What about Doug Moe?

Hey, why not? We’ve heard names like Randy Weil and Jeff Lebo mentioned over the past few days to replace Bill Guthridge, along with Larry Brown, George Karl and Matt Doherty.

Why not Moe?

So what if he goes to his closet and pull out those1970s leisure suits with the big collars. He’s part of the Carolina Family, isn’t he?

Wait a minute. I have just been informed that Moe could never coach the Tar Heels. He doesn’t like defense. Remember his Denver Nuggets teams that would win games by 150-145? The Heels pride themselves on defense.

OK. No mo about Moe.

I’ve been asked about 273 times who is going to get the job.

Larry Brown, I always reply.

Brown has coveted the job since, well, forever. He has always had a clause in his contract that says he could get out of a job for Chapel Hill. But at 59, would he want to get back into recruiting?

You bet.

Brown loves to teach. That’s his thing. And he wasn’t teaching Allen Iverson anything with the Philadelphia Sixers. Iverson was fined over 70 times last season for being late to practice.

Then, I’m asked, “if Brown couldn’t get to Iverson, what will he do with some snot-nosed 18-year old who thinks he’s bigger than the program?”

He won’t have to worry about that. When has North Carolina ever recruited someone who thought he was bigger than the program? Rasheed Wallace is a bad boy now but he was under control during his two seasons in Chapel Hill — except, maybe, when he choked that Kentucky player in the 1995 NCAA Tournament.

Then, I’m asked, “Would Brown stay? He’s been a vagabond coach”

Of course, he’d stay. He left all those jobs on his own. He built winners everywhere he went. And he built them quickly.

So Brown is my choice.

Doherty? He has only one year of head coaching experience. And wasn’t he the one who persuaded his Notre Dame star Troy Murphy to remain in South Bend and not go pro? He is committed. If you ask me, he should wait for the St. John’s job to open up. No one is expecting Mike Jarvis to stay long.

Karl? He’s my personal favorite.

Has he ever been out in public without that UNC cap on? He is as loyal as Brown. And he would definitely add some spice to the sidelines after all of those vanilla days of Guthridge. Think he’d stick a finger in Mike Krzyzewski’s face if the two met at midcourt to “discuss” a referee’s decision?

He’d make Rick Barnes — you remember Rick Barnes, right? The guy from Clemson who stuck a finger in Deano’s face? — look as tame as Mr. Rogers.

But he’ll never get in the neighborhood. The Milwaukee Bucks won’t give Michelangelo permission to talk.

My favorite George Karl story:

A few years ago, his Seattle Supersonics invited Nick Van Exel in for an interview and tryout. The first thing Van Exel did was talk trash to Karl about North Carolina and what an underachiever Deano was.

Well, Karl didn’t take kindly to that and threw some choice words back at the Cincinnati Bearcat.

A few hours later, the two were to meet. Van Exel comes strolling in, saying he’d been to the store to pick up a few things.

Which included a Duke cap.

Needless to say, Karl told him to get out. He’d never be a Sonic.

You couldn’t go wrong with either Brown or Karl.

And I know that Salisbury’s most famous radio voice, Howard Platt of WSTP, would like to see Karl get it. The two went to the university together back in the ‘70s.

Howard can tell you a few Karl stories too.

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Bringing up the names Weil and Lebo seems ridiculous. They’re at small schools that have trouble winning. But they both are in the “Carolina family.”

Speaking of family, I wonder what Phil Ford is thinking. Sources said the job was his for the taking until his latest mishap with the law: in other words, DWI. He, like Guthridge, is supposed to be assigned to another job within the department.

Many UNCfans have told me they’re glad Eddie Fogler has pulled his name from the pot.

Me too. I want a coach who will smile every once in a while. Even on ESPN, when it announced he was withdrawing his name from consideration, a photo was shown of Fogler, frowning.

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I have also enjoyed the letters from Kansas to Durham that bring up UNC’s arrogance. How dare the Tar Heels think they can snap their finger and Roy Williams would jump.

There is arrogance here. And it is deserved. This is Tobacco Road. Hoop Heaven. Every game North Carolina — and Duke, for that matter — plays is on national TV, it seems. Tobacco Road gets more publicity that any state that claims to have basketball programs.

Williams will keep winning at Kansas but he made a mistake. He should’ve come home. How’s that for arrogance?

“There’s some good coaches out there,” a fellow remarked the other day, “like Quin Snyder and Tommy Amaker.”

Sorry. Wrong family.

So it appears Karl is out. If Brown stays in Philadelphia with the Sixers, it will be because of a $7 million contract. Weil, Lebo and Doherty aren’t ready.

Come to think of it, Doug Moe’s looking better all the time.