Ralph Willard, a dismal failure as head basketball coach at Pitt. A coach who could recruit, but ignored character while at Pitt.
Well, Willard is leaving his position as head coach of Holy Cross — his alma mater — to resume being Rick Pitino’s manservant lackey assistant.
I only made it to Fitzgerald for two games in the Willard era. Both ended the same way. Pitt blew huge leads and lost when the opposing team shot a gamewinner at the buzzer. The UConn game that sealed his fate and against Rutgers a year or two before.
I wish him nothing but the worst.
Willard’s crime is that he was sold as the next coming of Pitino and fell way short. He was in over his head, and did quite well for himself at Holy Cross.
Now going back to being an ass’t, that’s strange but maybe he just doesn’t want all the responsibility of a head coach. I’m sure he still has a lot to offer as a coach.
The evidence suggests that Willard is a good coach, but I get the feeling that he was simply not prepared to deal with the realities of a bigger program on an urban campus. I don’t think it is any reason to hold him in contempt – Pitt just was not a good fit for him as a head coach.