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Villanova men’s basketball head coach Kevin Willard’s in-game joke did not land the way he may have hoped, but he didn’t apologize for it after the Wildcats’ loss to Utah State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Willard was interviewed by CBS Sports’ Lauren Shehadi during a timeout, and he ripped into his coaching staff as the Wildcats were struggling against the Aggies.
“I’m going to fire my staff,” Willard said in a now-viral moment. “Because we’ve given up eight points on underneath, out-of-bounds defense. The only thing I’m going do is fire them and get a new staff.”
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Head coach Kevin Willard of the Villanova Wildcats looks on during the second half of the 2026 Big East Men’s Tournament – Quarterfinal game against the Georgetown Hoyas at Madison Square Garden on March 12, 2026 in New York City. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Willard may have been joking, but his deadpan delivery had others thinking he was serious about it at the moment.
After the 86-76 loss to end the season, Willard sat for a post-game interview where he was asked about his in-game comments regarding his staff.
Again, he may have been joking, but he doubled down.
VILLANOVA COACH TURNS HEADS AFTER ‘JOKE’ THAT HE WOULD ‘FIRE MY STAFF’ DURING MARCH MADNESS LOSS
“We gave up a big three-pointer late,” Willard told the pool of reporters, per CBS Sports. “I’m probably going to have to make some changes to my staff because of how bad we were.”
As he was getting another question about his staff, Willard stepped back in.
“It’s a joke,” he said. “God bless it. …I don’t care. Welcome to my life. It’s a joke.”
Head coach Kevin Willard of the Villanova Wildcats gestures during the first half against the Utah State Aggies in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Viejas Arena at San Diego State University on March 20, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)
Willard wasn’t pleased with his team’s performance either way. While the in-bound plays were an issue, the Wildcats also blew a 10-point lead in the second half, which he credited to the Aggies’ relentless pressure.
“You know, we got up by 10, and then we gave up three offensive rebounds. Give them credit. They’re a veteran team, older guards. They did a great job of getting in late, but we had our opportunities,” he said. “Then, we were up 73-71, and we missed two layups that kind of really hurt us. Give them credit. They capitalized on it.”
Utah State head coach Jerrod Calhoun noted, “We did not like our seed,” after his No. 10 squad took down No. 7 Villanova. But they will have to prove it with another upset against top-seeded Arizona on Sunday at 7:50 p.m. ET.
“We won 28 games. We won the regular season title, we won the tournament title,” Calhoun said, per CBS Sports. “So when this team has an edge, and they play with a little bit of swagger and a little bit of toughness and resilience, we can cause a lot of problems.”
Villanova Wildcats head coach Kevin Willard at press conference ahead of the first round of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Viejas Arena. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
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Willard was head coach of the Maryland Terrapins last season, where he was able to take his squad to the second round of the NCAA Tournament thanks to a clutch game-winning bucket by Derik Queen to beat Colorado State.
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