Former NCAA coach Chris Knoche joins G&D to discuss Kevin Willard leaving Maryland in one of the most bizarre ways ever.
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00:00We got to get to our guy, Chris Knocke in just one second, but my phone was recording
00:04everything I was saying and trying to send it to my buddy, Kyle Gibson. Oh no. Who pitches
00:08for the Orioles? Oh no. Like read that. What is that tech? What is it with me and reliever?
00:11I'm not going to send it. I promise. Yeah. All right, here we go. What is it with me
00:15and relievers? Stretch out. Okay. Stretch out of grant and Danny. We'll take up to six
00:1930 Nats play blue Jays in one hour. Roger center in Toronto. I have ever been to that
00:23ballpark there. A bunch of covered LCS for the MLB network radio for you. This is the,
00:27it's just what we're trying to keep up. Yeah. Uh, there's also hotel out behind center
00:32field. Did you guys see the video of Colton cower launching a baseball up up to like the
00:36very top row of the hotel rooms? Another funny thing, but still funny. So earmuffs everyone,
00:41there are some like viral videos of like games in the sixth, which is quiet in there. Nobody's
00:45there. And there are some people enjoying themselves in the hotel room. Yeah. Very obviously
00:48like that window open, et cetera, et cetera. Not as bad as what you said to cancel it.
00:52Not as bad. All right. No good transition, but let's go to the rude guest hotline right
00:56now. Rude, the most reliable heating and air conditioning products in the DMV and apologize
01:01for how this segment has begun. Sorry, Chris, just a couple of guys off the rails here.
01:05Let's get to business with our guy, Chris Knocke. What's up, Chris? That's a hell of
01:09an intro right there. I've been on the, on the station a thousand times. That's as good
01:15as you can get. You ever stayed in the outfield? I've been to the Roger center. Shock, shock
01:24Wow. All right, well let's talk Maryland basketball. So before we get to what's next, cause I do
01:29want your insight on where they go from here. What is your take on how Willard handled the
01:33last two weeks? Uh, how about clown? Like, is that a, uh, I just think he just, it was
01:42just poorly handled as you could have done it. And you know, in retrospect and I, you,
01:47you have the benefit of a little bit of history now, um, in your rear view, it's hard for
01:52me fellows to think that this deal wasn't done a month or six weeks ago. Um, it just,
01:58it, everything you think, think about these things. Any coach in America who's got the
02:04kind of team he did at Maryland would be worried about distractions as you get into the NCAA
02:09tournament. Any, any, those distractions became man-made by their head coach. Uh, there was
02:14never any word or inkling from Villanova or Villanova's camp about any other candidates.
02:21That is a great sports town. Uh, there's some great journalists, sports journalism
02:27there, never a peep about other candidates. Uh, and you know, I'd heard from a lot of
02:33friends, some of whom are basketball coaches in that town that Willard was wired in that
02:39to the, into that situation. So in retrospect, it feels like it was done a long time ago
02:44and all the public hand wringing that we saw from him was really more of a, an act that
02:51he started at Seton Hall before he left for Maryland. And then we just saw him almost
02:56word for word said the exact same thing. Um, you know, angst ridden guy. I haven't talked
03:01to my family. I haven't talked to my agent. Uh, yada, yada, yada. And I was on the trip
03:06with a team out West and I, I may have my travel privileges revoked after saying this,
03:12but I will tell you that there were, there were people there that looked a lot like his
03:16wife and kids on that trip. So to think that speaking time there. Yeah, sure. Sure. Yeah.
03:23He was watching film the whole time. Um, so I dunno, just defies logic. It just was handled
03:29so poorly. And, uh, and the other thing it did too, there are two byproducts of this
03:34too. And I mentioned this, the doc, when I was on the air with him yesterday, uh, it,
03:39it made it so Maryland fans couldn't enjoy a sweet 16 moment, you know, when, when Derek
03:42queen hits that shot, they're the toast to college basketball, uh, for a matter of a
03:47couple of hours. And then all the Willard shenanigans started. And so you don't even
03:52get a chance to really appreciate that, uh, and have fun with that after 10 years of not
03:59being able to get to the sweet 16. And then lastly, and I'm sorry, this is a long winded
04:03answer to your question, but the last thing is, is that there were some really great candidates
04:09that would have been ideal for this position if he hadn't left everybody hanging. And,
04:15uh, those guys are gone now. It's a, it's a fantastic job. It's a great college basketball
04:20coaching job. They're going to get somebody good, but there were a couple of guys out
04:25there, you know, whether it's Ryan Odom at VCU or, uh, the guy, Colorado state's just
04:30fantastic. Nico Medved is just fantastic. And those guys are now, of course, long gone
04:36on the market. So it just, there, there's so many parts to this that it just kind of
04:41stink. Um, I'm not sure where to start. How did I do pretty darn good, Chris, Chris knocking
04:47with the CRM G and D. So I help me understand. So you're much closer to this than I am. So
04:52if we go with the premise and I think what you said made a lot of sense that this was
04:55all but locked in him going to Villanova, then what was he doing? What it looked like
05:00to me, Chris is the kerosene was dumped on the Maryland program with the whole press
05:05conference and outing the ad and, and those other kinds of stuff, dump the kerosene sitting
05:09there holding the match going, I'll drop it. I'll drop it unless I get all these things.
05:12I want, what was that? If this was already kind of a done deal, I was creating a narrative,
05:18uh, creating a narrative. So if, if, and when he left, uh, these are the reasons why I've
05:23made them all public. And in fact, all those things, and I, I, you know, it's hard to argue
05:28with some of the things that he wanted, uh, to make sure that he was in line and competitive
05:34with the people he recruits against. They gave him virtually everything he wanted.
05:39The last offer sheet he got had absolutely all of those things on there. They're also
05:43bringing a new practice facility online next month. You know, I mean, every box was checked.
05:48It was just simply, it was a public airing of the grievances of four so that he could
05:55sort of document here's, you know, here's why I'm going to leave.
05:59Chris, knocky calls, Maryland basketball games with Johnny holiday on the radio, joining us
06:04on grant and Danny here on the fan. You went into the candidates that may have made sense
06:09at the timing been better. What does that pool look like now?
06:15I think that people are back channeling this. I think you've got a lot of sitting five,
06:20you know, sitting power, five coaches that are really intrigued. Uh, I, you know,
06:24while there are no big 10 teams remote remaining in the tournament, you know, it's a very strong
06:31conference in a lot of ways, not just the level of competition. It's also the, uh, you know,
06:36the financial stability, the TV contract, the TV money's just outrageous. There are a lot of
06:42positive reasons to be a part of this program. Um, so my guess is, and I'm not a part of this
06:48and thank God I'm not, but my guess is that there are a lot, there's a lot of back channeling going
06:52on. And of course there'll be some young guys that want the job that you, you know, you know,
06:56you want to make sure you, you talk to, even if it's just briefly, this job to be filled pretty
07:02quickly. Uh, every day you're out of the portal, the transfer portal means you're, you're, you're
07:07a couple of miles behind. So I know they've got an open ad position. This is one of those
07:12ass backwards things where they'll hire a basketball coach well before they hire the ad
07:18it's out of necessity at this point. Yeah. Not ideal, but it's, it's our go, man. Best
07:22of the bad ideas, I guess. Right. You got to figure it out as you go. Um, what do you make
07:29of this perception that the, they have to hire a Maryland guy, like a Michigan man kind of thing.
07:36And I asked that because I am not a believer in shrinking your talent pool and hiring processes.
07:42Like my issue with money ball over the years was, wait, so you're telling me I can't draft the best
07:48high school baseball player in America. And you're telling me I can't get this athlete. Cause I need
07:51to get this on base percentage dude who plays first base. I don't like how many guys are there
07:57that have a Maryland background that are qualified. I know that Simpkins is awesome, but otherwise
08:01like who's the guy. Yeah. And I, I totally agree with you. And I should also give you this caveat
08:08that I didn't wear the uniform. I don't have the letter jacket. I've been doing the games for 26
08:12years. And I think I understand, uh, sort of the, you know, the psychological profile of a lot of
08:19Maryland fans. And I get why they would say that, but I think that's biting off your nose to spite
08:25your face. You, you really want to make yourself available to a wide swath of people, whether they
08:31went to Maryland, whether they don't, they didn't, uh, that's just so self-limiting to, to, to take
08:37that approach. I'm respectful of a guy like Steve Blake who stepped up on Twitter and he was a
08:41wonderful player, a great competitor. I'm respectful of that. I just don't think that you can make that
08:48higher that way, but that's, that's my own opinion. Others may feel differently. Okay. So to me,
08:56Chris, and again, you're closer to this than I am. I I've watched from afar. Both my parents
08:59went there. I used to be a much bigger Maryland fan than I am because Maryland told me with the
09:04move to the big 10 and, you know, sort of football being this priority, we're trying to change.
09:09We're trying to be something different than we were. And that's sort of what I still see at the
09:13kind of the core is that is, I don't want to call it an identity crisis, but something close to it
09:17to me, basketball kind of took a backseat wrongly for a while. And now it seems like it's coming
09:21back in this era of NIL and to keep up with the Joneses, the point that actually Wood was making.
09:26So where is the school now in terms of terms of its athletic department and the, and the,
09:30and the overall mission here, if there's a pie, is it the, is the slice going to be
09:35big enough for basketball going forward? Yeah. I mean, I think that's one of the
09:39changes they made, you know, uh, after, you know, after Willard brought that to light.
09:45And I think that'll be absolutely be in place for the next guy. And just as a really brief
09:50history lesson, I know there are a lot of Maryland fans that, you know, were wringing
09:54their hands for a long time about the move from the ACC. My guy, Kevin Sheehan, you know,
09:58I had to tell him five or six years ago, you got to get over this, you know,
10:02we're in a far better place. You look at where the ACC is right now, but I, Danny, to your point,
10:07I mean, Maryland football can have a great, great season next year and still be the sixth best
10:12program in a big 10. Uh, we just, you know, we don't have the tradition of the stadium size.
10:18It was just, and I know the locks, I know he's trying like hell to, to, to overcome all that.
10:23I just think that the realization has to be, you know, where, who we are.
10:28And traditionally we have, we've had some good years in football, but I mean,
10:31we've had a run in basketball or you look at what the success over the last like 50 years or so.
10:37And it's pretty remarkable. Uh, some of the, the talent, the players, the coaches that have,
10:42that have roamed those halls is the perception. And we're talking to Chris Knocke,
10:47color commentator, Maryland radio is the perception that they care more about football
10:54than basketball reality. I mean, that's what outsiders, like, that's what perturbs along
10:58the question that Danny just asked you, like, Hey, you're a basketball stool act like it.
11:03No, I don't. And so, so here's the deal. You've got 105 players on a football team or whatever
11:08that number is. It's literally seven or eight times what you have in a basketball program.
11:15And so their pie, the piece of the pie is going to be bigger. And you also have to come to the
11:19realization. I get it. Football is the tail that wags the dog here. You know, football is the
11:23reason why the big 10 has the kind of money to distribute to member schools. It's because of
11:30largely because of that football, uh, contract. But I do know also that there were what, eight,
11:35nine, big 10 teams in the NCAA tournament. There will be a significant slice of that,
11:40that, uh, NCAA pie that goes to, to member schools as a result of that level of participation.
11:47I just think that some schools Penn state to me is a football school, right? I mean, they've,
11:52they've, they've had middling success in basketball. Uh, you know, there are very few
11:56schools really that, that do it all really well. And then, you know, Michigan comes to mind Ohio
12:01state sometimes, you know, they've had some pretty good years in basketball, won some
12:05championships back in the sixties. I don't know if that's relevant now, but I just think you have
12:09to know who you are for sure. And, um, and I, I agree with you. I don't think that it's an
12:14inordinate amount spent on football. I think it's, you know, if I'm reading what I'm reading about
12:19the way they've sliced it, it seems like appropriate to me. So Chris, my last one for you
12:25is here. The timing of this, I think is also really hard. You already mentioned it, right?
12:28The, just some of the candidates would have been great are off the marketplace now, but what about
12:33also player movement and some of those other things I saw, uh, or heard a report that Rodney
12:37Rice is already under the transfer portal. It's going to be tough to kind of get guys back,
12:41kind of get going to be tough to get guys in this process. He's to kind of go light speed,
12:44but you also want to do due diligence there. What about the timing for maybe this next coming season
12:48or two? Yeah. So I, if I'm advising any player in this day and age, Danny, I'm telling them to go
12:54into the portal. And then the reason is it allows that guy benchmark himself. What am I, you know,
13:00you don't know what you're worth. Do you find out what other people are willing to pay you?
13:05That doesn't mean you're not going back. I can tell you, you know, knowing those guys,
13:09those guys enjoyed Maryland. They had a really good time. They were prime guys on,
13:12on a really good basketball team. I bet this doesn't mean they're not coming back at all.
13:18This is just, this is them kicking the tires. And I completely understand the way the system
13:23is set up. Hell, it'd be silly not to go out and see what they can get elsewhere.
13:28That doesn't mean they can't take it back to Maryland and say, listen, I want to stay,
13:31but you're going to have to hit this number because that's what, you know, Michigan just
13:35offered me. No, that's well said. I do think that this is just a massive setback though. I have a
13:41hard time believing with the timing of his exit, the momentum that they had, that this is a three,
13:45four year kind of setback in Crippler. Do you disagree with that? I do because I think that
13:51what we've seen over the last year or two is you can build a team in short order. I helped
13:55Maryland did that in one year. I mean, they, they sort of, they got lucky with a, with an all-time
14:02great freshman and Derek Queen. You got another one of those, Chris?
14:07Well, but they also, they got, they hit gold with Jacoby Gillespie, their point guard who nobody,
14:13you wouldn't have been able to pick him out of a lineup two years ago at Belmont. So they did the
14:18work. You can turn things around. That doesn't mean you can put, automatically turn yourself
14:23into a top 10 team. There are no more three or four year plans. It's a one year plan, maybe two
14:29years at most. And then, uh, and then you, you redo that. That's just kind of where we are right
14:35now. Sadly. Chris, thank you, buddy. Really appreciate the insight, man. Thanks for this.
14:40Hey, may your NFL rule changes all come true. We need them, brother. We got our shot every year
14:45for about 72 hours. We try to solve the world's problems. And this is how good is that league,
14:51by the way, whatever that is where they're like, we, we get the sense people may be
14:55talking about something else. Let's dangle some rule changes for the peasants.
14:59Yeah, they need the help, right? They need to become more popular with those
15:03rule changes for sure. All right. Thanks. Knocking. Good talking to you, pal.
15:09There's Chris knocky, Maryland basketball on Grant and Danny on the fan.