A winning team could bring out a different side of Jazz coach Will Hardy
After four years of coaching a tanking team, what will Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy show when coaching a team that is supposed to win games?
Utah Jazz guard Ace Bailey (19) and Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy watch from midcourt as the Jazz and Nuggets play at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, April 1, 2026. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News For four years, Will Hardy has been coaching the Utah Jazz with one hand tied behind his back . So it stands to reason that when he is released from all restraints, as he will be next season, we’ll see a side to him that has yet to reveal itself.
Hardy isn’t willing to admit that he’s going to be any different. He has coached players hard and attempted to demand a standard of effort and understanding. He has tried to maximize the potential of each of the players who has worn a Jazz jersey and has shown almost every angle of his personality to his players.
But, Hardy isn’t able/permitted/allowed to say that the Jazz have been outright tanking for four years. He can’t say that he has made lineup decisions to alter the outcome of a game. He can’t say that the decisions of his superiors have changed the way that he has coached.
He can’t say that he has had a different approach, knowing that the result of a game doesn’t matter. Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy, right, frowns while talking with Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith, center, and CEO Danny Ainge, left, during game against the Charlotte Hornets at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026.