaching out to some people, or were you waiting until after the announcement became public? And if so, how many people have you contacted? Great question. Um, no. And I, you know, typically, I would like to reach out, reach people, but, you know, Roy wanted to wait until the team first tell his staff and hold the press conference. So I didn't think it was appropriate to tell anybody. And I didn't tell my wife until yesterday, and I, you know she's not home. But I flew home from Indianapolis yesterday. In fact, I called my assistant and said, I need a flight home on Wednesday, but I can't tell you why. And and so no, I kept in strict confidence and I started getting receiving phone calls and making phone calls today. Brendan and Taylor. Hey, Bob, Thanks for taking the time to do this. Sort of an additional link on to that last question. But coaches and and sometimes athletic directors talk about having a so on so list of potential names, you know, just in case something ever happened with somebody. Just wondering, Um, did you have that list? Is that something that you and Coach Williams before he expressed his recommendation? Is that something that you had, um, previously thought about her had started working on at any point? You know, I'm not one that keeps a written list, but it looks like you guys I mean, you know, it's a very public business. We all know who the best coaches are in college basketball. We know the best coaches in the NBA. I mean, you know, if I could pull Genie out of a bottle and say, Hey, look at this. You know, John Wooden's come back to life and he's gonna be our head coach. I mean, it's a pretty, pretty narrow set of people When you say you've got the, you know, the best job in college sports. You know, you guys, you know who everyone would have in mind. I'm not gonna try to trick anybody and say, There's this sleeper out there. I mean, that's the reality of the business that we're in. Um and so of course I paid attention. You know, I actually paid attention a lot more, probably when I was at Tulsa in Ball State, because we turned over coaches all the time. Coaches don't turn over at Carolina, so you get plenty of time to think about it. You got a lot of time to think and less time to act, so I'd better start acting pretty quickly here. Taylor, then Greg Barnes. Hey Bubba, with how important the Carolina basketball family is to the program How is this coaching staff? I mean, how is this coaching search going to be different than potentially anything you've ever been a part of? Well, as I said, I mean, this is the most iconic basketball program in the country, and I'm involved in making the decision on who's gonna be the next head coach. And the history and tradition and legacy is really important. Winning is important, and we're facing a different environment moving forward between some of the things that were mentioned today, with the transfer portal being wide open, over 1200 people in it right now. Name him. And you like this coming down the path. Um, it's going to be a very different environment in coaching, recruiting and retaining students to plan the team. And, um and and quite frankly, college basketball is better when North Carolina is good and we need to be good and we're committed to being good, and we have to find the right leader that can maintain the standards that we've become accustomed to. Greg Barns and Jeff Goodman. Hey, Bubba, along those lines, uh, you've got a lot of fans who want somebody strictly from the Carolina family and I know there's also the the case to be made for. For people who appreciate the Carolina program and what it stands for without having direct ties, Do you? Do you have a requirement in terms of what you're looking for, with their their knowledge and understanding of of what Carolina basketball is? No, I don't, um you know, it's the same way with head coaching experience, Carolina experience. You know, I want to get the best coach for us right now, and, you know, if 1 may be a benefit for somebody and it might be a strike against somebody else, But you know, again, it's really trying to find who is the right leader for this program right now with our student athletes that we have on campus and the kids that were trying to recruit. And we, you know, we're going to pursue championships and who's the best person to lead us in that direction? Jeff Goodman and David Thiel Bubba. First of all, I appreciate you doing this. This is a pretty rare territory for for an athletic director to do so honestly appreciate the candor. Um, as far as the Carolina family do you think in the game may not be able to answer this. Do you think you will that all the Carolina people first and then move outside the family? I mean, obviously, we know the Carolina family is so important to all the Carolina players. Is that kind of the first step? And then you move on to some of the other big name guys that that you might go after a great question and I But I don't think I have an order. Jeff, you know, I you know I haven't You know, I I've been in college athletics for a long time, you know. Haven't been directly involved, certainly in hiring a basketball coach of this profile. But I do have a lot of good relationships. I don't haven't an order, but I do want to touch base with as many former Carolina players as possible. I started that this morning and reaching out to former players and getting their thoughts and ideas, and, um and that's been really helpful. Um, you know, again, I've been here almost 10 years and I feel like I really understand Carolina, but I I don't I don't have that deep thing that that Roy has, and I and I haven't been here my entire career, and so I really want to hear from them and get their thoughts because they have built this program. Those players and those students have built this program to what it is along with the coaches, and I value that, and I want to do right by them. But I also think that I don't want to be myopic. I don't want to be myopic on as I said, the head coaching thing. I don't want to be myopic on the Carolina experience because they both bring great value in different ways. David Till then Ross Martin, Bubba Roy mentioned during his press. Or what a unique time this is. Obviously, given Carolina's brand, this is a unique search. But in this pandemic, is it your preference to meet with candidates in person? Or would you anticipate trying to do this Virtually which great question as well, um, you know, And you know, a year ago I never possibly would have considered doing it virtually, but the whole everyone's life has changed in a year. Um, I was my first preference would be to meet in person um, many of the people that, uh, I I already know. So there's a little bit of a more of a familiarity to say, Okay, I could probably do it by Zoom because we know each other. Um, but there's nothing better than face to face in my mind, so I haven't really decided yet. David. Which way we're going to go with that. Certainly. Start out with phone calls in zoom. If we feel like we've got to be in person, that would probably be the next step at that time for about three or four more questions. Ross Martin, then Josh Graham. Hey, Bubba, um, when you're they're looking for this, this this next coach and looking at qualities for that coach, What qualities are very important to you in particular for this coach? And especially considering the kind of changing landscape of college baseball right now with all the different aspects to the job? Well, the number one thing for me is integrity. I mean, you know, college athletics, basketball is has really been a lightning rod for a lot of different issues. And, you know, your your reputation gets so damaged so quickly and we have to have somebody that has impeccable integrity, somebody that really values the student experience, the educational experience of what we do. We've got great debate on that as well, whether it's, you know, paper, play, name, name, image and likeness. The transfer portal. You know, I'm totally committed to education, committed to the educational experience, and I know that a lot of people laugh at that. But I I firmly believe that I firmly believe in the broad based programming and to me, all of that ties together. And, you know, we started the complete Carolina program. Yeah, we want one and done players, but we, you know, we don't want a whole roster of them. We want kids to go 234 years. We want to be able to have the one and done guys come back and finish their degrees. And so I am completely ingrained in in higher education, and I want somebody that shares that same vision, that that's what it's about. The rules are going to change the eligibility standards going to change. The use of agents are going to change, but we want kids that are going to want to come to college begin their athletic and academic career and depending on which way it goes for them. We want them to have a great end result, which is a great life, whether it's a professional player finishing later or finishing all four years and getting a degree. So that's what I'm looking for, somebody that's committed to an educational experience for our kids. Josh. Then Davis Wallace. I wanted to ask you about two quick things. You keep mentioning Carolina luminaries that might be a part of the search. Any names you can bring up specifically. And secondly, I wanted. And I want more details about the search it or meeting with Roy back on Sunday itself because he said during the press conference a few times today that he just felt he wasn't enough. And I think it's exactly what was. I just wasn't getting it done. Did you agree with that assessment, or can you tell me a little bit about that conversation? Um, sure. Um so the luminaries I would like to contact every every player that ever played, I won't be able to do that, but the ones that you all know I have reached out to many of them already, and I will continue to reach out to all of them. I mean, I want to talk about multigenerational players I want to talk to and have talked to some of these names. I don't you know. So whether it's Marcus Paige, Luke May, Cam Johnson, Phil Ford, Eric Montross I mean, multigenerational people that have been at Carolina that have invested interest in this program have built this program. Um, plus many more than I've talked to, many more than the ones I just mentioned. Um, and so I'll be reaching out to all of them as it relates to the conversations with Roy. I mean, yeah, we talked, I think every night, you know, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, I think, for probably over an hour. And, you know, he kept talking about, you know, he felt like he was the right man for the job, and he feels like he's a good coach. But he wasn't getting the outcome that Carolina wanted. He wasn't, um, getting the kids to do what he was hoping they would do. And he put all the blame on himself as he said today, and, uh, and you know, I was talking about the pandemic I was talking about. It was a different experience, you know? You know, let's let's keep trying. Let's keep working through this. And, uh, probably unfortunately, the more I talked to him, I think the more convinced he was he was going to retire. And so I said, All right, I'm not doing any good. How about if you talk to the chancellor? So I was out of town, so they met in person. He tried to do the same thing, but, uh, as as somebody was, one of the kids told me. So, you know, every once in a while, Coach can be a bit stubborn, and so he he was committed. And today was the outcome of that decision that he made Davis and Isaac and then Luke. And that's it, Davis. That Isaac, then Luke. Thank you, Bob. Hey, Bob. I actually know when word was hired at Kansas, he was quote unquote a no name assistant coach. I was just wondering what percentage of your decision process will be based on current assistant coaches throughout the country and in the NBA again. I'll consider anybody that we think can help us continue to lead this program, be successful, win championships, attract great students that want to be here. Um, I'm wide open to that. But I As I said before, I I do have a preference for hiring head coaches, particularly at this level. I mean, this is not an easy job, and Xs and Os are part of the job, but But there are so many other parts to it that are really important to be a successful program. But it's not saying that an assistant coach can't do it. Um, but I want people to be successful, and I want to hire people to and put them in a position to be successful. And so that's really what I'm looking for, Isaac. Yeah, well, thank you so much for your time to very quick things for you. First of all, after Coach Smith, we did have the transition to longtime assistant Bill Guthridge, and you talked about the head coaching experience. Obviously, Coach Robinson brings that and is a longtime assistant. Is that maybe one of the pivots? And I was also wondering personally, you said you came home from Indianapolis. So will you head back for the Final Four Or with this new event, will you be staying in Chapel Hill now? Yeah. No. When I was in the bubble, I was up there from March 9th until yesterday. And once you leave the bubble, you can't go back unless you have seven consecutive tests. And, uh, the tournament will be over by that point. Um, so I left. In fact, I didn't tell anybody on the committee where I was going, so I, uh, snuck out of there and I got a couple of text when I missed dinner last night. But actually, I told Dan Gavit I didn't tell anybody else. I wanted to make sure that again, trying to keep his confidence in the what he was trying to do. Um, but you're right. I mean, I will certainly talk to our staff. I think we have a great staff. I think Coach Robinson's outstanding coach Davis is outstanding. Brad Frederick. Sean May. Eric hoots. I mean, Kendall Marshall, we have a great great staff, and they are important to our success whether they're the head coach of the assistant coach, and, uh and certainly respectful of all the work and the career that they've had to date, and, uh, we'll talk to them about what their aspirations are as well. Last question. Luke. Hey, Bob, Thanks for taking the time to do this. You are part of one of the more favorable hires with Mack Brown that's turned out to be wildly successful. What remained lessons and takeaways through that process that we're not the same sport, but you're applying to a somewhat process? Well, I'll tell you one thing that I've learned that any good athletic department has great coaches, and we we better get a great coach because this is our premier program. And so it really is a coach driven program, and we have to find the guy that can lead us. And, you know, Mac had a relationship with North Carolina. He had been here before. That was helpful. He's an incredible communicator. The folks that have played for him, I think the world of him, the players that are on his team now think the world of him because he is such a good communicator and he provides things that are needed and necessary, and they feel good about the effort it takes to be successful because they know that he really cares about them. And same true is true with Roy. There's not a single person in that locker room that's ever played for him, that he won't do anything humanly possible for them and for their health or safety, their well being. He is totally committed to the person. So that's a thing that I, I think is the hallmark of our great coaches, whether it's our soccer coaches, lacrosse coaches, their outstanding individuals that really care about the person, and I think again, that's that's what we're going to try to find.