Celtics Assistant Will Hardy Reportedly a 'Leading Candidate' for Jazz Head-Coaching Job

Will Hardy rose through the ranks with the Spurs before reuniting with Ime Udoka in Boston.

Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

The Jazz have cast a wide net in search of a successor to Quin Snyder, who stepped down from his post as Utah's head coach three weeks ago.

The Jazz have reportedly interviewed at least 15 candidates to fill that void, including Celtics assistant coaches Will Hardy and Joe Mazzulla. According to Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune, the former's emerged as a leading candidate for the position.

Hardy broke into the NBA as a video intern with the Spurs in 2010. He then served as a team video coordinator from 2013 to 2015. In a testament to his basketball acuity and work ethic, Gregg Popovich conveyed the following to Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe.

“Before long, he became the head of it, the guy that I depended on. If I wanted the post-ups or pick-and-rolls or to know why we sucked at something last night, he’d come in and say, ‘Well, look, this is what they did.’ He’d break it down for me. And I said, ‘Oh, my God, this guy is breaking stuff down just like we do.’”

Hardy earned a spot on Popovich's coaching staff in 2015, then moved last offseason from San Antonio to Boston, reuniting with Ime Udoka.

In late April, he interviewed for the Kings head-coaching vacancy, which ultimately went to Warriors assistant and former Cavaliers and Lakers head coach Mike Brown.

While Sacramento chose a more experienced candidate, Larsen reports of Utah's opening, "it looks like the team’s decision-makers are favoring the younger assistant coaches in their search for a new leader."

Veteran NBA insider Marc Stein recently mentioned in his newsletter, “the rising expectation in coaching circles is that Utah, with Danny Ainge entrenched as the club’s new CEO, wants to hire a young first-time coach to replace Quin Snyder.”

Along with Hardy, Larsen lists Suns assistant coach Kevin Young as a leading candidate.

Larsen also relayed the Jazz believe they're on track to follow the same six-week timeline it took them to hire Snyder. As mentioned earlier, he stepped down three weeks ago. Doing so would mean naming Snyder's successor in mid-July.

Speaking on the possibility the Jazz pluck someone off his coaching staff, Udoka expressed the following at a press conference.

"We have two guys interviewing with Utah, Will Hardy and Joe Mazzulla, so we'll see what happens there," adding, "we have a lot of young talented guys on our coaching staff, and we like to elevate from within whenever possible."

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