Providence's Poor Handling of Kim English's Firing Benefits Nobody in Messy Divorce

The Friars created more of a mess as its season comes to a close with the handling of its head coach

Feb 11, 2026; Newark, New Jersey, USA; Providence Friars head coach Kim English at Prudential Center. / Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

It’s been a season to forget for the Providence Friars as the fourth year under head coach Kim English only got worse for the proud basketball program.

It was the worst kept secret in the Big East that the school was going to fire him at the end of the season but that news became official as reports surfaced as early as Wednesday night, shortly after the Friars lost by 22 in its final home game of the season, that English had been hold he would be let go at the end of the season.

But, why?

What good does it for anybody – Kim English, his players, the athletic department – that this news is in the public with at least two games remaining in Providence’s season?

Athletic director Steve Napolillo was already talking with different agents and coaches through back channels when the school came to the decision that English would be let go, but now it will become an even bigger distraction for his school in the next two weeks.

Oh – and Providence’s final game of the regular season is against former Friar head coach Ed Cooley, who rallied from a 21-point deficit to win in Friartown earlier this season, and will surely have a brash take on English’s pending departure.

Until its no-show against Marquette, Providence quietly turned things around after its self-inflicted fracas with St. John’s in mid-February, winning three straight games and putting itself in position to get a bye at the Big East Tournament next week.

It wouldn’t be enough to save Kim English’s job, but it created enough buzz around its city that the Friars could be a bid stealer entering Madison Square Garden where the heavy expectation is that UConn and the Red Storm will meet in the championship game.

Now, Providence is a dead team walking. It has talent on its roster that will be highly coveted in the transfer portal this spring, specifically freshmen Jamier Jones and Stefan Vaaks.

Other programs were likely tampering with the players and their agents throughout the season but now with a dead man walking as a head coach, everything is open season.

Providence has not officially fired Kim English and he will coach the team’s remaining games this season, but his stay won’t be long with the Friars, who could do something very fully and get a bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Big East Tournament and completely messing up the plans of Napolillo.