In a shocking move to find a new head coach to replace Jason Kidd, the Dallas Mavericks have hired University of Michigan head coach Dusty May, just months after leading the Wolverines to their 1st national championship since 1989.
“BREAKING: University of Michigan coach Dusty May has agreed to become the new head coach of the Dallas Mavericks, sources tell me,” ESPN’s Shams Charania wrote on his official X account on Monday morning. “Major college-to-pro jump for the 2026 NCAA championship coach and swing for the Mavericks and Masai Ujiri.”
May will now get a chance to coach No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg, who was named NBA Rookie of the Year in 2025-26. Flagg averaged 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.6 steals as a rookie.
“May led Michigan basketball to the national title in April,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter wrote on his official X account. “The allure of coaching Cooper Flagg as a linchpin piece helped draw him … May led Michigan to a 64-13 record over two season there. In his previous job, he led FAU to back-to-back NCAA tournaments, including the 2023 Final Four. He’d ruled out other college jobs this off-season, but the NBA has always been intriguing to May.”
Mavericks Fired Jason Kidd After 5 Seasons
The Mavericks fired Kidd on May 19 following 5 seasons as head coach, including an appearance in the 2024 NBA Finals, where they lost to the Boston Celtics in 5 games.
Kidd, a member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team and 1 of the greatest point guards of all time, went 205-205 with the Mavericks, but bottomed out with a 26-56 record in his final season.
In 10 seasons as the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks, and Mavericks, Kidd has a 388-395 overall record.
“Kidd has four years and more than $40 million remaining on his contract,” ESPN’s Tim MacMahon wrote in May. “But Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont, who extended Kidd’s contract during Dallas’ NBA Finals run in 2024 and again before last season after they declined the New York Knicks‘ request to interview him, gave new president Masai Ujiri full authorization to determine the coach’s future with the franchise.”
Dusty May’s Coaching Career: Success After Success
May, 49, has seen his coaching career take off like a rocket ship over the last few years. He led Florida Atlantic to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and a spot in the 2023 Final Four before leaping to Michigan.
In a historical context, college head coaches leaping to the NBA is pretty rare — former Michigan head coach John Bielein was the last to do it when he left to coach the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2019.
No college coach has left immediately after winning a national championship since Kansas head coach Larry Brown left in 1988 to become the head coach of the San Antonio Spurs. Brown’s case was a little different — he left Kansas with NCAA investigators on his tail, and the Jayhawks were banned from the 1989 NCAA Tournament after it was discovered Brown paid cash to a potential transfer recruit.
The last national-championship-winning head coach to leave for the NBA was Florida’s Billy Donovan, who left the Gators in 2015 to become the head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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