Roy Williams stands on the brink of a third NCAA title in 12 North Carolina. Dean Smith, Williams’ mentor, won two in 36 years. Speaking Sunday, Williams said: “I don’t think I’m in the same league with coach Smith, and I never will.”

There are Carolina fans who’d agree. On Saturday at NRG Stadium, I was talking with a Tar Heel grad. He was seated in the Carolina section. He wore a powder blue sweater. Of Ol’ Roy, the man said: “He can’t coach.”

Before we dismiss this as a bit of snit from a persnickety alum, let's note that ESPN polled its college basketball experts in the summer of 2014 and ranked the coaches. It was a surprise that Mike Krzyzewski, the best since Wooden and maybe since ever, finished fourth. But here was the shocker:

Roy Williams ranked 16th.

If you added the NCAA titles taken by Nos. 7 through 15 in the survey, you got two – the same number as Williams by himself. Three men ranked ahead of him hadn’t graced a Final Four. Wrote Eamonn Brennan: “The last few years have taken some of the polish off. Williams’ teams have vacillated between good and above-average, but worst of all is the intimation that North Carolina isn’t as special as it insists, that it’s just another school offering cheap grades to star athletes, that Williams and the rest of the athletic department allow it to happen.”

Carolina remains under the same cloud of academic fraud, though Williams insists the NCAA probe has little to do with his program – even though Rashad McCants, who played for Williams’ 2005 title team, has said he took fake courses to stay eligible – and proclaimed last week in Philadelphia: “I’ve never had my credibility questioned.” (Which isn’t true, as the Brennan extract shows.)

It has become fashionable to say the strain – from both within and without – is showing. Last week the Washington Post ran a story concerning Williams' health. Former aide Joe Holland was quoted as saying: "He's seemed to age right before my eyes."

Williams, who’s 65, has claimed those confidants didn’t say what was reported. He also said he didn’t read the story. He says his health is fine, though this reporter overheard him telling Villanova’s Jay Wright in an NRG corridor on Thursday, “I got two bad knees.” (Williams talks about his knees a lot.)

Most folks believe the Heels to be a better team than Villanova, but surely some Carolina fans worry that Wright will outflank Ol’ Roy. Only five men – Wooden, Krzyzewski, Rupp, Knight and Calhoun – have won three NCAA titles. That’s the weird space Williams occupies: His record says he’s among the greatest coaches ever, but eyewitnesses disagree.

It was no great shock that Williams used his remarks after Carolina beat Syracuse on Saturday to vent. In his opening statement, he told reporters not to ask “that stupid question” he said he’d been asked “five times since I’ve been here” – will he retire if Carolina wins it all?

Later he was asked being second-guessed. Off he went: “I’m a hell of a lot smarter about basketball than you guys are. I’m serious. What do you do after basketball season’s over? You cover baseball. What do you do after baseball? You cover football. I don’t take any breaks.”

Then: “This year I heard announcers and writers question things more than I ever heard … You think about that. I would never criticize somebody about something that they know a heck of a lot more about.”

Williams was less confrontational Sunday – the first question essentially asked why he’d been so confrontational – and he allowed: “Maybe I’ve gotten older and don’t feel like I need to try to please everybody.”

Thing is, he coaches Carolina. Those folks are hard to please. Even if he wins Title No. 3 and passes Dean, some will say, “He’ll never be Dean.” Heck, Ol’ Roy will say it himself.