Hall2012 wrote:Bill Marsh wrote:
Why get rid of Willard? He’s the most successful coach the Hall has had in along time. Who’s going to replace him?
Now to be clear, I'm not firmly in the fire Willard camp as several Hall fans are at the moment - I'll wait and see where the rest of this season goes. However, it is extremely concerning how he has such a talented an experienced team so wildly under performing. And at the current trajectory, it would be the 3rd time in his tenure that he would have a team enter February "playing for seeding" and then collapse to the point of missing the tournament completely.
I agree. Coming into the season, I thought that the combination of talent and experience had Seton Hall better positioned than anyone else in the Big East - including Villanova.
My focus would be on the fact that Willard is the guy who got that talent to South Orange and who has kept it there, navigating some rough waters in the first year or two. That’s the biggest part of the job.
Willard’s critics can look at his shortcomings, but the question that has to be asked, “If not him, then who?” His predecessor was a disaster. Louie could coach, but didn’t like to do the recruiting work. Point being that they all have shortcomings - some more than others - and it could be worse. I’ll also note that Willard’s still a pretty young guy who’s still growing as a coach. This experience will make him better. John Wooden didn’t even make the tournament for his first 14 years. (I know, it was harder then.) But once he got there, you couldn’t keep him out or from winning once he got there. Coaches need time to grow professionally just like anyone else.