In a recent interview with Jon Rothstein on the Inside College Basketball Now podcast, Kansas head coach Bill Self took on a series of topics one caught the attention of many Jayhawk fans was when Rothstein asked if Self wants Kansas to look in-house for the future replacement of Self.
Bill Self weighs in on his potential successor at Kansas.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) July 31, 2025
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"You know what I think I hope we hire the best guy that gives Kansas the best chance to have the best basketball future moving forward.
Would I love for that guy to be one of my guys, absolutely. Or have ties to Kansas absolutely, in a perfect world, yes. The answer is an emphatic yes.
"At the end of the day, you know what, I would probably hope if that guy has ties, fantastic, if he doesn't have ties, go get the best guy that can, take this program, hopefully even to another level. I think that's the goal that we have. I can certainly see 'keep it in the family', so to speak, but the reality of it is you don't do that at the expense of taking a step backwards. And right now, you know, I think I got a guy or two on my staff that would be fantastic."
There is a lot to unpack here, but the biggest thing that could be pointed out is that Self himself wasn't an in-house hire, as he mentioned later. Self was quoted, "I don't wanna speak for others, but from my vantage point [coaching at Kansas] it's worked out decent." That could lead the Kansas higher-ups to look for an outside hire like Self once was.
Another key part to take note of is Self's need for the next coaching hire to not take a step backward in order for it to be an in-house hire.
There have been a number of programs that have gone with the close-to-home hire, and things haven't panned out. You don't have to look much further than just up north when Nebraska hired Scott Frost to lead the Cornhuskers back to the top of the college football sphere, before Frost ultimately went 16-31 during his tenure with the Big 10 school.
In Self's tenure at Kansas, the Jayhawks have gone on to win two NCAA National Championships, along with four Final Four appearances and an astounding 624-156 record at the helm in Lawrence, Kan.