Among the fans in attendance at San Antonio’s Alamodome to watch Villanova lock up a second men’s basketball national championship in three years was Mark Ferrante, the second-year head football coach who arrived at the school three decades ago, when the historic 1985 title game upset of Georgetown was still fresh in the minds of Wildcats fans and current basketball coach Jay Wright was a young assistant for legendary coach Rollie Massimino.
After serving as an assistant himself to longtime coach Andy Talley, Ferrante took over the football program in December 2016. While he had been in Houston for Kris Jenkins’s title-winning buzzer beater two years ago, Ferrante took advantage of Villanova’s Easter break and his elevated title this time around to get the full Final Four experience: catching up with the school’s football alumni, interviewing a candidate for a facilities position and held a meeting with hopes of filling out future football schedules.