Parrish: Why Buzz Left for VT

[NersEllenson]

An interesting thought to consider - given that Buzz had wrote this statement in September of 2013:

"The next 12 months is an information-gathering mode."

In my view, Buzz was already having concerns about remaining at MU prior to start of the 2013 season..and therefore perhaps anything that pointed toward those concerns being validated...or even neutral...was probably skewed with a bias that he was trying to confirm.

End of the day, it would be unlikely that he was truly and fully all in/focused on Marquette's success consciously...when his subconscious was telling him he may need to get out.

Perhaps the episode of some booing at the Bradley Center fed further into his concern that remaining at MU due to his success would result in him being up against high expectations from the bar he set...and he didn't want to be held to that anymore/or wasn't confident he could sustain it - even though he just had landed his best recruiting class (Duane, Burton, JJJ, Dawson, McKay) who all had knowledge the landscape of Big East was changing...yet none asked our of their NLI.

Seems he just got a little paranoid and made a mountain out of a molehill as far as ESPN vs Fox 1, new Big East versus Old Big East, etc.

I'll miss the character that he was..and still believe at the end day he largely tried to do the right thing and help as many people on and off the court as he could while at MU..

[GooooMarquette]

Is this about having greater success, or self-preservation? I didn't get the sense reading the article that Buzz feels he will achieve the same or greater success at VT than he did at MU. What he does have at VT is time, lower expectations and is without the burden of his own past success.

KO and TC left MU because they believed their new jobs offer the chance at greater success. I don't know if I can say the same for Buzz.

I didn't get the sense that Bert thinks he has a greater chance of success from this article - I got it from what he spewed during the tournament about the long-term prognosis of success in football vs non-football conferences.  This article told me that he supposedly looked at all sorts of additional stats and trends that can lead to success (ESPN, etc), so I was just pointing out the trend he seems to have missed.

In the end, I agree with Freeport that it's probably all smoke and mirrors, and that Bart was probably just told to leave before he was fired.  VT just happened to be the job open at the moment.

[Mike Deane]

When the going gets tough, the Snake Oil Salesman Brent leaves.

Folks, that is what I get out of that article.

[dgies9156]

Uh, the Hillbilly is rationalizing.

Here's the reality. The Hillbilly got us to the front door and into the hallway of the elite programs in the United States. That is NOT an an easy task. But it is dwarfed by the next step!

As Kevin O'Neill, Tom Crean and Al all knew, taking the next step to becoming one of the truly elite college programs (in any sport) is one of the most difficult challenges around. Truly elite is a team that consistently year-in and year-out competes for national championships. That's true whether a coach is coaching at Marquette, Indiana, the University of Tennessee, Becky Badger or wherever.

You have to be able to recruit three of the top 50 players in the country. You have to be able to recruit a supporting cast from the next 50 to 75 players who can fill critical rolls and accept their rolls. And then, you have to go down to Gesu and pray you keep the core for more than one year. The Hillbilly NEVER had this level of success.

As a coach, you have to work with the team to ensure the chemistry is right. You have to teach an offense and a defense that your team can consistently execute and you have to pray they're smart enough to execute properly (see Gesu reference, above).

With all due respect to the Hillbilly, he's a guy that can get us to the door but has not shown he can bust through and make us a consistent title contender. He hasn't shown he can coach a team to a title, or to a final four (yet) and the dissention on the 2013-2014 team as well as the entire Vander Blue debacle shows the Hillbilly failed miserably on the team chemistry piece.

At the end of the day, I'm sure the Hillbilly will improve Virginia Tech. There's no way to go but up. But there will come a point, especially in the rugged ACC, where he'll top out. Will he be a Virginia? Doubtful! Can he be a UNC or Duke? Not in this lifetime unless the Hillbilly does a huge make-over.

[dgies9156]

I didn't get the sense that Bert thinks he has a greater chance of success from this article - I got it from what he spewed during the tournament about the long-term prognosis of success in football vs non-football conferences.  This article told me that he supposedly looked at all sorts of additional stats and trends that can lead to success (ESPN, etc), so I was just pointing out the trend he seems to have missed.

In the end, I agree with Freeport that it's probably all smoke and mirrors, and that Bart was probably just told to leave before he was fired.  VT just happened to be the job open at the moment.

Since when did the ACC become a football conference?

[Class71]

I assume when MU hired Wojo the job description said, "head cases need not apply". I wish the guy luck he appears to be more than any AD wishes to handle and why would they?

[GooooMarquette]

Since when did the ACC become a football conference?

Long time ago.  Did I ever say it was a GOOD football conference?

[MUCam]

Interesting article. What I read is that Buzz is a coward, paralyzed by his obsessive compulsiveness. He is deathly afraid of failure and so he ran from MU before failure could catch him.

That might be a good way to win in Vegas, but its no way to live an enjoyable life, in my opinion.

Good luck to him. I hope he fails; it would do his soul well to learn that failure is not always the end.

[Sir Lawrence]

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'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.  

[Coleman]

An interesting thought to consider - given that Buzz had wrote this statement in September of 2013:

"The next 12 months is an information-gathering mode."

In my view, Buzz was already having concerns about remaining at MU prior to start of the 2013 season..and therefore perhaps anything that pointed toward those concerns being validated...or even neutral...was probably skewed with a bias that he was trying to confirm.

End of the day, it would be unlikely that he was truly and fully all in/focused on Marquette's success consciously...when his subconscious was telling him he may need to get out.

Perhaps the episode of some booing at the Bradley Center fed further into his concern that remaining at MU due to his success would result in him being up against high expectations from the bar he set...and he didn't want to be held to that anymore/or wasn't confident he could sustain it - even though he just had landed his best recruiting class (Duane, Burton, JJJ, Dawson, McKay) who all had knowledge the landscape of Big East was changing...yet none asked our of their NLI.

Seems he just got a little paranoid and made a mountain out of a molehill as far as ESPN vs Fox 1, new Big East versus Old Big East, etc.

I'll miss the character that he was..and still believe at the end day he largely tried to do the right thing and help as many people on and off the court as he could while at MU..

Agree with all of this

[GGGG]

An interesting thought to consider - given that Buzz had wrote this statement in September of 2013:

"The next 12 months is an information-gathering mode."

In my view, Buzz was already having concerns about remaining at MU prior to start of the 2013 season..and therefore perhaps anything that pointed toward those concerns being validated...or even neutral...was probably skewed with a bias that he was trying to confirm.

End of the day, it would be unlikely that he was truly and fully all in/focused on Marquette's success consciously...when his subconscious was telling him he may need to get out.

Perhaps the episode of some booing at the Bradley Center fed further into his concern that remaining at MU due to his success would result in him being up against high expectations from the bar he set...and he didn't want to be held to that anymore/or wasn't confident he could sustain it - even though he just had landed his best recruiting class (Duane, Burton, JJJ, Dawson, McKay) who all had knowledge the landscape of Big East was changing...yet none asked our of their NLI.

Seems he just got a little paranoid and made a mountain out of a molehill as far as ESPN vs Fox 1, new Big East versus Old Big East, etc.

I'll miss the character that he was..and still believe at the end day he largely tried to do the right thing and help as many people on and off the court as he could while at MU..

Yeah...I think you pretty much nailed this.

[Skatastrophy]

I also find it interesting that Brad Autry, one of his most loyal assistants, is still without a job.  Did Buzz not offer him a position?  Did Brad not feel comfortable following him?  I don't think Brad currently has a position.

Brad Autry actively campaigned against Buzz leaving a sweet gig at MU for the position at VT. Brad stuck around MU hoping that the next HC would pick him up. That's the last I heard about Brad.

[Marquette_g]

For some odd, and not well articulated reason, this article makes me dislike Buzz even more than I already did.

There is so much Brett Favre in Williams, with the "aww shucks" but then behind that is a narcissistic, plotting individual.

[swoopem]

Interesting article. What I read is that Buzz is a coward, paralyzed by his obsessive compulsiveness. He is deathly afraid of failure and so he ran from MU before failure could catch him.

That might be a good way to win in Vegas, but its no way to live an enjoyable life, in my opinion.

Good luck to him. I hope he fails; it would do his soul well to learn that failure is not always the end.

I agree with this. Before I read the article I was going to root for Buzz because I was thankful for what he did and I had a ton of fun the past 6 years. Now I hope he fails because I too think he is a coward and ran while the going got tough. Making excuses that the TV contract isn't good enough and that we don't have as much exposure is a bunch of BS. How about this, recruit better players, be a better coach, and try to improve rather than skip town.

So long Buzz, you're dead to me.

[madtownwarrior]

So how much of Buzz's extreme work ethic and intense minute-by-minute scheduling is caused by his undiagnosed OCD and insecurities.  FOIA requests to every D1 school? memorizing presidents names just because he has to? - seems like highly inefficient use of time for a D1 basketball coach.

I would not want that type of existence where you are seemingly paranoid of everything / failure and compulsively driven to do inane activities to satisfy them.

Expect major burnout...

  

[79Warrior]

Not extolling Shaka, but he sticks by his A10 team. A program that doesn't have a top 5 budget.
A program that is hard to win at. A program he helped craft and define.

Shaka has turned down several schools. I give him tons of credit for staying. At least he is not messing with happy.

[Spotcheck Billy]

  FOIA requests to every D1 school?

maybe Brent can settle the debate between Chicos and Jaybee about his buddy Crean's buyout

[warriorchick]

So how much of Buzz's extreme work ethic and intense minute-by-minute scheduling is caused by his undiagnosed untreated OCD and insecurities.  

Expect major burnout...

  

FIFY

[Dawson Rental]

So how much of Buzz's extreme work ethic and intense minute-by-minute scheduling is caused by his undiagnosed OCD and insecurities.  FOIA requests to every D1 school? memorizing presidents names just because he has to? - seems like highly inefficient use of time for a D1 basketball coach.

I would not want that type of existence where you are seemingly paranoid of everything / failure and compulsively driven to do inane activities to satisfy them.

Expect major burnout...

I seem to recall an issue a couple of years ago about Buzz not being able to sleep that was so severe he had to go to the Mayo clinic.

[Coleman]

So how much of Buzz's extreme work ethic and intense minute-by-minute scheduling is caused by his undiagnosed OCD and insecurities.  FOIA requests to every D1 school? memorizing presidents names just because he has to? - seems like highly inefficient use of time for a D1 basketball coach.

I would not want that type of existence where you are seemingly paranoid of everything / failure and compulsively driven to do inane activities to satisfy them.

Expect major burnout...

  

Without trying to play armchair psychologist too much, I think Buzz will burn out way earlier than most coaches.

He rarely sleeps during the season. He obsesses to the point that it is probably a health concern. He obviously couldn't handle the pressure he had put on himself by succeeding at MU. He used "information gathering" reasons such as the conference and TV deals to rationalize why he should leave MU instead of dealing with the pressure directly. These are all signs of pretty severe OCD and anxiety disorders.

He's only 41, but I could see him hanging it up before his 50th birthday. Unless he can find some relief in the nether regions of the ACC at a school where no one has any expectations and he doesn't have to worry about succeeding. But any sort of success and expectations and Buzz will be running again.  

[T-Bone]

My year long analysis of this thread shows that the likelihood of it being locked or shut down, relative to the other threads in a similar vein, is much lower than normal.  There's a surprising amount of agreement here.

(so happy to not hear "relative to" fifteen times during a 5 minute postgame segment next year)

[4everwarriors]

Or "accountable" and "our culture" and "life's lessons," hey?

[MauraDay]

I am as big of a Marquette fan as anyone, but I don't understand the outright hatred that some have for a coach when he leaves, especially when usually you haven't even met the person or know the real story, and after he brought a significant amount of success to the program. Since I don't know anything differently (factually), I choose to believe that Buzz was genuine in his efforts to help others, but in the end, his mental disorder controlled his thoughts & decision.

Also, I think his "as long as they will have me" quote reflects his idea (in the article) that he will be fired someday, and perhaps, like others have said, his fear of this (whether rational or irrational) made him run to VT.

[brandx]

I think you are right, but you are still letting Hunt off easy. Once he lost all-access to Buzz, he mailed it in...

Didn't realize till after I posted that it seemed like I was complimenting Hunt. That wasn't the intention.

[ChicosBailBonds]

I am as big of a Marquette fan as anyone, but I don't understand the outright hatred that some have for a coach when he leaves, especially when usually you haven't even met the person or know the real story, and after he brought a significant amount of success to the program. Since I don't know anything differently (factually), I choose to believe that Buzz was genuine in his efforts to help others, but in the end, his mental disorder controlled his thoughts & decision.

Also, I think his "as long as they will have me" quote reflects his idea (in the article) that he will be fired someday, and perhaps, like others have said, his fear of this (whether rational or irrational) made him run to VT.

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.