Episode #33: “Stay Hungry, Stay Humble” with Villanova Basketball Coach Jay Wright

Hi everyone! Super excited to share my conversation with Villanova Head Basketball Coach Jay Wright, who is most well-known for winning the 2016 and 2018 National Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament. This podcast is also a special tribute to my dad, Tony Hayden, who passed away peacefully on October 9th at the age of 74 and was a lifelong Philadelphia basketball sports fan. I interviewed Coach Wright on Wednesday, September 26th and that night I gave my dad a sneak preview to the interview. My dad was one of the toughest critics of all time and I am happy to report that he loved every second of my conversation with Coach Wright! I hope you guys do too!

Quick background on Coach Wright: he and his wonderful wife named Patty have three children. Coach was born and raised right outside of Philadelphia in Bucks County where he went to Council Rock High School and then Bucknell University. He had a marketing job right out of college in Philadelphia before he took his first coaching job in 1984 at the University of Rochester. He went on to be the Assistant Coach at Drexel University, then Villanova University, and then the University of Nevada. He moved on to Head Coach at Hofstra University in 1994 and finally, Villanova in 2001.

Although Coach Wright has had an incredible amount of success, it’s important to remember that he started from the very bottom. Just like anyone else, he experienced a tremendous amount of failure and setbacks throughout his career and has had to use grit, perseverance, and a positive attitude to get to where he is today. What I absolutely loved the most about my conversation with Coach Wright is that even with all of his success, he is still the most humble and kindest person ever.