When he took the job in March, Kevin Willard became just the fifth full-time men’s basketball head coach at Maryland since the 1969-70 season.
In several ways, Willard enters a complicated situation at Maryland. The school is now more than 20 years removed from not only its only national championship but also its last trip to even an Elite Eight, and fan interest in the program has waned in recent years.
Yet the former Seton Hall coach is enthusiastic about the job. The son of a former head coach (Ralph Willard) and protégé of a coaching legend (Rick Pitino), Willard comes to the Terps knowing he has to get things moving quickly. He has already had success recruiting and has scheduled big nonconference games. But can he get the program back to national relevance in reasonably short order?
Willard joined PressBox’s Stan “The Fan” Charles and Glenn Clark for a lengthy conversation discussing his path to College Park, the task ahead of him and why local convenience stores might want to stock up on chewing gum.
This interview has been edited for content and clarity.
PressBox: What is something you learned about the Maryland job before you coached a game that you didn’t know when you originally took it?
Kevin Willard: I would say how big the fan base is. I knew how passionate the fan base was. It’s a great fan base. It’s passionate. But I just didn’t realize the amount of alumni and how far it stretches. I’ve been in San Francisco. I’ve been in Tampa, Houston, sitting in airports and just having multiple people stopping, sitting down, talking Maryland basketball. I knew it was a passionate fan base. I just really didn’t know the size and scope of how big that passion was.
PB: The fan base was incredibly passionate through Gary Williams’ tenure. That passion hasn’t been there with the same intensity in recent years. Is that something you’re aware of? Is rekindling that passion a bit of a daunting task?
KW: I’ve been made aware of it more than anything. We’ve hit the ground really running in trying to get some good momentum going and some enthusiasm. I think it’s something that as a new coach anywhere, you kind of have that expectation, I would say. Our focus has so far been in the preseason of trying to make sure that we bring some kids in and play a style that the fans can kind of get behind and embrace.
PB: Does Maryland’s brand nationally still matter the same way it has in the past?
KW: Yeah. I just think it needs polishing up. It needs a little energy behind it. The football team playing well, that just adds juice. I think all those factors really matter. But wherever I go, everyone knows the University of Maryland. They know Maryland basketball. Unfortunately, as you guys have explained, everybody kind of has this apathy about everything in the program. Just trying to get people re-energized has really been my main goal.
PB: You mentioned having a style of play that fans can get behind. What is that going to look like on the floor?
KW: There’s a balance because to be good, you’ve got to be able to play slow. The last four years [Jay Wright’s Villanova teams played at] a turtle’s pace. He would make a turtle look fast. But he spent his first 10 years as a coach playing really up-tempo and getting very, very good players. Then he kind of changed his format a little bit as he got older. We’re going to play fast, but we will adjust I think at times. It’s tough to play fast on the road. In this conference, if you go up and think you’re going to run up and down with Purdue, Michigan State and Iowa, you’re going to get your ass kicked. We’re going to press at home. We’re going to get after it a little bit more at home than we would on the road. More or less, the thing that I really focused on at Seton Hall and I’ll do here is letting the crowd really embrace the players. I always had technically a star player that the fans loved to get behind, and I think that’s something in the age of the portal that is tough and it’s one reason we’ve really focused on next year’s class being a freshman class.
PB: How long does it take to rebuild a program? Does Iowa State going from two wins to the Sweet 16 create unrealistic expectations for fans that a new coach can just come in and make it all work in a year?
KW: Usually Years 2 and 3, to be honest with you, are your most difficult years in a program. I talked to [Maryland athletic director Damon Evans] about that. I said, “The thing that I didn’t have at Seton Hall that I have here, to be perfectly honest with you, I was last in funding.” I told Damon, “I’ve got to be able to pay my assistants. I’ve got to be able to hire guys that are going to be great recruiters, great coaches. I need a staff that’s going to be a high level.” I think the biggest difference between this job, besides the conference, is Damon gave me the resources to go out and hire a great staff, and I think I have one of the best staffs in college basketball. Just having that advantage from when I started at Seton Hall, I’m light years ahead of where I was. The guys that I took to Seton Hall were great, but we were not ready to compete in the Big East as a staff. This staff here … I think I have the best staff in the country. I don’t think anyone has an appetite anymore for losing, to be perfectly honest with you, especially coaches. We’ve had really, really good success over the last eight years and it’s like, “I’m not ready to take a step back.”
PB: When you announced the UCLA home-and-home series, was that something bigger? Were you making a declaration about the type of nonconference schedule that you’re planning on playing moving forward?
KW: I had visions of grandeur on the schedule, to be honest with you. One of the things that I kind of figured out in scheduling is that if you play a really good nonconference tournament, it really helps your fan base. I’ve played in the Bahamas. I’ve played in St. Thomas, Charleston, Orlando — warm weather, good opponents, big-time tournaments. That’s kind of helped my nonconference schedules, because then the fans kind of forget about the five [lesser games] that you have in there. The problem with the schedule [is] I’m kind of locked in for two years [on nonconference tournaments]. That sort of hindered the nonconference. What I did with UCLA is I just thought I wanted to have another program on the schedule that I think we need to be associated with. Whether it was going to be Kentucky or UCLA or Kansas, it happened to be UCLA. I’m very good friends with [Bruins head coach Mick Cronin], so it just happened to work out that Mick was coming East. He needed a place. I wanted a big-time name on the schedule. I wanted a home game to start. When you talk about recruiting nationally and the Maryland name nationally, you’ve got to be able to say that we’re going to go play against anybody.
PB: Would you like to play Duke again on occasion?
KW: They’re never going to play us, unless we get them in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Who knows what happens with the ACC in a couple years. I can’t live in the past that way. I’ve got to run my program in the future and what’s best. I get the history. I know the history well. I study the history. But at the same time, you’ve got to make sure you’re doing what’s best for your program right now and where we are in the Big Ten. I know [Duke head coach Jon Scheyer] pretty well, but … the Big Ten’s probably going to go to 22 league games. [Duke has] three built-in huge games. They’re not looking to have another. That’s the hard thing fans just don’t understand about scheduling. They have the [Champions Classic]. They’re always in [Madison Square Garden]. They’re in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. To add us or to add another game is really difficult, to be honest with you.
PB: You brought a lot of alums back this past summer. Were there one or two guys you didn’t know who you hit it off with who you could see being a bit more involved, whether that’s officially or unofficially, moving forward with the program?
KW: No, there haven’t been one or two guys. I think what my focus has been on with the former players is Maryland’s unique in the fact that we haven’t had like 30 coaches in the lifespan [of the program]. Len Elmore’s been great. I’ve really enjoyed talking to Len. I think he’s going to be great for our players, talking to our players. Greivis [Vasquez] was awesome. … They all have so much passion for this place, and they all have a certain unique story. I want my players and my staff to learn their stories and understand what this place means because I think the more you buy into it, the harder it will be to leave but the more you’ll want to come back when you do.
PB: Do you have a relationship with Gary Williams and would you welcome him to practices occasionally?
KW: I’ve played golf with Coach already about four or five times. I’ve had dinner with him. He’s been to practice. I think times have changed. … I think I’m smart enough to know that Coach Williams has a tremendous amount of years of knowledge that he can pass on not only to me but maybe members of my staff, my younger staff. I’ve talked to Mark [Turgeon] quite a bit just about not only this place but I think he’s a really good basketball coach. Everyone’s welcome. I’m one of those guys, I love having people around. I love having people at practice. I love picking the brains of guys. Ed Cooley watched my practice a week before we played them because I was like, “Give me some things that you’re thinking that I could do.” In today’s world, everyone gets so secretive. Everybody thinks everybody’s doing top-secret stuff and [they’re] the greatest. No, I have a lot to learn. I love learning. Coach Williams has been around. He’s going to be around.
PB: Programs used to have players that stayed for three or four years and coaches developed the player. Is that still possible in today’s college basketball?
KW: That’s our goal. That’s my hope. I don’t think you’re going to see it quite as much, to be perfectly honest with you. I never had a top-eight [player] transfer at Seton Hall. The bottom of your roster is always getting flushed out. They’re not happy, you’re not happy with them. It’s like a perfect divorce. But I think you’re going to see a lot more of your top eight leaving. I never had to worry about that. They knew they were going to get their time. They knew they were getting developed. It all worked out for them. Because you can transfer right away and play somewhere else, maybe you don’t have your top four leave anymore, but you’re going to see that next four really transfer and the next four after that are really going to transfer. I think it’s still possible, but I don’t think it’s going to be as much as it used to be.
PB: How important has the transfer portal and NIL made your time management skills? I imagine you can put a lot of time into one kid and he can be gone quickly. How has it changed the landscape of what you do?
KW: My biggest fear for college basketball is that I think we’re going to see very quickly the demise of college basketball. I hate to say it. I hate to be that negative. I think we have a great sport. I think we’re doing some good things for everybody. The portal becomes very difficult because kids can just get up and leave. And now with NIL, if you have a kid and he has a good year, he has the possibility of leaving and maybe not going to a better situation but you’re not going to fault a kid for leaving [and] getting $200,000. It’s something we talk about every day as a staff. We’ve been aggressive with NIL fundraising. We’ve had good success. We’ve had great alumni support. But I think it’s a train wreck waiting to happen.
PB: Are you convinced that Maryland can compete in that NIL world enough that you can be relevant year in and year out?
KW: I can tell you [Maryland athletic director Damon Evans] understands NIL [as well as] anyone I’ve talked to. He really gets it. I think he understands it. He knows the balance. I think NIL needs to kind of evolve, hopefully, into true NIL instead of what we have now. I had never dealt with NIL at Seton Hall … but by the third week on this job, the staff sat in there and we were just flabbergasted because we were like, “Man, this went from 0 to 1,000.” It happened [quickly], and there are no rules on it. You’re recruiting a kid and you’re talking to a kid and all the sudden his parent sits there and says, “This school says they’re going to give us $350,000.” And you’re like, “Well, that school’s not really supposed to say that. You’re not supposed to talk about money.” There are no rules. There’s no anything. Damon’s great. He gets it, man. He’s as involved and forward-thinking as anyone I’ve talked to so far. I just think that for the University of Maryland, it’s going to be an evolving process of how involved we get in the NIL space.
PB: When you took the job, did you know anything about the relationship between Maryland and DeMatha? Does Jahmir Young fix that?
KW: I knew the distance. When we got Jahmir, I didn’t know that was the first player [from DeMatha] in 20 years. I was kind of floored by that a little bit. But there are so many other dynamics that play into that. I could go on for years on the reasons why they probably missed out on a couple. … With Jahmir and getting him, I think the DeMatha thing was huge, but just also getting a Maryland kid. Noah [Batchelor] being our first guy, a Maryland kid. Jahmir is going to be the point guard this year, going to be a main player. Proving to everyone that’s growing up in Maryland that you stay home, Coach Willard’s going to take care of you.
PB: Obviously your father, Ralph, has been a big influence on you. You spent a lot of time with Rick Pitino as an apprentice under him. Who else was a big factor for you as a coach?
KW: [Longtime coach] Jim O’Brien was really big. When I was with the Celtics, I kind of worked under [O’Brien] and I did all the video scouting and advance scouting. But what Jim really taught me was how to really break down film and to really kind of scout a team and come up with defensive game plans. I think he’s one of the best in the business that there ever was. He really took me under his wing. Really, I learned every day about like, “How are we going to stop Michael Jordan? How are we going to stop Karl Malone and [John] Stockton? When you play a pick-and-roll [or isolation] team, these are the things you focus on. These are the things you focus on in practice.” It was amazing how he changed game plans or he changed drills depending on the team we played. I still use the same note cards that he used. I still use the same team cards that he used. I still scout every game. I don’t have an assistant do it, I do it. I come up with the defensive game plan, then they implement it during practice. But I watch hours and hours and hours of film and come up with defensive game plans, and it’s because of what [O’Brien] did. He taught me the work ethic. He taught me really specific skills that really helped him, and it’s helped me tremendously.
PB: You were offered the Delaware job in 2006, but the offer was pulled because of a DUI you pleaded guilty to in 2004. Do you talk to kids openly about it? Do you share your story as far as the impact that decisions can have?
KW: Absolutely. We talk about that shit every day. I never judge my players. No matter what happens, I never judge them. I’m not in a position where I’ll ever judge anybody, and I use my life experiences. That’s not the only bad decision I’ve ever made and it probably won’t be my last bad decision. I’m constantly trying to evolve as a person, as a human, as a father, as a husband. I changed dramatically when I became a father. My DUI changed my habits forever, but I changed as a person when I became a father. I kind of blended both of them together, and that’s kind of how I’ve lived my life since that moment. I’ve tried to be a better person every day. I try to be a good person every day. I don’t care what people think anymore just because it’s irrelevant in my life. I try to live my life better every day and try to be the best person possible, and that’s what I try to give my team and my players through my experiences. If you can’t learn from a major mistake, then you’re probably going to make another major one.
PB: You’re extremely superstitious. Is there any superstition we might notice as we watch you on the sideline?
KW: You can tell with my ties. I’ll start with red. If we’re winning, I’ll stick with red. If we lose, I’ll switch a color. … I’ll forget to shave on a game day one day, but if we win, then I’m not going to shave. What I eat, how I eat, I can go on for days, but the ties are usually the biggest giveaway to fans. I won’t give away another one, but there are only two Seton Hall fans that ever kind of figured out my main one. It happens during a game. If I have a certain piece of gum that I chew during a game, if that’s working, buy stock in that gum because that stuff will get chomped on like crazy. It happened like seven years into Seton Hall. It was kind of comical. A young girl sent me a letter. She’s like, “I know your biggest superstition.” She wrote on the letter — I still have it — “Trident.” I was flabbergasted. I wrote her a letter back. I said, “No one’s ever picked up on that.” It was like the coolest thing ever.
Photo Credits: Kenya Allen/PressBox and Courtesy of Maryland Athletics