Buzz = Genius

[tower912]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/luke_winn/08/25/new.orleans/index.html


Holy cow.   What a mess.   I have one nit to pick.  It is my recollection that Buzz quit, had no plan, and then Crean picked him up a few weeks later.    It says that Buzz left to become an assistant for Crean.   It implies direct causality.   That Buzz intended to come to MU when he left UNO.     

[RJax55]

Buzz certainly had good foresight. I give him credit... Doubt that was an easy decision to make, but he had the guts to walk away from what is/was a very bad situation.

[KipsBayEagle]

Buzz certainly had good foresight. I give him credit... Doubt that was an easy decision to make, but he had the guts to walk away from what is/was a very bad situation.

No one else is gonna say it but I will.  It was also great foresight of Crean to pick up Buzz.  love him or hate him, the guy has always done right by marquette.

[4everwarriors]

No one else is gonna say it but I will.  It was also great foresight of Crean to pick up Buzz.  love him or hate him, the guy has always done right by marquette.

You're kidding, right?

[Nukem2]

You're kidding, right?

You're kidding, right?......

[77ncaachamps]

I'll give Buzz credit for seeing an opportunity (leaving for MU) and taking it.

But I won't credit him for having the foresight to recognize a devastating hurricane that affected enrollment (loss of 7,000 students) and eventually the basketball program at UNO.

[boyonthedock]

yeah, crean left craptily. but hiring buzz was a good call. ditto for the administration, despite the rancor at the time. at least so far. and i am optimistic for the future

[downtown85]

I'll give Buzz credit for seeing an opportunity (leaving for MU) and taking it.

But I won't credit him for having the foresight to recognize a devastating hurricane that affected enrollment (loss of 7,000 students) and eventually the basketball program at UNO.

I seem to recall that Buzz was hired by UNO AFTER Katrina. 

[PaintTouches]

I seem to recall that Buzz was hired by UNO AFTER Katrina. 

You recall correctly. Katrina occured in 2005, Buzz was hired in 2006.

[ChicosBailBonds]

You recall correctly. Katrina occured in 2005, Buzz was hired in 2006.

UNO goes to DIII in 2010.

[ATWizJr]

As any one of us would do, Buzz recognized that he was in a dead end situation. You can't blame the guy for trying to better himself and improve his family's situation.

[PBRme]

When the ship is sinking the people who know how to swim leave earliest

[tower912]

It looks like there was a month window between Buzz leaving UNO and being hired by Crean.    So it appears Buzz did not leave UNO with the intent of becoming TC's assistant.   I've seen it both in that article and on the Badger board that Buzz intended to be TC's assistant when he left UNO. 

[Chili]

It looks like there was a month window between Buzz leaving UNO and being hired by Crean.    So it appears Buzz did not leave UNO with the intent of becoming TC's assistant.   I've seen it both in that article and on the Badger board that Buzz intended to be TC's assistant when he left UNO. 

Have to love the internet:

http://www.upi.com/Sports_News/2007/07/07/Buzz-Williams-resigns-at-UNO/UPI-82221183855110/

[tower912]

Yeah, I read the dates wrong.   OK.   He knew he was coming to MU

[ChicosBailBonds]

As any one of us would do, Buzz recognized that he was in a dead end situation. You can't blame the guy for trying to better himself and improve his family's situation.

That always depends on the chair you sit in, of course.  There are plenty of perceived dead end situations in life, business, etc that end up being pulled out of the nosedive because people don't jump ship. 

I'm sure UNO folks view things quite differently and would say that the coaches jumping ship only pushed them further to their inevitable demise 4 years later. 

Both viewpoints are valid and it really depends on where you're coming from.  I don't blame Buzz for what he did...whether it's quit or "bail" (as the article states). I also don't blame Jim Miller and UNO for being incredible pissed off as well. 


"When faced with a mountain, I will not quit! I will keep on striving until I climb over, find a pass through, tunnel underneath - or simply stay and turn the mountain into a gold mine, with God's help!"
-Schiller

or


"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There's no use being a damn fool about it."
-WC Fields

[ATWizJr]

That always depends on the chair you sit in, of course.  There are plenty of perceived dead end situations in life, business, etc that end up being pulled out of the nosedive because people don't jump ship. 
 

It should be clear that the chair from which my point of view is coming is Buzz's.  And I was not talking about all possible dead end situations in life, business, etc., I am referring to a career dead end.  And, most of us, if we recognize  that we are at a career dead end would try to better himself and improve his family's situation. You can't blame him for striving for a betterment and you can't blame him for the mess UNO is in.  (well you can, but you'd be shortsighted to do so.)

[tower912]

Would the status of the UNO athletic program be any better if Buzz had remained?   I think it is pretty obvious the answer is that the status of the athletic department was caused by a number of factors completely independent of who was coaching basketball.   Many of the examples Buzz has given regarding UNO (no buses to get kids to and from the airport, per diem reimbursement isssues) indicate the signs were there in 2006-7.   

[Canadian Dimes]

Buzz is a genius to take a first assitants job at aBig East school where the head coach always had one foot in and one foot out!!!

[ChicosBailBonds]

Would the status of the UNO athletic program be any better if Buzz had remained?   I think it is pretty obvious the answer is that the status of the athletic department was caused by a number of factors completely independent of who was coaching basketball.   Many of the examples Buzz has given regarding UNO (no buses to get kids to and from the airport, per diem reimbursement isssues) indicate the signs were there in 2006-7.   

Great question, impossible to answer.  The year Buzz was there, they went 14-17.  The next year, they actually had a winning record so it's not like winning wasn't possible post Katrina, the facts are the facts.   But that was also coach 3 in three years ...that instability is brutal.  If they could have put together back to back winning seasons, does the program get more life?  We'll never know.

Again, I don't blame Buzz for doing what he thought was right.  I also don't blame Jim Miller and UNO for feeling the way they do.  People view commitments differently...obviously.

[ATWizJr]

  People view commitments differently...obviously.

That's because all commitments are not equal.  You cannot equate a marriage vow to business deal, to a promise to bring home the milk after work.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

That always depends on the chair you sit in, of course.  There are plenty of perceived dead end situations in life, business, etc that end up being pulled out of the nosedive because people don't jump ship. 

I'm sure UNO folks view things quite differently and would say that the coaches jumping ship only pushed them further to their inevitable demise 4 years later. 

Both viewpoints are valid and it really depends on where you're coming from.  I don't blame Buzz for what he did...whether it's quit or "bail" (as the article states). I also don't blame Jim Miller and UNO for being incredible pissed off as well. 


"When faced with a mountain, I will not quit! I will keep on striving until I climb over, find a pass through, tunnel underneath - or simply stay and turn the mountain into a gold mine, with God's help!"
-Schiller

or


"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There's no use being a damn fool about it."
-WC Fields

See: James, Lebron.

I don't blame him, but Cleveland sure does.

[MUBurrow]

i think the question of how UNO would be doing with Buzz there is interesting because it leads to conflicting feelings. in my (and im guessing many others') desire to defend Buzz you want to say that it wouldn't have mattered, that situation was too much.  Then again, that seems to undercut the job Buzz could have done trying to salvage that program.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

i think the question of how UNO would be doing with Buzz there is interesting because it leads to conflicting feelings. in my (and im guessing many others') desire to defend Buzz you want to say that it wouldn't have mattered, that situation was too much.  Then again, that seems to undercut the job Buzz could have done trying to salvage that program.

Ners head just exploded.

[Pakuni]

i think the question of how UNO would be doing with Buzz there is interesting because it leads to conflicting feelings. in my (and im guessing many others') desire to defend Buzz you want to say that it wouldn't have mattered, that situation was too much.  Then again, that seems to undercut the job Buzz could have done trying to salvage that program.

The problem isn't just that UNO may not have been salvagable, but even if it had been, Buzz was not given the tools necessary to do it. No meal money? No lockerrom? No offices? No bus to games? No arena?
No chance.

And for all their protesting, UNO did grant Marquette permission to speak with Buzz. So their complaints of being shocked and blindsided would seem to be a tad disingenuous.
"Sure, we let the guy interview for another job after he complained about conditions here - but we're stunned that he took it."