Larry Williams Resigns

[ChicosBailBonds]

Larry was a joke.  Period.  MU ending up in the Catholic version of the Big East was a given...we are a flasgship brand of the New Big East - not like Larry sold us into the league..we were already in...the timing for breaking away was perfect with Fox starting Fox Sports 1, and needing some content...it was inevitable.

It is an absolute fact Buzz was no fan of Larry....Buzz is on cloud nine right now from this development along with Pilarz being gone.  Now if Derrick Wilson can just step up and prove Buzz right....Buzz will be at peak happiness...as will our basketball team!  

You can now share your email from Buzz to you

[NersEllenson]

Agree.  He served us well in the conference reshuffling as well.  It will be interesting to hear the stories, those that are ginned up, those that are unfiltered and everything in between.

Sounds like he may be up for another gig

Highly doubt it....they dropped this bomb on a Friday afternoon per usual, already had Cords lined back up...pretty sure this was being worked on behind the scenes since Wild returned/Pilarz left...

[mumike22]

Highly doubt it....they dropped this bomb on a Friday afternoon per usual, already had Cords lined back up...pretty sure this was being worked on behind the scenes since Wild returned/Pilarz left...

Agree - but it is also odd they went back and asked Cords rather than make Broeker iterim or acting.

[chapman]

Highly doubt it....they dropped this bomb on a Friday afternoon per usual, already had Cords lined back up...pretty sure this was being worked on behind the scenes since Wild returned/Pilarz left...

Isn't Friday afternoon for bad news though?

Interim tags galore on Wisconsin Ave... President, Provost, AD, Business Dean.  Fingers crossed we get them right this time.

[79Warrior]

Agree - but it is also odd they went back and asked Cords rather than make Broeker iterim or acting.

I don't think so. bill is perfect for this gig. mike is in the middle of basketball. It will work itself out.

[brewcity77]

While I'm not sad to see Larry leave, it's hard to deny the success of Marquette Athletics under his watch. While it's easy to chalk up the MBB success to Buzz, our soccer and volleyball teams have also had great success. I'm glad for the role Larry played in this. It wouldn't surprise me if he was up for another job. There was at least one he was a finalist for over the past few months and despite the feeling Marquette Nation may have for him, his résumé will be bolstered by his time here.

In my opinion, now is the time for Mike Broeker. The stink of past events has drifted away and no one is better versed in the program. He's shown his loyalty when he was rightly passed over the last time. I really hope MU gives Mike the chance he deserves.

[79Warrior]

This is the latest email going out to supporters.


Vice President and Director of Athletics Larry Williams to leave Marquette University

As an avid supporter of Marquette Athletics, you should be among the first to know that Vice President and Director of Athletics Larry Williams informed Interim President Robert A. Wild, S.J., of his resignation today in order to pursue leadership opportunities outside of Marquette. Williams has served in his role overseeing the university's department of intercollegiate athletics for the past two years and served on the University Leadership Council.

In an email to faculty, staff and students, Father Wild said: "We want to thank Larry for leading our student-athletes, coaches and athletic staff in our 16 competitive athletic programs for the past two years. We appreciate Larry's contributions to Marquette University, particularly for leading us into the newly reconfigured Big East and helping establish a unique partnership with FOX Sports. We wish him nothing but success in his future."

Bill Cords, who presided over Marquette's athletics programs for nearly 20 years (from 1987-2006), will serve as interim vice president and director of athletics until a replacement is named. During his tenure, Cords expanded sports offerings at the Division I level, added and improved athletic facilities including the Al McGuire Center and Valley Fields, oversaw athletic and academic achievement, and, most notably, engineered Marquette's move from independent status ultimately to the Big East Conference.

Father Wild worked closely with Bill for many years, and they have a great working relationship. He has stated publically how much confidence he has in Bill, and their combined experience will ensure our premier athletics programs enjoy continued success.

Our men's and women's soccer teams and women's volleyball team all won Big East and regular season tournament titles and each produced an Academic All-American. There's great excitement around the beginning of the men's basketball Big East season, starting with a tough matchup against Creighton on New Year's Eve. It's certain to be another thrilling winter of Marquette basketball – both at home at the BMO Harris Bradley Center and on the road against our new conference members – and we're looking forward to continuing our tradition of excellence with the inaugural spring sports season in the new Big East.

Thanks to your support, Marquette Athletics have defined excellence for decades and they will continue to do so for years to come.
 
MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY. Be The Difference.
P.O. Box 1881 .
Milwaukee, WI 53201-1881
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[hdog1017]

Would Father Wild think of being interim AD and president? 

[tower912]

Just curious, what were the negatives with Williams that everyone was happy to see him go? My knowledge outside of the actual basketball team is extremely limited.

Anecdotally, he had a habit of mispronouncing big donors names and was not particularly inspiring at MU events/fundraisers.   He and Buzz butted heads at the beginning.   To his credit,  he shepherded the MU athletic program into the new Big East.   The other sports are flourishing.   It just seems to me that it is no coincidence that he resigned on the same day that Pilarz was originally leaving and Fr. Wild was supposed to start.   IMO, and this is just MO, like Pilarz he didn't feel like he was the one to lead and promote the MU athletic department during the upcoming major fundraising campaign.     

[NersEllenson]

Interesting to read the wording of the release....today Larry informed MU of his resignation, yet in the same day, MU already has Cords accepting the position...?  Pretty sure Larry at minimum knew the writing was on the wall that he would be replaced at some time in the near future...

And Larry has ZERO role in our Volleyball and Soccer teams doing well - you can thank the coaches of those teams for their recruiting and coaching talent...

A GREAT A.D., creates an environment whereby the coaches under his charge are inspired by his leadership, and that he has their back.  Larry, 91 days into his job, threw the biggest asset in his department under the bus to the local newspaper.  Truly a classic foot in the mouth blunder.

[brewcity77]

And Larry has ZERO role in our Volleyball and Soccer teams doing well - you can thank the coaches of those teams for their recruiting and coaching talent...

If Larry was on a bus full of nuns and the driver had a heart attack, forcing Larry to jump into the driver's seat to keep the bus from careening off a cliff, you would credit the brake manufacturers before you would give him an ounce of credit. Did he make some early missteps and poor public comments? Yes. Did he do a lot of good for our program? Yes. The ill-fated aircraft carrier game and the marquee Ohio State series was all his doing (which I was wrong about initially). The guy did a lot of good for Marquette and our entire athletic program is better for him being here.

Is it time for him to go? Yes, probably. But it's not like the man is the devil, no matter how much you try to say so.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Interesting to read the wording of the release....today Larry informed MU of his resignation, yet in the same day, MU already has Cords accepting the position...?  Pretty sure Larry at minimum knew the writing was on the wall that he would be replaced at some time in the near future...

And Larry has ZERO role in our Volleyball and Soccer teams doing well - you can thank the coaches of those teams for their recruiting and coaching talent...

A GREAT A.D., creates an environment whereby the coaches under his charge are inspired by his leadership, and that he has their back.  Larry, 91 days into his job, threw the biggest asset in his department under the bus to the local newspaper.  Truly a classic foot in the mouth blunder.

A great AD is the caretaker of the department, and isn't always going to have the coaches back, nor should he.  Sometimes he will, sometimes he won't.  He has to also make known that if you stray from the image of the university, or take the university to a place it doesn't want to go, there will be ramifications for such actions.  If the AD's only job was to have the coaches back, then you would have a lot more athletic departments not hiring new coaches or cleaning up messes their coaches caused.

[Chicos' Buzz Scandal Countdown]

Hiroshima!

[NersEllenson]

A great AD is the caretaker of the department, and isn't always going to have the coaches back, nor should he.  Sometimes he will, sometimes he won't.  He has to also make known that if you stray from the image of the university, or take the university to a place it doesn't want to go, there will be ramifications for such actions.  If the AD's only job was to have the coaches back, then you would have a lot more athletic departments not hiring new coaches or cleaning up messes their coaches caused.

This is all fine and well....but when your biggest skins on the wall are having served as the University of Portland's athletic director, and 91 days on the job, you throw your highly successful and well liked coach under the bus for doing a totally spontaneous, harmless 2 step after winning a big game....that is beyond doing what you write above...and plus no need to make that quote to the Journal Sentinel - discuss it in private if you want...

But then if you want to add on raising admission standards, and moving the incoming freshman basketball players out of Humphrey and into normal dorms - while other programs are building state of the art, 5 star residences for their basketball and football players - Kentucky, OkState - yeah, okay Larry, that's really supporting and helping your basketball coach recruiting....WHATEVER!

[Eldon]

I heard that LW needs some time off to reflect on questions pertaining to his sexuality--hence the early Friday evening breaking of the news.

[4everwarriors]

Did he struggle with his decision and ax guidance from others?

[Dish]

They announced this late on a Friday? Shocking.

[mu_hilltopper]

Whatever is best for MUScoop.com.  And this is really good for MUScoop.com.

[Eldon]

Whatever is best for MUScoop.com.  And this is really good for MUScoop.com.

So what you're saying is Scoop's value is now over $175?

[Dawson Rental]

Why not make Broeker AD or at least Interim AD when they announce this?

Maybe so that if MU does want to interview anyone else they won't laugh when MU calls.  (i.e. "Oh yeah, that's going to be a fair competition.")

[KenoshaWarrior]

Hiroshima!

Forgot what Hiroshima was originally in reference to on this board.

[chapman]

So what you're saying is Scoop's value is now over $175?

Just found a site giving Scoop a $20,520 valuation!  Zuckerberg ain't got nothing!

[ChicosBailBonds]

This is all fine and well....but when your biggest skins on the wall are having served as the University of Portland's athletic director, and 91 days on the job, you throw your highly successful and well liked coach under the bus for doing a totally spontaneous, harmless 2 step after winning a big game....that is beyond doing what you write above...and plus no need to make that quote to the Journal Sentinel - discuss it in private if you want...

But then if you want to add on raising admission standards, and moving the incoming freshman basketball players out of Humphrey and into normal dorms - while other programs are building state of the art, 5 star residences for their basketball and football players - Kentucky, OkState - yeah, okay Larry, that's really supporting and helping your basketball coach recruiting....WHATEVER!

There will always be those OTHER programs doing that stuff.  That doesn't mean we should be UK or OSU.  There are many ways to skin a cat, to excel in athletics, and to force the athletes to be as close to possible normal people and not put on an even higher pedestal.  For every example you give like that, there are examples the other way of non athletic dorms and plenty of successes. 

Buzz's biggest skin on the wall was one year at New Orleans.  Al McGuire's biggest coaching skin on the wall was Belmont Abby.  Sometimes big skins aren't all they are cracked up to be.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

I heard he just wants to teach

[melissasmooth]

Does this mean the basketball players are free again to roam the campus and do whatever they want without any consequences?