Parrish: Why Buzz Left for VT

[Tugg Speedman]

I am a conspiracy theorist. I think Brent was either shown the door, or was told he was going to be shown the door because of ethical concerns with the program and recruiting. I believe MU forced his hand and gave him little time, so he reached out to his crony's buddy at VT. I believe all of his reasons for leaving were made up after the fact. I don't have any real proof, just anecdotal rumblings. I think both parties agreed to not talk about it. Once the smoke had cleared, Buzz was intent on continuing his "I'm a weird but lovable dude" PR campaign, which the media love, and which could also plausibly explain his leaving. The "journal" stuff and conversations with others which tried to help explain Brent's thought process and his leaving is just too convenient for me. I do not believe this narrative at all. Just one man's opinion.

In the long run, I believe we will be better off without him, but time will tell.

I thought this was established as true.  Cords said they knew he was leaving about a week before he left.  They seemed to make no effort to stop him from going.

Also, it seems he jumped on the first job as if he was in a hurry to leave.  Houston. Auburn or Tennessee would have been much better fits had he been patient.

[Dawson Rental]

I thought this was established as true.  Cords said they knew he was leaving about a week before he left.  They seemed to make no effort to stop him from going.

Also, it seems he jumped on the first job as if he was in a hurry to leave.  Houston. Auburn or Tennessee would have been much better fits had he been patient.

I have a vague remembrance that Buzz pursued Auburn without success.  Tennessee and Houston have some history of success in the past.  At either Auburn or VT, Buzz has the opportunity to become that school's Al McGuire which I think was a part of his criteria.  It's unlikely Houston could have met Buzz's financial needs, especially for assistant coaches.

[Coleman]

I have a vague remembrance that Buzz pursued Auburn without success.  Tennessee and Houston have some history of success in the past.  At either Auburn or VT, Buzz has the opportunity to become that school's Al McGuire which I think was a part of his criteria.  It's unlikely Houston could have met Buzz's financial needs, especially for assistant coaches.

Auburn had Chuck Barkley!

[Dawson Rental]

Auburn had Chuck Barkley!

Who managed to play in one NCAA tournament game in his career.

[Coleman]

Who managed to play in one NCAA tournament game in his career.

I guess I should have used teal

[ChicosBailBonds]

I thought this was established as true.  Cords said they knew he was leaving about a week before he left.  They seemed to make no effort to stop him from going.

Also, it seems he jumped on the first job as if he was in a hurry to leave.  Houston. Auburn or Tennessee would have been much better fits had he been patient.

I can tell you Houston wasn't going to happen.

As far as Auburn or Tennessee, why bother going somewhere with expectations when he has a free pass where he is now?  Plus, those are both SEC schools and basketball isn't high enough on his supposed totem pole (are we allowed to say that) of greatness to be there.

[Dawson Rental]

A source of mine in the Marquette athletic department has just revealed to me why Steve Taylor received so little playing time this season.  This person (I cannot reveal their gender) over heard the following conversation from Buzz's office.

Unidentified AD employee: "Coach, what do you want me to do with this medical report on Steve?"

Buzz: "Just put it over there under the latest FOIA responses, I've received.  I'll get to it right after I finish these books on Grover Cleveland and have had a chance to review this stack of coaching contracts."

[bilsu]

Shaka is just waiting for the Florida job.

I think Chew blew any Big Ten options and possibly many other options when he dumped Illinois within a couple of months of them hiring him.

[WarriorFan]

OK, Brent is weird, but we all knew that.

I'm impressed and thankful that MU has officially remained quiet and also unofficially refrained from leaking the real reasons.  Makes me respect the administration a bit more.

So Brent will play his games and put his spin in the media.  No blood no foul.

I do give him credit for one thing... how many other people get to write their own contract with perpetual rollover clauses and millions per year?  Why didn't I think of that????

[MU82]

I wish Buzz well.  Think he will do well in his new location.  I feel less squirmy, however, as does the administration.  Good luck to Wojo.

I don't wish Buzz well. I don't wish Buzz failure. I won't follow Buzz, not intentionally anyway. I had the same feelings toward Crean but it was impossible to not follow him because he went to Indiana and the national media fawned over him and he did right the ship at least temporarily. I'm guessing it will be easier to not follow Buzz, who is at a $hithole program and will be just another coach trying to squeak into the NCAAs.

I appreciate what Crean did to get the program turned around and to a Final Four. I appreciate what Buzz did to stabilize the program and to recruit well and to get us to our S16-S16-E8 run. But they're gone and I don't care about them any more. I don't hate them. I just don't care about either of them any more than I care about, say, Bob Dukiet.

Classic apathy. Times 2.

I care about Marquette how Wojo will build us back up to what we should be.

[Texas Western]

"Simply put, once Williams decided to go into what he called an "information-gathering mode," his mind wouldn't rest until he had more data than you can imagine. He projected the likelihood of basketball programs not connected to football programs flourishing over the next 10 years in this ever-changing climate of college athletics. He studied how many programs succeed at a high level without some sort of ESPN contract. He estimated whether it was reasonable to expect the next six years at Marquette would duplicate or exceed the previous six. He researched every coach who has been at a high-major program for at least eight seasons to the point where he learned that staying in the same place too long in this era -- especially when you'll be inheriting a new athletic director soon, like he would've been at Marquette -- proves to be a mistake more often than not for most men."



I work in the investment business and I see this type of flawed analysis all the time.  Simply put Buzz wasted his time seeing how thing have worked and assumes nothing will ever change and the past will keep repeating over and over.

----

Will ESPN have the same clout and influence over the next 10 years?  Will Fox Sports remain second tier sports channel or will it do to sports programming what Fox News did to cable news?  Will basketball only schools maintain their relative position to football schools over the next 10 years?  Will the BE and the ACC maintain their relative positions over the next 10 years?

I don't know the answer to these questions but it seems that Buzz is assuming nothing ever changes and that is a bad bet.

If Buzz worked in the investment field, he would be a technical analyst

I agree with your assessment. It was my first reaction to this article as well. The world is dynamic. Fox  sports is not sitting still, they just signed the US Open golf and will get additional prime sports properties.  The Big East is in a good position to grow with Fox.

To your technical analyst point, I think Buzz saw last year as breaking through the 200 day moving average to the down side and he decided to sell and establish another position some place else. So if nothing else there was consistency to his thought process.

[Trader]

I agree with your assessment. It was my first reaction to this article as well. The world is dynamic. Fox  sports is not sitting still, they just signed the US Open golf and will get additional prime sports properties.  The Big East is in a good position to grow with Fox.

To your technical analyst point, I think Buzz saw last year as breaking through the 200 day moving average to the down side and he decided to sell and establish another position some place else. So if nothing else there was consistency to his thought process.

So the question becomes, will the breaking of the 200 day be confirmed by the coming season or will it merely be a false breakout?  Unfortunately for Buzz, with a false breakout, not much that he can do to cover his losses...

[T-Bone]

I have a vague remembrance that Buzz pursued Auburn without success.  Tennessee and Houston have some history of success in the past.  At either Auburn or VT, Buzz has the opportunity to become that school's Al McGuire which I think was a part of his criteria.  It's unlikely Houston could have met Buzz's financial needs, especially for assistant coaches.

 But Brent will leave after x number of years and never build a legacy because that's what his numbers tell him to do.  He's a conflicted weirdo.

[MU111]

Having untreated OCD (and probably other anxiety disorders) has to be terrible.  I think Buzz really is going to burn himself out in the next 10 years or less.  It's too bad he won't get some professional help, and I mean that with no sarcasm or ill intent whatsoever.

[swoopem]

I remember a few years back reading that when he went to the Mayo clinic because he had health concerns the doctor told him he needs to start sleeping more, lose some weight, and become healthy or else he'll have an early death. He then threatened the doctor because he said he'd have an early death in front of his wife. The guy is a wacko, threaten a doctor for telling you the truth....psycho

[MU111]

I remember a few years back reading that when he went to the Mayo clinic because he had health concerns the doctor told him he needs to start sleeping more, lose some weight, and become healthy or else he'll have an early death. He then threatened the doctor because he said he'd have an early death in front of his wife. The guy is a wacko, threaten a doctor for telling you the truth....psycho

Your post made me think more into the disorder side of things (I can't help it, due to my educational background) and he might be dealing more with obsessive compulsive personality disorder (ocpd) than ocd.  People with personality disorders are much more resistant to treatment.  Anyway, who knows.  Tangent over. 

[jsglow]

I'm pretty certain this is correct.  And the reason is not tied to any ethical concerns or recruiting, but rather his escalating demands.  There came a time when the BOT/Fr. Wild, whomever finally called his threat to leave if he didn't get x, y or z.  Buh bye, don't let the door hit you in the arse end.  

Yep.

[swoopem]

I remember a few years back reading that when he went to the Mayo clinic because he had health concerns the doctor told him he needs to start sleeping more, lose some weight, and become healthy or else he'll have an early death. He then threatened the doctor because he said he'd have an early death in front of his wife. The guy is a wacko, threaten a doctor for telling you the truth....psycho

Found the article. First paragraph http://www.milwaukeemag.com/article/2202012-ThePerfectionist

[79Warrior]

I wish Buzz well.  Think he will do well in his new location.  I feel less squirmy, however, as does the administration.  Good luck to Wojo.

I agree. I think this is a win/win for both programs. Buzz will field a competitive team at VT and should do just fine. Will he win the ACC title, who knows? But, I do expect he will lead VT to the NCAA tourney in short order.
WOJO seems like a solid hire, hard worker and knows the game. Time will tell.

[keefe]

I remember a few years back reading that when he went to the Mayo clinic because he had health concerns the doctor told him he needs to start sleeping more, lose some weight, and become healthy or else he'll have an early death. He then threatened the doctor because he said he'd have an early death in front of his wife. The guy is a wacko, threaten a doctor for telling you the truth....psycho

Classic.