Kevin Willard’s Old Comments About Leaving Seton Hall Resurface Amid Villanova Buzz

Kristen Wong | Mar 28, 2025

Maryland Terrapins head coach Kevin Willard watches play downcourt during the first half against the Florida Gators during a West Regional semifinal of the 2025 NCAA tournament at Chase Center. / Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

Maryland coach Kevin Willard has been having a busy last few weeks from leading the Terrapins to their first Sweet 16 berth in the last nine years to craftily dodging rumors about Villanova's head coaching vacancy.

Terrapins fans were seen booing Willard before Thursday night's 87-71 loss to No. 1 Florida, a bad look for the program as Maryland continues to deal with the sticky mess surrounding Willard's potential move to Villanova.

After Maryland's NCAA tournament run came to a bitter end, Willard gave an honest answer about the rumors linking him to Villanova.

"I don't know what I'm doing," Willard told reporters. "I haven't talked to my agent, I haven't talked to my wife. I made a promise to this team that I would focus on this team, and that's all I've done. I haven't talked to anybody. I have an agent, I'm sure he's talking to people because that's what agents like to do. But I don't know."

Amid growing speculation on the 49-year-old's coaching future, a presser of Willard has resurfaced in which he said nearly the exact same thing when he was thinking about leaving Seton Hall to take the Maryland job three years ago.

Take a listen:

“I haven’t talked to my agent”

Literally what he said after we lost to TCU and had already made plans with Maryland.

Not here to hate on Willard, but the similarities are uncanny. https://t.co/TB9YFaeT9m pic.twitter.com/BoZGme7f4w

— Seton Hall Mack (@SetonHallMack) March 28, 2025

Willard's answer came right after Seton Hall got knocked out by TCU in the first round of the 2021 NCAA tournament. He would end up joining Maryland the following season.

Could history repeat itself? Fans will just have to take their wagers until Willard gives a more substantial response to the rumors.

---

More College Basketball on Sports Illustrated

feed