Floyd: Will Kevin Willard’s Interview Politics Scare Villanova Off?

Maryland head coach and reported Villanova target Kevin Willard shook up his extension talks with the Terrapins on Thursday, March 20, expressing his dissatisfaction with the resources devoted to his program and letting slip that his athletic director, Damon Evans, will likely jump ship for a similar position at SMU.

While Willard’s press conference politics made it clear that the door remains open for him to leave for a different program, they might also backfire and scare off Villanova and any other interested programs. Seeing a power struggle between a head coach and his acting supervisor unfold in real time might leave a bad taste in the mouths of the Wildcats’ athletic department, especially if they put themselves in Evans’ shoes. They’d be the ones landing in the line of fire should a similar showdown take place at Villanova.

If Willard doesn’t have any qualms about setting his contract talks with the Terrapins on fire and chasing his athletic director out of town, who’s to say he wouldn’t try the same type of thing at Villanova? For a program that loves to wax poetic about team culture and the “Villanova Way” — a big part of why they chose to forego a national coaching search and select the recently fired Kyle Neptune, then a former assistant coach, to replace Jay Wright in 2022 — that type of theatrics might turn into a deal breaker… and would certainly make a potential hiring controversial among Wildcats’ fans.

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