Villanova coach’s joke about his assistants wasn’t cute during March Madness loss

Kevin Willard is famously combative in the media. Last year, when he was head coach at Maryland leading the famed ‘Crab Five’ to the Sweet 16, Willard was obstinate to the press on a daily basis when asked about the rumors connecting him to the Villanova job. Willard would leave for ‘Nova days after Maryland’s season ended, and he got back to the NCAA tournament this season in his first season on his new job. Unfortunately, Willard’s debut March run with the Wildcats might be remembered more for an off-the-cuff comment he made during a season-ending loss than anything he did on the court.

No. 9 seed Utah State beat No. 8 seed Villanova, 86-76, on Friday afternoon. As the game was slipping away from the Wildcats, Willard used an interview with CBS to say he was going to “fire his staff” for “giving up eight points” on baseline out of bounds plays. The video went viral after Villanova’s loss. Watch Willard’s comments here:

After the loss, Willard again said he was going to fire his staff, but this time he was clearly doing it in jest. Willard said he was joking during the in-game interview, and didn’t care about any online criticism.

Call me a killjoy, but I just don’t think that joke is funny. During a moment of strife, Willard’s defense mechanism was some dry humor about blaming his staff, but not taking any responsibility for loss himself. A good head coach should credit his players and staff in public when things are going well, and take the blame when things are falling apart. Even if we take Willard at his word that it was all a joke, it’s still not that cool and pretty distasteful.

My advice to Kevin Willard is tell a funnier joke next time. Or, you know, just win the game.

What’s actually funny is that Willard’s staff is probably safer now after his bad joke. It will be a horrible look for Willard if he actually replaces staff members this offseason after joking about it during the elimination game.

Making the tournament is nothing to scoff at, so in that sense Willard’s first year at Villanova was a success. Hey, the Jay Wright era had a few early exits too before the program broke through with two national championships. Hopefully Willard learns some lessons on and off the court this season, or at least some better jokes.