Roy Williams Rips Media After Final Four Win over Syracuse

The North Carolina Tar Heels are back in the national championship game for the first time since 2009, and head coach Roy Williams celebrated by going after the media.

After the Tar Heels defeated the Syracuse Orange, 83-66, in Saturday's Final Four matchup in Houston, the Hall of Fame coach said the criticism he's received from the media and fans was unwarranted, and he is "a helluva lot smarter about basketball than you guys are," per Dane Belbeck of theScore:

"

What do you guys do after basketball is over? You cover baseball. What do you guys do after baseball is over? You cover football. I don't take any breaks. ...

I see our guys in the locker room every single day. You know how many practices we have had? 98 practices. How many of you guys have been to our practices? I would never criticize somebody about something that they know a heckuva lot more about. ...

When I retire in 2035, I want to be an announcer one year, [because] I want to be the only announcer not to criticize coaches.

"

Williams' comments toward the media were not anything new. He criticized ESPN in January for using the term "green-room potential" when referring to NBA draft prospects who gather at the location of the draft in June.

For a coach of Williams' caliber, it would seem like he doesn't need extra motivation, but he appears to use talk from the outside as fuel for his players, per Dan Wolken of USA Today:

The comments came off as an "I told you so" moment from the legendary coach.

His team is back in the national title game, and he has a chance to cut the nets down for the third time, which would rank him among the all-time greats in college basketball—so he doesn't need to prove to anyone how great of a coach he is.

North Carolina will face Villanova on Monday in Houston at 9:19 p.m. ET for the title.