Kim English’s PC Tenure Is Ending - Who Are the Candidates to Be the Friars Next Coach

Kim English’s PC Tenure Is Ending - Who Are the Candidates to Be the Friars Next Coach

Providence College basketball's loss to Marquette on Wednesday night at home on so-called “senior night” is said to be the final straw of the Kim English era. The decision was probably made much earlier.

After last season, in March of 2025, Providence College athletic director Steven R. Napolillo emailed to the PC men’s basketball season ticket holders and supporters a message promising to reverse the course of the previous season and that the school is committed “to supporting our basketball programs at the highest level to compete for Big East and national championships.”

The season began with high hopes.

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The Friars were ranked pre-season fourth in the Big East coaches poll. But there were also questions if English was the right coach to handle the pressure of the Big East. In August, he had a meltdown on social media. 

 

Season of Disappointment and Embarrassment

His problems emerged almost immediately this season. The roster was loaded with talent, and with a NIL budget of $10 million or more, the Friars were one of the top spenders in the Big East.

English struggled in close games throughout the season.

English will coach throughout the end of the season, but will not be back for a fourth season. It is not known what his buyout number is. The number basketball analyst Jeff Goodman cited is $9 million. That is unconfirmed.

The names of potential replacement candidates began swirling after the Friars lost to Georgetown in Providence after leading by 21 in the second half.

Right after the Georgetown game, the podcast Field of 68 claimed English’s tenure was over. That was on January 24.

GoLocal does not believe that a final decision on English's fate was made that early — sources told GoLocal pressure was mounting, but the financial impact of an English buyout and a new coach's salary was looming. PC plays in a power conference but is not a school with a power-conference budget.

After the Georgetown game, it was hard to imagine that the season could get worse from there, but it did.

The loss to St. John’s at home on St. Valentine’s Day saw the Friars hit an even lower low when PC’s Duncan Powell two-hand assaulted Bryce Hopkins  — it was the foul seen around the world.

It made PC the poster child for a program out of control.

 

New Coach Search Is On

Now, the Friars are scrambling to find a new head coach, and they need to move swiftly and impressively to try to retain the super freshmen Stefan Vaaks and Jamier Jones. The duo has been consistently rated as two of the most talented freshmen in the country. The Friars also have two talented sophomores — Ryan Mela and Oswin Erhunmwunse — who will garner significant attention and may be tired of the Friar chaos.

And GoLocal sports analyst and PC great Kevin Stacom has repeatedly identified Vaaks and Jones as having NBA potential. In the transfer portal, they will receive maximum attention and major paydays.

The pressure is on PC Athletic Director Steven Napolillo. The names swirling range from the likely to the absurd. 

 

Here are some of the names that are swirling:

 

Josh Schertz, Saint Louis University

Considered one of the top offensive minds in college basketball, Schertz has had success at all three of his head-coaching stops. He went to 10 NCAA Division II Championships during a 13-year tenure at Lincoln Memorial. Schertz led Indiana State to two postseason appearances in three years, including a run to the finals of the 2024 National Invitation Tournament. 

Schertz ranks No. 8 among all active NCAA head men’s basketball coaches with a career winning percentage of .773 (422-124 in 17 seasons). 

St. Louis is 27-3 on the season.

But he is on every program’s shortlist.

 

Joe Gallo, Merrimack

Another hot name. He is 21-10 on the season. He has been at Merrimack for a decade and has moved the program higher and higher, but Providence may not want to take another chance on an emerging coach after the English move.

 

Richard Pitino, Xavier

The PC grad and son of the legend would be a match for PC, but Pitino would need to get out of his contract at Xavier. Friar fans love the 'good ole days,' and a Pitino in the building would satisfy the faithful (as long as he wins).

 

Jerrod Calhoun, Utah State

Two years at Utah State and twice to the tournament.

 

Bryan Hodgson, South Florida

He is also a leading candidate for the Syracuse job. He has SEC experience as a former assistant at Alabama. He is a hot candidate for multiple top conference vacancies.

 

Other Names Cited

James Jones, Yale

Jones has been at Yale since 1999 and has transformed the program from being one of the weakest programs in one of the weakest conferences into a perennial regular in the Big Dance.

 

Bobby Hurley, Arizona State

Hurley was rumored to be out and then beat Kansas, and may have saved his job for another year. Hurley at Providence would set up an inter-Big East rivalry, coaching against his brother, Dan Hurley, at UConn.

 

John Becker, Vermont

He has built a strong mid-major program and is a regular in the NCAA tournament. But, is he a Big East coach?

 

Friars Names

Ed Cooley, Georgetown

Cooley is in trouble after three miserable seasons at Georgetown. He is 39-56, leading the Hoyas.

Could the former Friars coaching great return after who he handled his departure? 

 

Billy Donovan, Chicago Bulls

Nearly every Friar fan wants Billy "the kid" to return to Providence. It was widely reported this summer that Donovan signed a multi-year extension at $6 million a year to stay in Chicago.