Brad Stevens and the Boston Celtics have had quite the tumultuous season thus far. Last year, the young and talented roster made a deep playoff run, all the way to the conference championship. The Cs were poised to make another leap forward this year and continue their ascent to the top of the Eastern Conference. However, this is far from the reality of the 2020-21 season after the All-Star break.

The Celtics sit at a meager 20-20 record as the seventh seed, a far cry from their 66.7 win percentage in the 2019-20 season that saw them earn the third seed. 

The blame for the lull in performance is widespread, as fans criticize the players, the coaches, and the front office alike. Outside of stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, production has been down across the board in Boston. Stevens seems to take a great deal of the abuse, prompting a particular college fan base to call for his return to his home state.

Indiana University parted ways with head coach Archie Miller on March 15th after a four year tenure that featured zero NCAA tournament appearances. The team hasn’t advanced to the Final Four since 2002 and last raised the tournament trophy in 1987. The Hoosier faithful are clamoring for Stevens to fill the vacancy and lead Indiana to the heights of their former glory.

Stevens' college coaching resume is outstanding, qualifying for the postseason in five of six seasons and reaching back-to-back national title games in 2010 and 2011 during his time at Butler. After this successful stint, Brad had many suitors eager to get him onboard. The Celtics ultimately prevailed, and in 2013, Stevens took over at the helm in Boston.

The experienced coach has even deeper ties to the state of Indiana than just coaching college ball at Butler, located in Indianapolis. Stevens was born and raised in Zionsville, a small town northwest of the state capital. After high school, he opted to stay in-state and played college basketball at DePauw University.

All of these factors point to a potential return home for Stevens, which he acknowledged in an interview with ESPN on March 16th.

“It means a lot,” Stevens told Tim Bontemps. “It means a lot. I know that … listen, I've got a lot of friends back there. I've got a lot of people that are really important to me there. My dad's still there. That does mean a lot. I won't act like that doesn't. Like I said earlier today, it's flattering.”

However, he was quick to quell the prospect of him leaving Boston.

“But I also realize that I'm the coach of the Celtics and that's — it's been an amazing opportunity, an amazing challenge every day for the last eight years and I'm extremely grateful for that.”

Of course, in the business that is the NBA, nothing is set in stone. Even high-performing coaches get fired, and they  are the ones blamed first for their team's struggles. That's just part of coaching in the big leagues.

Despite Stevens' latest sentiment, many still believe that he could be on his way back to Indiana. No matter what Stevens says, the whispers and rumors will prevail that the homegrown coach could return to his old stomping grounds.

As the Celtics continue to struggle, their voices will only get louder.