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Villanova basketball head coach Kevin Willard’s in-game joke didn’t land the way he might have hoped, but he made no apologies for it after the Wildcats’ loss to Utah State in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Interviewed by CBS Sports’ Lauren Shehadi during a timeout, Willard ripped into his coaching staff as the Wildcats battled the Aggies.
“I’m going to fire my staff,” Willard said in a now-viral moment. “Because we gave up eight points on the below, out-of-bounds defense. All I want to do is fire them and get a new staff.”
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Villanova Wildcats head coach Kevin Willard 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 could have been joking, but his deadpan delivery led others to believe he was serious in the moment.
After the 86-76 loss to end the season, Willard sat down for a postgame interview where he was asked about his in-game comments regarding his staff.
Again, he could have been joking, but he doubled down.
VILLANOVA COACH HITS HEAD AFTER ‘JOKE’ THAT HE WANTED TO ‘FEED MY STAFF’ DURING MARCH’S WALKING LOSS
“We gave up a big three-pointer late,” Willard told the pool of reporters, according to CBS Sports. “I’ll probably have to make some changes to my staff because of how bad we were.”
When asked 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.”
Villanova Wildcats head coach Kevin Willard 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 was by no means satisfied with his team’s performance. While the inbounds 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 coming 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 took advantage.”
Utah State head coach Jerrod Calhoun noted, “We didn’t like our seed,” after his No. 10 team took down No. 7 Villanova. But they’ll 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 told CBS Sports. “So when this team has a lead and they play with a little bit of guile and a little bit of toughness and resilience, we can cause a lot of problems.”
Villanova Wildcats head coach Kevin Willard at press conference prior to the first round of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Viejas Arena. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
Willard was the head coach of the Maryland Terrapins last season, where he was able to take his team to the second round of the NCAA Tournament thanks to a clutch game-winning bucket from Derik Queen to beat Colorado State.
