Oregon newspaper says UO has interest in Buzz

[Sir Lawrence]

Weak sauce, but here is the article:

http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/sports/24716655-41/gregory-coach-dayton-oregon-williams.csp

New goal: Mutual feelings | Looking for genuine interest in its job, Oregon turns its lonely eyes toward coaches at Marquette and Dayton

By Bob Clark

The Register-Guard

Appeared in print: Friday, Apr 23, 2010

Oregon’s coaching search has made a significant adjustment, with an emphasis now placed on candidates who definitely are interested in the job, rather than attempting to interest coaches with high national profiles in Oregon.

Two different sources indicated Pat Kilkenny, the former UO director of athletics who is conducting the search, has grown “frustrated” with the process that has led to rejections from at least four coaches. He is known to have made formal offers to Pittsburgh’s Jamie Dixon and Butler’s Brad Stevens, and had serious talks with both Mark Turgeon of Texas A&M and Missouri’s Mark Anderson.

Where might this lead Kilkenny? He is known to have spent time in Dallas this week and is now reportedly in Indianapolis. Neither of those sites is necessarily meaningful beyond being large enough that a prospective coach could meet Kilkenny and not be noticed by his own fans or media, or could explain his presence as being on a recruiting mission if spotted.

The search is in its sixth week since the firing of Ernie Kent was announced. Two UO players have declared their intent to transfer, saying part of their reason is concern over the length of time it has taken to find a new coach and a third Duck, Josh Crittle, confirmed Thursday that he is looking into destinations for a possible transfer, as was earlier reported.

“I received my release so I can explore all my options,” Crittle said in a statement released by the UO media services department. “I wanted to be able to contact other schools. I haven’t made any decisions on where I will be next year.”

Earlier, fellow sophomores Drew Wiley, who has committed to Boise State, and Matt Humphrey indicated their intent to transfer.

In this adjustment of candidates, who might fit into Kilkenny’s criteria of being an established coach, and willing to leave for Oregon?

There reportedly are two Midwest possibilities in Marquette’s Buzz Williams and Dayton’s Brian Gregory.

The 37-year-old Williams has gone 47-21 in two seasons at Marquette, finishing fifth in the Big East each time and advancing to the NCAA Tournament.

He built a reputation as one of the country’s best recruiters as an assistant at several schools before being named the head coach at the University of New Orleans, where he went 14-17 in his only season. He left that job to be an assistant at Marquette, and UNO filed suit against him for breaking his contract.

Williams filed a countersuit alleging the school had failed to meet several promises to him in regard to support of the program.

It’s not known if Kilkenny has spoken to Williams, but a coach with knowledge of the search said a prominent former coach has been using contacts at Nike to push for Oregon to interview Williams, who reportedly makes about $800,000 in annual salary.

Williams was of interest to DePaul, Iowa and St. John’s in their searches but told one interviewer, “I’ll be here as long as they’ll have me.”

The 43-year-old Gregory has been at Dayton for seven seasons, compiling a 150-80 record, including 25-12 this season when the Flyers defeated North Carolina for the NIT championship. Dayton also has made two NCAA appearances in Gregory’s tenure.

Gregory was believed to be of primary interest to Iowa in its search but wanted any contact delayed until the end of his team’s season, and Iowa officials decided not to wait that long. Gregory also turned down attempts by DePaul to interview him while Dayton’s season was still under way.

What also makes Gregory an intriguing candidate for Oregon is his background as an assistant to both Jud Heathcote and Tom Izzo at Michigan State. A Dayton official said late Thursday that the school hadn’t received a request from Oregon to speak with Gregory.

Gregory received a contract extension a year ago that takes him through the 2018 season, but his salary is estimated to be about $750,000 in total annual compensation, and the Dayton Daily News reported it would rise to $1 million in the final year of the deal.

Oregon paid Kent that much and would seem ready to make an offer that would double Gregory’s current salary.

[tower912]

I wondered if/when they would get to Buzz.  Buzz is making more than $800k.  I doubt he goes, but if he does, good luck and thank you for your hard work at MU.

[LastWarrior]

yawn... Buzz isn't going anywhere

[avid1010]

The article seems to assume those two coaches would be interested, but has no proof of that.  Really, it seems to move in the other direction when mentioning teams that were interested in Buzz, and the comment Buzz made concerning the matter.

If he goes, it's as bad as TC, no matter how he leaves.  Buzz has built his reputation around being a solid individual, with high morals.  If you're going to talk that talk, and not walk the walk, it's a poor situation.

[bilsu]

MU needs to give Buzz a big raise.

[Skatastrophy]

I'm glad to see Buzz mentioned in these national coaching searches.  It's nice to have other schools coveting what we're already blessed to have

[nyg]

MU needs to give Buzz a big raise.

Just a guess, but would the Oregon job have a starting salary of about 1.5 million for someone of Buzz's caliber?  Plus the Nike bonuses, contract, etc.     

[GOMU1104]

Why havent they approached Randy Bennet (St. Marys) about the job? I have yet to see his name mentioned as a candidate. Doesnt make much sense if you ask me...


In the end, I bet they go with Kenny Payne. He has Nike/WWW connections and they are already paying him a boat load of money as an assistant.

[MarquetteFan94]

Didn't we recruit Crittle?

[bma725]

Didn't we recruit Crittle?

Yes.

[Ellenson Guerrero]

Yes we did recruit Crittle. Looking at his page on UO's website he doesn't have a sophomore year summary. Did he play?

I believe Buzz when he says he'll stay at MU as long as they'll have him. If he were to leave I think it would be Texas or the south, not the Pacific Northwest

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

Is Buzz leaking his name for this job in order to get a raise?

I doubt it, but I know there are people that are going to jump to that conclusion.

[damuts222]

Oregon is a football school first, unless more of their players get in trouble

[4everwarriors]

MU needs to give Buzz a big raise.

Yeah, and that worked out real well with the other jerk.

[MerrittsMustache]

If he goes, it's as bad as TC, no matter how he leaves.  Buzz has built his reputation around being a solid individual, with high morals.  If you're going to talk that talk, and not walk the walk, it's a poor situation.

Disagree. I want Buzz to stay at MU as much as anyone, but if he's offered a job that pays more and he believes would be a better situation for him and his family, I wouldn't fault him for leaving one bit. I have twice left jobs for more money and a better opportunity. I don't think that's a knock against my moral standards. I do feel, however, that the employee who's leaving has a responsibility to notify their employer, co-workers, and direct reports (for coaches, their players) and not allow them to hear it first from any other source.

[ChuckyChip]

Missouri’s Mark Anderson.

Who?

[MerrittsMustache]

Who?

Missouri was a typo. They actually interviewed Chicago Bears DE Mark Anderson.

[MUCam]

The scary thing about Oregon is the Nike financial backing that goes with it. I can easily see Oregon doubling or even tripling Buzz's current pay.

Oregon is getting a bit desperate. Nike is getting a bit desperate. Eventually, they will realize that the only real pull they have is $$$.

What happens if they offer Buzz 2.4 million? They might be crazy, but heck, so are a lot of people/programs. Would you move for 3 times your current pay, even if it meant leaving a community/job/etc that you loved? Tough choice.

[Skatastrophy]

What happens if they offer Buzz 2.4 million? They might be crazy, but heck, so are a lot of people/programs. Would you move for 3 times your current pay, even if it meant leaving a community/job/etc that you loved? Tough choice.

That would be the opposite of a tough choice. 

[Golden Avalanche]

The published number might be $800,000 but he doesn't make that.

Also, it's absolutely false that St. John's had interest. I also highly doubt DePaul would even think they could steal a coach from Marquette.

As someone else wrote, it looks like the media is "assuming" Buzz and Gregory would be interested without having any actual basis to write that.

[brewcity77]

I trust Buzz a lot more than I ever did Crean, and I like the “I’ll be here as long as they’ll have me.” quote. It was only a matter of time before someone like this came sniffing. But like 4ever said, Crean proved that giving the guy raises year after year wasn't the answer.

My honest hope is that Buzz comes out and says he's not interested, and I don't want to see him get a raise until that statement has been made. We made Crean one of the highest paid guys in college basketball, and yet he used his success here every single offseason to try to weasel his way into any job that came available.

If we do give Buzz a huge raise, I would wonder if it would be possible to put a no-compete clause in the contract unless he is fired. Make it so he can't coach at any other Division 1 school for two years, not even as an assistant. I would say the NBA would be fine, but as much as I trust Buzz and have faith in what he says, I also don't know what all was behind the New Orleans situation. It's sad to say, but in this business, it's hard to know whom to trust.

[KipsBayEagle]

It doesn't matter what raise oregon offers, marquette will match it, trust me.  When it comes to paying coaches, marquette gets the job done.  Money would not be the determining factor in this move (For the record, I give this about a .01 percent chance of happening)

[Skatastrophy]

If we do give Buzz a huge raise, I would wonder if it would be possible to put a no-compete clause in the contract unless he is fired. Make it so he can't coach at any other Division 1 school for two years, not even as an assistant. I would say the NBA would be fine, but as much as I trust Buzz and have faith in what he says, I also don't know what all was behind the New Orleans situation. It's sad to say, but in this business, it's hard to know whom to trust.

That would be completely unenforceable, just like most other non-compete clauses.

[BrewCity83]

"It’s not known if Kilkenny has spoken to Williams, but a coach with knowledge of the search said a prominent former coach has been using contacts at Nike to push for Oregon to interview Williams, who reportedly makes about $800,000 in annual salary."

I thought this line was interesting...who might that prominent former coach be?  TC?

[Chicago_inferiority_complexes]

Disagree. I want Buzz to stay at MU as much as anyone, but if he's offered a job that pays more and he believes would be a better situation for him and his family, I wouldn't fault him for leaving one bit. I have twice left jobs for more money and a better opportunity. I don't think that's a knock against my moral standards. I do feel, however, that the employee who's leaving has a responsibility to notify their employer, co-workers, and direct reports (for coaches, their players) and not allow them to hear it first from any other source.

+1. Is he going to let his players find out via ESPN? Is he going to call his recruits and tell them to come to Oregon before his players even know that their coach is gone? Is he going to make up statistics about fan attendance before his arrival? Is he going to invent anecdotes about how players couldn't find practice shoes before his arrival?