By now you know Matt Doherty is coming back to coach at Florida Atlantic, in Boca Raton, Fla., where not many people buy tickets to watch the Owls play.

Not to worry, this is just the kind of fit Doherty needs to find out if he can rejuvenate himself as a coach, motivate players and become a consistent winner. Time will tell, but, for good reason, all bets are off on whether you will see FAU in the NCAA Tournament anytime soon.

For two years Doherty sat out of coaching. He learned what automobile racing was like, what watching games on television was like and what his former UNC team was really like without him.

Don’t you wonder how that must have felt?

For a time there I felt sorry for Doherty. He began well but finished terribly and was forced to resign. His alma mater, North Carolina, didn’t want him in the first place. It wanted Roy Williams, who said no — then eventually yes — to UNC and, well, you know the rest.

Williams coached the Heels to the 2005 NCAA title, proving just how vital a quality coach can be when the cupboard is talented and the motivation is persistent.

Second chances are nice in Doherty’s profession and lots of coaches get second, some third, chances to prove what went wrong once might not go wrong a second time. Assuming Doherty realizes the level of talent he will assemble in Boca Raton is not the caliber of that seen in Chapel Hill, Durham, Winston-Salem or Atlanta, maybe this will work.

You know how it is when you try to tweak a career. Maybe you’re more patient with point guards. Perhaps you know some guys don’t run as quickly as you’d like. Some don’t get as many rebounds as you’d like. You substitute more. Or is it less?

You pay more attention to the student newspaper. Or is it less? You don’t wear a necktie while doing your weekly television show. You schedule a game in Madison Square Garden.

I’ve got several items for Doherty to consider as he attempts to do it again: Throw no folding chairs and watch your language around student-athletes. People will be watching and listening more often than you might imagine.

• Don’t mention your predecessor, Sidney Green, who had three straight losing seasons, and talk only of the future.
• If your media guide isn’t as heavy as UNC’s, or Notre Dame’s, remember you’re in Boca Raton, Fla., where college basketball tradition looks like a dried raisin.
• Make certain to put “charges taken” among your team’s vital statistics, as it can show your skills as a defensive strategist are on the rise.
• Do not tell the media — assuming there is a media that covers the Owls — you will spoil your players off the court if they spoil you on it, because you never know who might get the wrong idea about what exactly it is you’re saying.
• Matt, I know you’re a clotheshorse, but cufflinks and pocketsquares are for Rick Pitino.
• You might want to move the student section closer to the court, but if there are 4,000 seats in Florida Atlantic’s gym, that must tell you something there, too.