Was Kevin Willard always like this?

[IVWT]

Two years in at Maryland and we're ready to launch this loser into the sun.

Play on a Saturday after losing on Thursday? The schedule is unfair - too quick of a turnaround
Play on a Saturday after losing on Sunday? The schedule is unfair - too long of a layoff

This dude lost at Michigan State on a Saturday, flew home to Maryland and lost to Rutgers on Tuesday, and complained about the travel. Rutgers played at Michigan on the same Saturday and then had to go to Maryland!

He runs no offense, he's lifeless on the sideline, and he blames everyone but himself after losses. He surrounded Jahmir Young with the 348th-best shooting team in the country, then throws Young under the bus after he couldn't single-handedly win a game for him.

I read this forum during the coaching change and all of last season. You all said the honeymoon act would wear off quickly and it did. He was all smiles, kissing babies, and pandering to the fan base for the first six months or so. Now he's sending assistants to do his weekly radio spots because he doesn't want to answer softballs from the team's play-by-play guy.

(I know a lot of you are sick of the Willard talk and have moved on, but this is therapeutic. This thread is for Haters Only™)

 

[NYShoreGuy]

That agent though, pure genius...willard aav is in top 20

 

[SHUSA]

LOL.


100% yes.

 

[Hall Is Life]

This is amazing 😂

I was a Willard fan but I also understand why people here couldn’t stand him. What you speak of is who he is. To an absolute T. He did just land a massive recruit so maybe there is hope in your future. Don’t give up on him just yet. He may surprise you one day. Or he may just make you sick…

 

[NittanyPirate]

Two years in at Maryland and we're ready to launch this loser into the sun.

Play on a Saturday after losing on Thursday? The schedule is unfair - too quick of a turnaround
Play on a Saturday after losing on Sunday? The schedule is unfair - too long of a layoff

This dude lost at Michigan State on a Saturday, flew home to Maryland and lost to Rutgers on Tuesday, and complained about the travel. Rutgers played at Michigan on the same Saturday and then had to go to Maryland!

He runs no offense, he's lifeless on the sideline, and he blames everyone but himself after losses. He surrounded Jahmir Young with the 348th-best shooting team in the country, then throws Young under the bus after he couldn't single-handedly win a game for him.

I read this forum during the coaching change and all of last season. You all said the honeymoon act would wear off quickly and it did. He was all smiles, kissing babies, and pandering to the fan base for the first six months or so. Now he's sending assistants to do his weekly radio spots because he doesn't want to answer softballs from the team's play-by-play guy.

(I know a lot of you are sick of the Willard talk and have moved on, but this is therapeutic. This thread is for Haters Only™)

Double00, is that you?

 

[Jerry1992]

Spot on. Plus, will quit on team weeks before he officially leaves. No graceful exit. on positive note did make us relevant again but could not win in big games in NCAA tournament. Did bring us a big East championship and get us to tournament over last six seasons. Best wishes to you and Maryland fan base.

 

[garyshu71]

He was really really really great at beating Maryland. That should help you a lot.

 

[SHUSource]

Two years in at Maryland and we're ready to launch this loser into the sun.

Play on a Saturday after losing on Thursday? The schedule is unfair - too quick of a turnaround
Play on a Saturday after losing on Sunday? The schedule is unfair - too long of a layoff

This dude lost at Michigan State on a Saturday, flew home to Maryland and lost to Rutgers on Tuesday, and complained about the travel. Rutgers played at Michigan on the same Saturday and then had to go to Maryland!

He runs no offense, he's lifeless on the sideline, and he blames everyone but himself after losses. He surrounded Jahmir Young with the 348th-best shooting team in the country, then throws Young under the bus after he couldn't single-handedly win a game for him.

I read this forum during the coaching change and all of last season. You all said the honeymoon act would wear off quickly and it did. He was all smiles, kissing babies, and pandering to the fan base for the first six months or so. Now he's sending assistants to do his weekly radio spots because he doesn't want to answer softballs from the team's play-by-play guy.

(I know a lot of you are sick of the Willard talk and have moved on, but this is therapeutic. This thread is for Haters Only™)

It was only a matter of time until this post came. Willard is kind of a poor man’s Mark Turgeon. If he wasn’t good enough, Willard was never going to make anyone happy there.

 

[shu09]

Turgeon 2.0, most of us knew that at the time. Your AD isn't too bright.

 

[statenman]

When you look at all the highly successful programs that will not be playing in the NCAA this year, it's amazing that for a good stretch Willard had us in the field. Including what would have been a very good seed that Covid year.
I will poke fun of his quirkiness but will not ever complain that he was our coach during that time. He reached his ceiling here and left at the right time for us.

 

[IVWT]

Turgeon 2.0, most of us knew that at the time. Your AD isn't too bright.

Most of us knew it ahead of time too. We made Turgeon quit and the AD turned around and gave a 7-year guarantee to Alopecia Turgeon.

Unfortunately, we're both Under Armour schools in a Nike world and Willard was the next best name in the pipeline. Kevin Plank tried taking on Nike in basketball and lost so badly that Under Armour is now cornering the hunting and fishing market instead.

 

[Gohall129]

As you’re well aware Kevin’s a part of the Rick Pitino coaching tree; however Kevin’s branches lacked sunlight and water

Kevin is great at standing on the sideline while clapping and looking confused. Kevin is not great at recruiting, making adjustments, or running inbound plays. I’ll put a major emphasis on the inbound plays.

Pirate fans complained about a lack of offense for years. Our success was masked by the individual talents of Whitehead and Powell and to a lesser extent Carrington, Rhoden and Rodriguez.

The real head scratcher is that some games Kevin will have his teams shot out of a cannon and looking like a real basketball team with some offensive sets- like when we took you guys down without Powell when you were ranked top 10. For whatever the reason the Maryland job became Willard’s from that point forward

The other 75% of the time Kevin lacks the ability to make any adjustments due to the fact he’s so stubborn.

No one was positioned better to leverage success around Confernce realignment. He caught lightening in a bottle, hired some handlers to get good recruits and made the most of it. He brought a lot of happiness to all of us on the board by restoring seton hall basketball to some winning ways. But his ceiling is low and I’m happy he’s gone

 

[Gohall129]

Alopecia turgeon is hilarious. I got a good laugh out of that

 

[lloyde dobler]

Something that’s never really been pointed out about the guy:

Every coach needs a job at some point where they had to drive the team van and learn things from the ground floor.

Look at Sha, even…. he was an assistant at Bloomfield Tech.

Willard never had to do any of that stuff… and it shows with the way he complains about things like schedules, and having an inability to handle adversity, and just to simply have a personality.

 

[mbraue]

Spot on. Plus, will quit on team weeks before he officially leaves. No graceful exit. on positive note did make us relevant again but could not win in big games in NCAA tournament. Did bring us a big East championship and get us to tournament over last six seasons. Best wishes to you and Maryland fan base.

He hired coaches (Tiny Morton and Antigua) to get us Whitehead and Delgado. Willard certainly coached them. But without that tinkering none of the magic that season would have happened.

 

[SHUSA]

Something that’s never really been pointed out about the guy:

Every coach needs a job at some point where they had to drive the team van and learn things from the ground floor.

Look at Sha, even…. he was an assistant at Bloomfield Tech.

Willard never had to do any of that stuff… and it shows with the way he complains about things like schedules, and having an inability to handle adversity, and just to simply have a personality.

wow. thats something nobody has ever brought up here and its clear as day. i mean, the guy couldnt even eat a hot dog.

 

[JTSHU]

Knew this was an awful hire by maryland when it happened.

 

[SOBO1]

Kevin is a good coach and will do well at Maryland. He certainly has some thin skin and has tendency to complain but that’s just his personality. That will never change.

Listen, Seton Hall is not an easy job. What he did here was unbelievable (whether our fans want to admit that or not).

Have a little patience and he will put together some great teams at Maryland.

 

[shupat08]

Two years in at Maryland and we're ready to launch this loser into the sun.

Play on a Saturday after losing on Thursday? The schedule is unfair - too quick of a turnaround
Play on a Saturday after losing on Sunday? The schedule is unfair - too long of a layoff

This dude lost at Michigan State on a Saturday, flew home to Maryland and lost to Rutgers on Tuesday, and complained about the travel. Rutgers played at Michigan on the same Saturday and then had to go to Maryland!

He runs no offense, he's lifeless on the sideline, and he blames everyone but himself after losses. He surrounded Jahmir Young with the 348th-best shooting team in the country, then throws Young under the bus after he couldn't single-handedly win a game for him.

I read this forum during the coaching change and all of last season. You all said the honeymoon act would wear off quickly and it did. He was all smiles, kissing babies, and pandering to the fan base for the first six months or so. Now he's sending assistants to do his weekly radio spots because he doesn't want to answer softballs from the team's play-by-play guy.

(I know a lot of you are sick of the Willard talk and have moved on, but this is therapeutic. This thread is for Haters Only™)

Simple answer, yes. Also, thank you!

 

[radecicco]

When are Maryland fans going to realize that another Gary Williams isn’t walking thru that door anytime soon.

 

[silkcitypirate]

Something that’s never really been pointed out about the guy:

Every coach needs a job at some point where they had to drive the team van and learn things from the ground floor.

Look at Sha, even…. he was an assistant at Bloomfield Tech.

Willard never had to do any of that stuff… and it shows with the way he complains about things like schedules, and having an inability to handle adversity, and just to simply have a personality.

Born with a silver spoon in his mouth . Never had to pay his dues .

 

[hallsoccer03]

I really think losing his top 2 assistants that he leaned on really hurt him. Willard is a great practice coach and development coach, problem is if players don’t stay you can’t develop them…

My biggest issue is Willard never thought he had to motivate the team which resulted into slow starts almost every game…

Willard got a big time recruit a couple weeks ago and from what I’ve heard from people I know connected to maryland is that more is on the way. But yes Willard’s act gets very tiresome

 

[Seton75]

He made us relevant. Like it or not.

And he left so we could hire the best shu man for the job.

 

[PMB Pirate]

Willard always finds a way to hang around, pretty sure he just got a commitment from a 5 star recruit, a big man.

Plus he makes tons of cash so if I had to guess he will be at Maryland for another few years.

His personality never really bothered me much, some of the stuff he used to say made me laugh actually, I never took it seriously.

 

[MBF72]

Born with a silver spoon in his mouth . Never had to pay his dues .

Ridiculous. Could one say that about any coach's son? Paid his dues at Iona, same conference as Shaheen, Cooley, Caffrey, and even Pitino, Part II. Revised our program---- one even our most positive/optimistic posters feel is a tough place to succeed---- after the train wreck he inherited. That's some "silver spoon."

 

[HALL85]

He made us relevant. Like it or not.

And he left so we could hire the best shu man for the job.

Addition by Subtraction??

Seriously, I do agree with you. Kevin made SHU relevant again and had us in the conversation once he got things going. He looks like he has a ceiling, but that ceiling is still higher than most D1 coaches. And we now have a coach with what looks like a much higher ceiling, so what's not to like.

 

[NYShoreGuy]

Ridiculous. Could one say that about any coach's son? Paid his dues at Iona, same conference as Shaheen, Cooley, Caffrey, and even Pitino, Part II. Revised our program---- one even our most positive/optimistic posters feel is a tough place to succeed---- after the train wreck he inherited. That's some "silver spoon."

Well what train wreck was inherited? The prior coach took chances on a bunch of transfers that had on court talent...the train wreck was gonzo didn't get over the hump in 4 years of a tougher league and the ending week of stix whitney and texas tech was held in bias against gonzo

 

[Seton75]

Ridiculous. Could one say that about any coach's son? Paid his dues at Iona, same conference as Shaheen, Cooley, Caffrey, and even Pitino, Part II. Revised our program---- one even our most positive/optimistic posters feel is a tough place to succeed---- after the train wreck he inherited. That's some "silver spoon."

He had an easier path than most. He got hired by one of the best coaches of all time with no experience and became a Pitino guy. That greases a lot of skids. He got Iona, Sha got St Petes...nuff said.

And he revised our program. Cry all you want about one NCAA win (does that change if KC doesnt turn it over twice in the last minute?) but for most of his time here, Selection Sunday included hearing the words Seton Hall. I will NEVER take that for granted.

 

[HallX2]

He had an easier path than most. He got hired by one of the best coaches of all time with no experience and became a Pitino guy. That greases a lot of skids. He got Iona, Sha got St Petes...nuff said.

And he revised our program. Cry all you want about one NCAA win (does that change if KC doesnt turn it over twice in the last minute?) but for most of his time here, Selection Sunday included hearing the words Seton Hall. I will NEVER take that for granted.

And Pitino encouraged Sha to go with Willard

Kevin has paid his dues but always had the safety net below him. Reason Sha was so tough and gritty a competitor? It had to sink or swim.

 

[Seton75]

And Pitino encouraged Sha to go with Willard

Kevin has paid his dues but always had the safety net below him. Reason Sha was so tough and gritty a competitor? It had to sink or swim.

Yup. If Gonzo wasnt gonzo, he may have stayed home and joined BG staff. Did Sha have a staff job for BG for a short while?

 

[NYShoreGuy]

And Pitino encouraged Sha to go with Willard

Kevin has paid his dues but always had the safety net below him. Reason Sha was so tough and gritty a competitor? It had to sink or swim.

Sha left playing in europe after spring of 05...was a court coach at abcd camp that summer in teaneck and was joining nick marinello's staff at bloomfield tech

 

[SHUSource]

No, let's never forget the hardscrabble tale of a determined 22-year-old aspiring coach who beat the long odds set before him to land a spot with the ... let's see here ... ah, here it is: the Boston Celtics. This inspirational lesson in perseverance tells other hungry, young would-be coaches that even when your father is best friends with a future Hall of Famer, there's no reason at all to let that stop you from chasing your dreams.

After four seasons, Willard again surmounted mighty obstacles to break into the college game at a top-ten all time program in Louisville when his Hall of Fame mentor agreed to bring him along to the Bluegrass State.

And when the time came for him to chase his dream of being a head coach, he managed to land a coveted spot at perennial low-major power Iona, a historic proving ground for aspiring major college coaches, despite the significant handicap of a recommendation of his father's close friend, a Hall of Fame coach.

 

[Seton75]

No, let's never forget the hardscrabble tale of a determined 22-year-old aspiring coach who beat the long odds set before him to land a spot with the ... let's see here ... ah, here it is: the Boston Celtics. This inspirational lesson in perseverance tells other hungry, young would-be coaches that even when your father is best friends with a future Hall of Famer, there's no reason at all to let that stop you from chasing your dreams.

After four seasons, Willard again surmounted mighty obstacles to break into the college game at a top-ten all time program in Louisville when his Hall of Fame mentor agreed to bring him along to the Bluegrass State.

And when the time came for him to chase his dream of being a head coach, he managed to land a coveted spot at perennial low-major power Iona, a historic proving ground for aspiring major college coaches, despite the significant handicap of a recommendation of his father's close friend, a Hall of Fame coach.

That is all true. But we were a disgrace when he took the job (and yes, he inherited a talented team, and yes, that BE was a harder league at the top). We sucked for the first few years he was our coach. He got read the riot act and for whatever reason he used questionable but legal means to get two stars to come here, and from them on we were good. Usually NCAA good, for the second time in history. PJ got there and dominated. Kevin just got there. But no one else has done what he did at SHU but PJ. That is not good enough for many posters. But it is better than every coach but PJ ever gave us.

 

[MBF72]

For all PJ accomplished, he was a silver-spoon guy, too. (Aren't all sons of coaches?)
Does PJ go to New Hampshire and then Wagner---as soon as he did--- if he were not [a walk-on] at Fordham due to his father being its AD?

 

[silkcitypirate]

Ridiculous. Could one say that about any coach's son? Paid his dues at Iona, same conference as Shaheen, Cooley, Caffrey, and even Pitino, Part II. Revised our program---- one even our most positive/optimistic posters feel is a tough place to succeed---- after the train wreck he inherited. That's some "silver spoon."

Let's see the 1st job out of school Celtic assistant (4 yrs.) then Louisville assistant (5 yrs.) then Iona , Hall and now Maryland .He is only 48 yrs. old . Great work if you can get it especially starting out with the Celtics. Most coaches start out at the H S level and work their way up .

 

[SHUSource]

That is all true. But we were a disgrace when he took the job (and yes, he inherited a talented team, and yes, that BE was a harder league at the top). We sucked for the first few years he was our coach. He got read the riot act and for whatever reason he used questionable but legal means to get two stars to come here, and from them on we were good. Usually NCAA good, for the second time in history. PJ got there and dominated. Kevin just got there. But no one else has done what he did at SHU but PJ. That is not good enough for many posters. But it is better than every coach but PJ ever gave us.

I've said many times I'm glad he was here. I wanted him to get the job, and he certainly restored us to respectability. But his achievements seemed capped because he didn't seem to know how to drive a good team to be better or more consistent. Some of those years, he did a good job just getting us to the NCAAs. Others teams underperformed and landed seeds where it was almost impossible to advance. That year we beat NC State in the 8/9 game before having to play No. 1 Kansas was a time when we had a team that was too good to have to play No. 1 in the second round. Even the year that was halted by the pandemic was likely headed nowhere because we were trending the wrong way, backing into a Big East regular season title that should've been ours outright.

I understand the folks who put him second to P.J. in the modern era, and you can make a good case for it. But top me, it's more a product of him being too successful to fire, but not doing enough to be poached by a program with more resources. It's speculative, but I'd bet a paycheck that Amaker would've outperformed him had he remained for a decade. He certainly did when you compare their first four years, with Tommy taking us three points from the Elite Eight and the nation's top class coming in. We all know how that year went sideways, but I have little doubt that he would've straightened that out and continued to recruit very well here. But we won't know.

I also think Louis Orr compared very nicely compared to Willard, but again, we only have five seasons to go by. He won as many NCAA games as Willard did here, and also made two tournaments in five years, after being snubbed in 2003 when we were 10-6 in the Big East. Those NCAA teams had very different casts, so he did it with a few of Tommy's guys and with his own. He also did a very nice job settling a program that was coming out a tumultuous time. It's a tenure that has aged well to me.

I remember thinking when he was fired that I was on board with it because I also felt like even though we were making NCAAs, I never felt like we were going to advance anywhere in them. It was the same feeling I had with Willard, who was extended much more grace here by the univesity and the fans than Louis Orr ever was, despite similar success relative to their length of service. That only served to feed his outrageous sense of entitlement, the kind coaches get when they start their careers on the Celtics' bench.

 

[silkcitypirate]

For all PJ accomplished, he was a silver-spoon guy, too. (Aren't all sons of coaches?)
Does PJ go to New Hampshire and then Wagner---as soon as he did--- if he were not [a walk-on] at Fordham due to his father being its AD?

Started as a 3rd assistant at Fordham 1st 4yrs. then . NH. Pitino son started as an assistant at College of Charleston . 2 coaches sons far cry from Willards start with the Celtices and Louisville .

 

[Burnsly]

Oh the irony. Crying on our shoulder just a couple of weeks after they just signed the #12 player in the country?

 

[HallX2]

Sha left playing in europe after spring of 05...was a court coach at abcd camp that summer in teaneck and was joining nick marinello's staff at bloomfield tech

not sure if you’re saying those gigs were a safety net. I was talking about his grit in his college career. And surely camps and assistant HS coach isn’t quite what KW had underneath him.

 

[HallX2]

I've said many times I'm glad he was here. I wanted him to get the job, and he certainly restored us to respectability. But his achievements seemed capped because he didn't seem to know how to drive a good team to be better or more consistent. Some of those years, he did a good job just getting us to the NCAAs. Others teams underperformed and landed seeds where it was almost impossible to advance. That year we beat NC State in the 8/9 game before having to play No. 1 Kansas was a time when we had a team that was too good to have to play No. 1 in the second round. Even the year that was halted by the pandemic was likely headed nowhere because we were trending the wrong way, backing into a Big East regular season title that should've been ours outright.

I understand the folks who put him second to P.J. in the modern era, and you can make a good case for it. But top me, it's more a product of him being too successful to fire, but not doing enough to be poached by a program with more resources. It's speculative, but I'd bet a paycheck that Amaker would've outperformed him had he remained for a decade. He certainly did when you compare their first four years, with Tommy taking us three points from the Elite Eight and the nation's top class coming in. We all know how that year went sideways, but I have little doubt that he would've straightened that out and continued to recruit very well here. But we won't know.

I also think Louis Orr compared very nicely compared to Willard, but again, we only have five seasons to go by. He won as many NCAA games as Willard did here, and also made two tournaments in five years, after being snubbed in 2003 when we were 10-6 in the Big East. Those NCAA teams had very different casts, so he did it with a few of Tommy's guys and with his own. He also did a very nice job settling a program that was coming out a tumultuous time. It's a tenure that has aged well to me.

I remember thinking when he was fired that I was on board with it because I also felt like even though we were making NCAAs, I never felt like we were going to advance anywhere in them. It was the same feeling I had with Willard, who was extended much more grace here by the univesity and the fans than Louis Orr ever was, despite similar success relative to their length of service. That only served to feed his outrageous sense of entitlement, the kind coaches get when they start their careers on the Celtics' bench.

Orr suffered with bad Univerity and athletics administration