Villanova’s Willard in hot water after making on-air joke: ‘I don’t like this look’

Villanova coach Kevin Willard landed in hot water after cracking a joke during halftime of his team’s NCAA Tournament loss Friday night. “I’m gonna fire my staff,” Willard, the former Seton Hall coach, told Lauren Shehadi on air at the half of his team’s 86-76 loss to Utah State. “Yeah, I am.

Because we’ve given up 8 points on underneath out-of-bounds defense. The only thing I’m gonna do is fire them and get a new staff. ” Villanova had been out-scored 16-2 in the paint at that point.

It was their fifth straight loss in the 8/9 game dating to 1991 (though the first under Willard). During his postgame press conference, Willard defended his comments after they had gone viral. “It’s a joke,” he said.

“I don’t care. Welcome to my life. It’s a joke.