The venom spewed at Willard on this site is beyond anything I have experienced since Tom first created piratecrew.
The intensity of the negativism IMO goes beyond just our W/L record. The way I see it is there are three factors.
1. The record.
No one is going to lend a blind eye to the W/L ledger. In a word it's been terrible.
Unlike a majority of our fans I gave Willard a pass for the first two years. I don't think many of our readers had any idea what Willard walked into. It was so bad that he seriously thought of quitting soon after he took the job.
That said we are now in year five and there is no denying we are in another free fall. At some point accountability becomes an issue to all fan bases.
2. Personality and communicative skills.
I once posted that Willard is actually a shy person. I got a ton of feedback (not here) from many that know him telling me that I was way off base with that comment. I did not for a moment agree with them making my judgement based on personal interaction and talking to many people who had to deal with our coach in an informal way.
Willard has the ability to talk to the 'suits' and that not only got him the job (he dazzled in interviews) but allowed him to still stay in favor at the Hall with many (not all) of those in a decision making position.
Unfortunately being a head coach in college BB at the D1 level takes far more than communicating with the suits. At this level you have to get down and dirty. Strength of personality (see Cooley) is critical. Being a master salesmen dealing with the real people you have to deal with to further your program is probably more important than anything else.
In short being able to play the role needed in whatever situation you face is paramount to being a successful coach. At this level you have to deal with many different people with many divergent agendas. You need patience and strong communicative skills to succeed. Shy and impatient people no matter what their knowledge of the sport will not achieve their goals.
I will not go into specifics but in my dealing with Kevin Willard and listening to others who have a relationship with him communication and patience are not his strong suits.
Tommy Amaker was the master of talking to his audience. So was Gonzo. They inspired and often through strength of will furthered their ambitions. It did not always lead to success at SHU but it did give hope.
3. Hope.
And this leads me to my final reason that Willard is so reviled by most SHU fans. He doesn't in any way inspire hope.
Much of this clearly has to do with social media and the access it provides the fans. Willard is not an inspiring speaker. He hesitates in choosing words, his cadence is not commanding and his message is often confusing and without focus when things are not going well. When compared to some of his peers he does not come off well.
There is nothing that will upset those involved in a cause or those rooting for a sports team more than believing your leader does not inspire hope leading to eventual success. Most of us will put up with failure if the light from the end of the tunnel is in view. Unfortunately I don't think there are many Seton Hall basketball supporters who believe success with KW is in view or ever will be.
Combine that with the frustration that those in a decision making process don't see what most here believe they should see and hopelessness and eventually apathy will destroy and chance for the school to come close to achieving quality goals.
When hope goes out the door you have nothing left to hang you hat on and that's where most see our future with Kevin Willard as our head coach. The quote below is an incredibly frustrating one to people who care so much about our basketball program.
"Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
I can only say that I hope Kevin Willard proves to be the exception to those words because he will be coaching here next year and quite possibly beyond.
The intensity of the negativism IMO goes beyond just our W/L record. The way I see it is there are three factors.
1. The record.
No one is going to lend a blind eye to the W/L ledger. In a word it's been terrible.
Unlike a majority of our fans I gave Willard a pass for the first two years. I don't think many of our readers had any idea what Willard walked into. It was so bad that he seriously thought of quitting soon after he took the job.
That said we are now in year five and there is no denying we are in another free fall. At some point accountability becomes an issue to all fan bases.
2. Personality and communicative skills.
I once posted that Willard is actually a shy person. I got a ton of feedback (not here) from many that know him telling me that I was way off base with that comment. I did not for a moment agree with them making my judgement based on personal interaction and talking to many people who had to deal with our coach in an informal way.
Willard has the ability to talk to the 'suits' and that not only got him the job (he dazzled in interviews) but allowed him to still stay in favor at the Hall with many (not all) of those in a decision making position.
Unfortunately being a head coach in college BB at the D1 level takes far more than communicating with the suits. At this level you have to get down and dirty. Strength of personality (see Cooley) is critical. Being a master salesmen dealing with the real people you have to deal with to further your program is probably more important than anything else.
In short being able to play the role needed in whatever situation you face is paramount to being a successful coach. At this level you have to deal with many different people with many divergent agendas. You need patience and strong communicative skills to succeed. Shy and impatient people no matter what their knowledge of the sport will not achieve their goals.
I will not go into specifics but in my dealing with Kevin Willard and listening to others who have a relationship with him communication and patience are not his strong suits.
Tommy Amaker was the master of talking to his audience. So was Gonzo. They inspired and often through strength of will furthered their ambitions. It did not always lead to success at SHU but it did give hope.
3. Hope.
And this leads me to my final reason that Willard is so reviled by most SHU fans. He doesn't in any way inspire hope.
Much of this clearly has to do with social media and the access it provides the fans. Willard is not an inspiring speaker. He hesitates in choosing words, his cadence is not commanding and his message is often confusing and without focus when things are not going well. When compared to some of his peers he does not come off well.
There is nothing that will upset those involved in a cause or those rooting for a sports team more than believing your leader does not inspire hope leading to eventual success. Most of us will put up with failure if the light from the end of the tunnel is in view. Unfortunately I don't think there are many Seton Hall basketball supporters who believe success with KW is in view or ever will be.
Combine that with the frustration that those in a decision making process don't see what most here believe they should see and hopelessness and eventually apathy will destroy and chance for the school to come close to achieving quality goals.
When hope goes out the door you have nothing left to hang you hat on and that's where most see our future with Kevin Willard as our head coach. The quote below is an incredibly frustrating one to people who care so much about our basketball program.
"Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
I can only say that I hope Kevin Willard proves to be the exception to those words because he will be coaching here next year and quite possibly beyond.
