Subscribe
Follow Us
The Utah Jazz have signed head coach Will Hardy to a long-term contract extension through the 2030-31 NBA season, the team announced on Monday morning.
Hardy, 37, became the youngest active head coach in the league when the Jazz originally hired him in 2022. That mantle has since been passed to Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla. In his first three seasons with the Jazz, Hardy has led the organization to an underwhelming 85-161 record, failing to make the playoffs each year.
This season, Utah posted a 17-65 record, the franchise's worst in their 51-year history.
Many have questioned whether Hardy is the right person for the job in Salt Lake City, especially given this historically bad season the Jazz experienced. However, the organization remains committed to their head coach, as they believe he is the best person to help them emerge as a real threat from a rebuilding process.
“We are excited to extend Will Hardy’s contract as head coach of the Jazz through 2031,” owner Ryan Smith said on social media following the announcement of his head coach's contract extension. “Will is a great leader, communicator, and ambassador for our org, and is a tremendous partner to Danny [Ainge], JZ [Justin Zanik], and me. Our goal is to hang a banner, and Will is a huge part of this journey.”
When he took over on the sidelines for Quin Snyder in 2022, Hardy was tasked with leading a young, inexperienced Jazz team. After the organization moved on from Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert in 2022, Hardy inherited a roster full of developmental projects.
Since becoming the head coach in Utah after his stints as an assistant for the Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs, Hardy and his staff have shown tremendous growth and are rebuilding the franchise's image with young, emerging talents like Walker Kessler, Keyonte George, Isaiah Collier, and All-Star forward Lauri Markkanen.
Article Continues Below
“I’m humbled and honored,” Hardy told Holly Rowe in the team's press release. “This is an incredible franchise. To be able to be committed to the next phase of our process is hard to explain. Moments like this are very surreal. I’m so excited.”
Hardy has the backing of coaches around the league, as he was an instrumental part of the Celtics' run to the 2022 NBA Finals, and he comes from the Gregg Popovich coaching tree. The Jazz head coach was even given the opportunity to be on Popovich's Team USA staff that won the gold medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Utah understands there is no need to speed up their rebuild process, hence their patience with Hardy and this young team learning every season. The organization holds a lot of respect for him as a head coach, which is why Hardy is there to stay in Salt Lake City for the foreseeable future.
As far as how he views the team and his experiences as a head coach, Hardy understands that there is still a lot of room left to grow.
“I'm far from a finished product. There are moments when I have to make sure I have the humility to admit to mistakes that I make because there are times I have to hold them accountable for the mistakes they are making,” Hardy told ClutchPoints' Chris Dodson in January. “We're doing it together and we're all trying to improve. I'm not a critic of our team. I'm not a critic of our players.
“I'm in the fight with them every day and that's how I want them to feel.”
