In today’s world, there is no sense of humor or ability to pick out sarcasm. Instead, immediate hate and criticism takes precedent.
When it is a head coach like Kevin Willard who is already not well-liked by some, led by Maryland fans that watched their Terps go 12-21 and 4-16 in Big Ten play this season, it is enhanced.
The beauty of Willard is that he does not worry about outside noise.
“I don’t care,” Willard said postgame. “Welcome to my life.”
These postgame comments came following an 86-76 loss
to Utah State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon. The Wildcats, who held a 10-point lead in the second half, could not defend down the stretch or take care of the ball as the Aggies ended the game on a 15-3 run.
Utah State was getting everything easy early and often. This prompted Willard to make the viral comments to TNT’s Lauren Shehadi midgame.
“I’m going to fire my staff,” Willard said. “We’ve given up eight points on underneath out-of-bounds defense. The only thing I’m gonna do is fire them and get a new staff.”
Willard doubled down on this comment in the postgame, which led to more questions and Willard had to explain that he was joking.
Ultimately, this is a non-issue. If the media or those who do not like Willard want to attempt to make a bigger deal out of this, have at it. Villanova ended the season with 24 wins, 15 in the Big East, and back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three years. It was a disappointing finish, but Willard has Villanova back in the right direction — like he has done at every stop.
Onto 2026-27.
