Buzz

[IWB]

Starting a new thread because I don't care to respond to crap.

He called a mtg at 4:00 to inform his staff.

Mixed thoughts - he was perfect for MU. Did us right, brought us huge success.

[mufansince72]

This just set the turnaround back a few years.

[The Reptile]

Good guy. Was probably tired with MU the last few years. Fans probably had something to do with it over this past season. He still lied about his tenure - I bet we still wanted him here.

We have been in worse spots and ended off better. Time for all parties to move on.

[kneelb4zerg]

I just don't get it and it is a potential killer with interim AD/Pres. At least Crean left for a blue blood. Losing a coach to Virginia Tech really hurts the perception of the program.

[MU_Iceman]

I just don't get it and it is a potential killer with interim AD/Pres. At least Crean left for a blue blood. Losing a coach to Virginia Tech really hurts the perception of the program.


It was the new conference, plain and simple. Buzz never liked it. Can't say i blame him. Think about who he gets to Coach against now, as opposed to who he Coached against in the new mid major BE. It's really that simple.

[mutpm]

I wish Buzz well, but does he honestly think he will have more success at Va. Tech than he's had and would have had at MU?

[ChitownAl]

It was the new conference, plain and simple. Buzz never liked it. Can't say i blame him. Think about who he gets to Coach against now, as opposed to who he Coached against in the new mid major BE. It's really that simple.

And how did he do coaching against who he coached against in the new BE? Good thing he got a reported 7 year contract.

[TulsaWarrior]

Think of it this way -- Buzz is a husband and father. He has four young kids. At 41 he can write his own ticket. Being a small town guy who has been a nomad most of his adult life. The constant moves need to come to an end because of family considerations. Virginia Tech and Blacksburg are off the beaten path. Roanoke (pop about 100,000) is the biggest nearby city. It's 45 minutes down the road. Perhaps he looks at Blacksburg as a place where he can raise his family and not have them under the microscope of a big city? He gets 7 years guaranteed and can retire by age 50 with a net worth conservatively in the neighbor of $30,000,000. If you were thinking of what is best for your family what would you do?

I hate that he is leaving and I'm disappointed. At the same time I want what is best for his family and respect that it is his choice to make. (fyi, I covered Virginia Tech sports for a couple of years)

[Gato78]

Money is not an issue at MU. Remember MU took a big gamble on him, more so than Crean. Leaving after a down year to a lesser program does not seem like he was thankful for the position he was put in here at MU. Absent very unusual circumstances, the only thing that makes sense to me is that he is an eccentric guy and has done an eccentric thing.

[pbiflyer]

Tulsa, what you said might be true, but makes everything Buzz said here a lie.

[mufansince72]

Money is not an issue at MU. Remember MU took a big gamble on him, more so than Crean. Leaving after a down year to a lesser program does not seem like he was thankful for the position he was put in here at MU. Absent very unusual circumstances, the only thing that makes sense to me is that he is an eccentric guy and has done an eccentric thing.

It pisses me off that after apparently getting his way with the AD, and winning the battle, that he would now leave for a bottom feeder program. At least leave us for a big pile of money, or a blue blood program. These guys are all just mercenaries.

[CaribouJim]

http://college-basketball.si.com/2014/03/21/buzz-williams-stunningly-leaves-marquette-for-virginia-tech/?eref=sihp

SI.com article on Buzz's departure - they are as equally stunned as we are.

[MUBasketball]

Very interested to see if he hires Monarch at Va Tech (of course he'd have to take him from Benford's staff to do that).

[MinnesotaJeb]

That Buzz was interested in the Auburn job before Pearl grabbed it tells me he must have been desperate to make a move as soon as he could---probably before he had two bad years in a row, even if that meant becoming a Hokie.

My guess is the biggest reason Buzz left is that, for all his intensive recruiting, he was still losing top talent to the big conference teams. So, if you can't beat them, why not just join them?

It may be also that the NBE culture was too alien for him, making him hanker to return to the good ol' South.

Anyway, Buzz is a very intense, a high octane personality so that so sooner or later, if he didn't get the homage he thought he deserved, something was going to set him into orbit. (Most folks I've talked with are happy he's gone because so much of the focus was on him.)

Marquette is a storied, strong basketball tradition with great financial support for the program, so that with any luck at all we'll land a good coach and return to our winning ways.

What I'm much more worried about is landing a good MU President to keep the tradition alive and not let the University itself slide into irrelevance.

[MUMac]

Think of it this way -- Buzz is a husband and father. He has four young kids. At 41 he can write his own ticket. Being a small town guy who has been a nomad most of his adult life. The constant moves need to come to an end because of family considerations. Virginia Tech and Blacksburg are off the beaten path. Roanoke (pop about 100,000) is the biggest nearby city. It's 45 minutes down the road. Perhaps he looks at Blacksburg as a place where he can raise his family and not have them under the microscope of a big city? He gets 7 years guaranteed and can retire by age 50 with a net worth conservatively in the neighbor of $30,000,000. If you were thinking of what is best for your family what would you do?

I hate that he is leaving and I'm disappointed. At the same time I want what is best for his family and respect that it is his choice to make. (fyi, I covered Virginia Tech sports for a couple of years)

What a crock of crap. He could write his own ticket before this. Give me a break. You are insufferable. WOW is all I can say. WOW.

[Nukem2]

What a crock of crap. He could write his own ticket before this. Give me a break. You are insufferable. WOW is all I can say. WOW.
Come on Mac, you are just frustrated. Lots of people make job changes for whatever perceived reasons. It sucks for us, but that's life .

[mutpm]

I would argue the microscope is going to be worse in a small town. Everyone will know who his kids are.

It's starting to look like Buzz wanted out of Marquette, nothing more, nothing less.

[AbovetheRim]

Come on Mac, you are just frustrated. Lots of people make job changes for whatever perceived reasons. It sucks for us, but that's life .

I don't get why anybody is that pissed. Nice coach? Sure. Elite, take you to a title coach? I don't think so and I think that will play out. He's Jeff Van Gundy to me. Tough, gritty, try hard teams.

[MUBasketball]

I don't get why anybody is that pissed. Nice coach? Sure. Elite, take you to a title coach? I don't think so and I think that will play out. He's Jeff Van Gundy to me. Tough, gritty, try hard teams.

He won a Big East championship last season. He took this program to at least 3 straight Sweet 16's -- only 2 other programs could say that at the time. Big loss.

The good news is if they make the right hire (like they did when Crean left), shouldn't skip a beat.

[MUMac]

Come on Mac, you are just frustrated. Lots of people make job changes for whatever perceived reasons. It sucks for us, but that's life .

I agree with that Nukem, but that was not what tulsa said. He has always defended and taken buzz's side - to an extreme in many cases. He had done so here. That is my opinion. I have taken the stuff he has said all along without comment, but to say he left for financial reasons? Really? Yes, I stay by my comments towards him. If you don't like it, I can live with that as well.

[MUMac]

I don't get why anybody is that pissed. Nice coach? Sure. Elite, take you to a title coach? I don't think so and I think that will play out. He's Jeff Van Gundy to me. Tough, gritty, try hard teams.

I am pissed because I believed the comments he made. I thought his words told of his character and his beliefs. I realize now that he was a fraud.

[Nukem2]

I agree with that Nukem, but that was not what tulsa said. He has always defended and taken buzz's side - to an extreme in many cases. He had done so here. That is my opinion. I have taken the stuff he has said all along without comment, but to say he left for financial reasons? Really? Yes, I stay by my comments towards him. If you don't like it, I can live with that as well.
Can't say I disagree with you. Two sides to a coin. More important is that MU moves on from here very quickly. Let's gobWarriors.

[mufan2003]

I hope the pro-Wisconsin and subtle anti-MU tone on the local airwaves and even in the local paper did not play a part in it, because I don't think that will stop anytime soon. If it is just because he could not personally have the AD he wanted, at least that will only be a problem exclusive to Buzz and not a future coach who may be more flexible in that regard.....as long as the AD lets the coach run his ship the way he sees fit.

[unclejohn]

A few things. It does not make sense that Buzz would leave for the money. If the figures reported are accurate, he was making $2.8 million at Marquette. He is reportedly making $17 million for five years at VT, or somewhat less per year. That is actually slightly less. It does not necessarily work out that way. Depending on how it is structured, how much he pays in taxes, and all the rest, he might actually be making more, but it seems about the same. When you are at that level, it is monopoly money anyway.

What is clear is that Buzz wanted out. When his name came up related to the USF job, that looked ridiculous. But there was a line in the Tampa Tribune article that was linked that said it was well known that he wanted to leave Marquette. If that was the word going around coaching circles, then it made sense for USF to take a shot at him. They stink, but they have plenty of George Steinbrenner's money. When Oklahoma came calling, Buzz famously said, "Don't mess with happy." At that time, he was coaching in the best conference in the country, with an administration that let him do pretty much whatever he wanted. Two years ago, most of us rolled our eyes when SMU went after him. It seems he came pretty close to going there. I do not claim to know the details, but clearly the relationship between Buzz and Larry Williams was just toxic.

Since then, he has found himself no longer in the best conference. The administration is up in the air. It seems to me that he could stick it out for a year, see how the conference settles down, and see if he likes his new bosses, but I am not Buzz.

Thanks for the time you put in. Good luck. See you later.

[pbiflyer]

I am pissed because I believed the comments he made. I thought his words told of his character and his beliefs. I realize now that he was a fraud.

This, this is why I am upset. he was a thin skinned fraud. #CharacterRevealed