Hope? Change? Roy Williams' Record By President

Williams now coaching under his seventh different POTUS

North Carolina beat Wake Forest on Wednesday night in a game that might signal a new beginning for the Tar Heels.

That’s because, earlier in the day, Joe Biden was inaugurated as president.

While we try to stick to sports and avoid taking sides on political issues, a new president raises an issue that was woefully under-covered by the media during the campaign—Is a Biden Administration good or bad for the Tar Heels?

As with most issues in a divided America, there are two schools of thought:

Biden will help the Heels:

Biden is the seventh president of Roy Williams’ head coaching career, and the tenth presidential term. Williams has coached under five Republican presidential terms (Ronald Reagan, for a half season, George HW Bush, both George W Bush terms and Donald Trump).

Biden is the fifth Democratic presidential term of Williams’ career (both of Bill Clinton’s and both of Barack Obama’s).

Williams’ all-time record leans ever so slightly to the left. He has six more wins under Democratic administrations and his percentage is five points higher under Dems.

Williams is coming off of his worst performance under a president. His winning percentage under Trump was .669, 76 points lower than his worst previous presidential term (Obama’s first term). His 93 wins under Trump are also the fewest in a term since his 14 under Ronald Reagan during the first half of the 1988-89 season, his first with Kansas.

Biden will hurt the Heels:

If we just limit Williams’ record to his time at North Carolina, the numbers tell a different story. Roy is now coaching in his sixth presidential term with the Tar Heels. And North Carolina has done better with Williams when a Republican is president. Williams has 26 more UNC wins under the GOP, and his winning percentage is eight points higher.

Interestingly, the most promising part of the new president is the fact that there was an inauguration this season. Williams has won the national title in three of the last four inauguration years: 2005, 2009 and 2017. In its history, UNC has won five of its six titles in inauguration years—with the 1957 and 1993 crowns joining Roy’s three championships.

A new administration also means the Tar Heels will need to try to keep alive the longest streak in college basketball history. With national titles in 1993 (Clinton), 2005 (W. Bush), 2009 (Obama) and 2017 (Trump), UNC is the first team to cut down the nets under four straight presidents.

Only UCLA (LBJ, Nixon and Ford) and UConn (Clinton, Bush and Obama) have had streaks as long as three presidents.