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NBA champion or not, legendary Duke Blue Devils head basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski isn’t too worried about Michael Malone, who was reportedly hired to replace Hubert Davis with the UNC Tar heels, getting the program back on track.
After all, Krzyzewski’s biggest rival during his illustrious Duke tenure was UNC. And he invoked Bill Belichick when asked about the Malone hire during his appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Monday.
“They had an NFL champion hired as the coach, and Duke beat Carolina football this year,” Krzyzewski told McAfee and A.J. Hawk with a smirk on the program. “That doesn’t mean coach Belichick isn’t a great coach, but there is time for adjustments. It takes longer coming from the pros to college.”
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Head coach Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils looks on during practice before the 2022 men’s basketball tournament Final Four at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La., on April 1, 2022. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Belichick learned that firsthand last season, his first in college football with the Tar Heels. While Duke finished with a 9-5 overall record, and won the ACC title, UNC was a paltry 4-8 with a 2-6 ACC record.
Also, as Krzyzewski mentioned, Duke defeated Belichick’s UNC crew, 32-25, to end his first season with a loss.
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Of course, the college game has completely changed now, with name, image and likeness (NIL) deals paving ways for richer programs to pay for the cream of the crop in the transfer portal as well as out of high school.
Belichick and his staff will need to be more creative, and perhaps open the checkbooks more, as this new college system continues to stay in place.
But football isn’t king at Chapel Hill – basketball reigns supreme. Krzyzewski knows this, as the Blue Devils were usually pitted against the Tar Heels as top teams in the country fighting for not just bragging rights, but national titles.
Head coach Michael Malone of the Denver Nuggets watches the game against the Golden State Warriors during the second quarter at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on April 4, 2025. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)
Malone coached the Denver Nuggets for 10 seasons, which included an NBA title in 2023. However, he was fired in April 2025, quickly taking a sports media role with ESPN one month later.
The Tar Heels, who fired Davis following UNC’s crushing loss to VCU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, are taking a similar route as the football program – a coach with a great track record in the pros, but no head coaching experience in college.
Malone was an assistant at Oakland, Providence and Manhattan before transitioning to the NBA with the New York Knicks in 2001. His first NBA head coaching gig came with the Sacramento Kings before cementing his spot in Denver.
Mike Krzyzewski hosted a Jimmy V Foundation event in his hometown of Chicago last month. ()
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“Mike is a terrific coach and a terrific guy, there’s a learning curve,” Krzyzewski added. “Whatever the reasoning is, maybe they’re changing; they now have two pro coaches coaching in college. The infrastructure of their athletic department is now going to become more of a pro-organization, which I think everybody should be doing that. He knows how to do that, and so does coach Belichick. Maybe it’s a sign that they’re moving in that direction organizationally.”
Malone is hoping for a better inaugural season in Chapel Hill than Belichick, who returns for another football season looking to turn the tides on the gridiron.
