Sound the alarm!

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

The more I think about this hiring and the more I read about the process, the more flabbergasted I become. I honestly believe it could very well go down as a colossal mistake even greater than that of the Golden Eagles fiasco of 1994.

Seriously, with Chris Lowery reported to be a “backup” choice to Williams (!), and reports that McCaffrey, Bruce Weber and Jim Les all expressed interest and with Tranghese, Cords and former players on our committee, how the HELL did we end up with Buzz Williams?

There is something wrong!

Did Tom Crean teach us nothing about appearances? Did we honestly choose a coach who chooses to shave his head bald and whose greatest professional reference is a skirt-chasing Texan named “Billy” over stealing away the Milwaukee-raised head coach of the University of Illinois?!?

Did we really offer Tony Bennett up to $2 million to be our head coach and then give him only a day to think it over before the rush to get Buzz Williams’ signature?

There is no conceivable way that all the individuals mentioned as being involved in this search could be on board with this hire.

Consider that we hired a coach that schools like Dayton, Fordham, St. Louis, St. Bonaventure, Wright St., UIC or even Loyola would not even consider and then tell me it’s a good hire. In fact, other than Marquette, I’m not sure what school would have hired this guy!

Consider that our head coach probably isn’t qualified to sit next to Bo Ryan as his assistant, much less compete with him for recruits and tell me it’s a good hire.

Consider our new head man is scheduled to fly to New Jersey to speak with Bob Hurley about the LOI one of his players signed and consider that Hurley’s housekeeper probably has more experience with players and tell me it’s a good hire.

Hurley should tell Williams to save the airfare.

Not only should Williams not have been hired, not only should he not have been on the “short list,” but he shouldn’t have been considered. As soon as he threatened to leave for Indiana, we should have said, “Bye-bye!”

Fr. Wild, our AD and everybody involved in this decision have significantly diminished our program by settling for a guy that – sadly – was seriously asked yesterday if he had to buy a new suit for the press conference.

Not only will this not work. It can’t work.

[madtownwarrior]

we get it - YOU DON'T LIKE THE HIRE.

How about go away and come back in a year?   We can take more of criticism in a year if it still is a bad hire then.

Really, go away...

[Marquette_g]

+1

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

It's not just that I don't like the hire...it's that it's impossible to defend!! There is zero justification for it. None.

[ATWizJr]

like the boy who cried "wolf" your continued negative, redundant outbursts are becoming irrelevant. I think you've made your point.  why not move on?  How much longer until you are done venting?

[mugrad99]

Offense?
Defense?
Recruiting?

I think most people would agree that recruiting is the biggest part of coaching.  Greats like Knight, Coach K, etc have bad years when they don't have the talent. Are you telling me Oliver Purnell is a better X's and O's guy than Coach K?

Buzz is known as a top notch recruiter. He can't be worse than our previous coach in adjusting during a game or in the last 2 minutes of a game.  I am sure we will land more prized Wisconsin recruits now that the old guy is gone. The key is landing 2 good assistants: 1 to recruit Chicago, and one to help with the actual game prep.

[4everwarriors]

If Crean hadn't pushed so hard for Buzz and pushed to all the right people i.e. major donors, we probably would still be going thru the hiring process.

[nyg]

Aw shucks PRN, Coach Hurley and those east coast boys will love the Buzz. Tell them to come down here you all. 

[jaygall31]

i'm excited for this team to get on the floor with multiple chips on their shoulders

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

The more I think about this hiring and the more I read about the process, the more flabbergasted I become. I honestly believe it could very well go down as a colossal mistake even greater than that of the Golden Eagles fiasco of 1994.

Did Tom Crean teach us nothing about appearances? Did we honestly choose a coach who chooses to shave his head bald and whose greatest professional reference is a skirt-chasing Texan named “Billy” over stealing away the Milwaukee-raised head coach of the University of Illinois?!?


Consider that our head coach probably isn’t qualified to sit next to Bo Ryan as his assistant, much less compete with him for recruits and tell me it’s a good hire.

Consider our new head man is scheduled to fly to New Jersey to speak with Bob Hurley about the LOI one of his players signed and consider that Hurley’s housekeeper probably has more experience with players and tell me it’s a good hire.

Not only should Williams not have been hired, not only should he not have been on the “short list,” but he shouldn’t have been

Please tell me how this isn't attacking the new coach?

Seriously dude.

You attack Crean all day everyday.

Now, before Buzz even coaches a game you are all over him.

Give it a rest. Honestly.

I can appreciate your passion... but honest, settle down... or fire up and really do something about it.

Gather up all of the people that are against Buzz, and start protesting at MU.

Starting 50 different threads on an internet message board is not going to change a thing.

[mu03eng]

I've tried to stay above the fray and avoid the board because it has been ridiculously negative however I can't anymore.

This is how you defend the hiring and its very easily done if you aren't biased.

Which hire is easier to defend Weber/Lowery/Les or Williams?  You say anyone than Williams?  Well shouldn't that tell you that Cottingham/Cords/BoT really believe in Buzz?  The safe hire for them was a "name" coach, people might have argued over the named coach but not nearly as much as we do have will Williams.  That combined with the fact that we supposedly paid 300K from UNO to get Buzz here as an assistant means to me there are a lot of confident, knowledgeable people who think this is a good idea.

Also, the current players seem to love Buzz.  In fact a good friend of mine who knows basketball very well, was at the Big East Tourney and came away very impressed with Buzz and how he handled the players on the bench.

In the end I will freely admit this is a risky hire, however I view it as also having the potential for very high reward.  Lets see what he can do next year.  If he can take this team deep in the tourney and recruit a very good incoming class for 2009-2010 than I think we will know its a very defensible hire.

[BrewCity83]

The Homer said yesterday that the MU people don't think that Buzz will be good...but that he will be special.  You're right mu03eng, it would have been much easier for Cottingham and Wild to make a safe pick with someone more established like Weber, but they apparently were so impressed by Buzz's intangibles that they went out on a limb to pick him.

That's really encouraging to me.

[Henry Sugar]

I still think it was a bad hire.  My opinion is that the administration didn't define what they wanted.  After they were rejected with their first set of choices, then they talked themselves into a decision on Buzz.

That said, what's done is done.  I'm not going to beat on Buzz nor blindly support him.  Basically, I'll hold off on my opinion until after the following:

• Coaching Staff
• Current Roster / Recruit Retention
• 2008 / 2009 Recruiting

Prove you can handle the job, Buzz

[Norm]

Wait, MU paid UNO the 300K for Williams' buyout clause? I thought Williams was suing to not have to pay the buyout?

[mr.MUskie]

No, MU paid Wms $300k salary to come asst. coach at MU.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

I still think it was a bad hire.  My opinion is that the administration didn't define what they wanted.  After they were rejected with their first set of choices, then they talked themselves into a decision on Buzz.

That said, what's done is done.  I'm not going to beat on Buzz nor blindly support him.  Basically, I'll hold off on my opinion until after the following:

• Coaching Staff
• Current Roster / Recruit Retention
• 2008 / 2009 Recruiting

Prove you can handle the job, Buzz

+1

I don't really know enough about Buzz to critique him.

Let's see what happens.

[Norm]

I thought Buzz' salary last year was $200,000, up from the $150,000 he was making at New Orleans. The buyout clause was $300,000.

[MUshrooms]

None of you know exactly what happened during the hiring process.  All of your "opinions" on what happened during the interview process mean absolutely nothing.  Do you really believe that you are more qualified to hire a new coach than the athletic department? Give it a rest, wait until the season starts to judge Williams. 

[DAtruth]

i agree with prn on this 1..lowery as a 2 option?..good recruiters are generally aided by high profile coaches..like it or not tc was exactly that after dwade..when buzz was recruiting t taylor he was selling mu facilities, mu history, mu players, tc and tc's "system"..now buzz has to sell buzz and no1 can be 100% confident when they say he will b extremly successful {not much of a record to go on} bob knight relied on pat knight and mike davis as recruiters towards the end of his iu job{above average recruiters}..i dont see either 1 of them as great head coaches..

the other thing is how do we get over the "stepping stone job" label..i think buzz either stinks it up and is fired in 4 yrs or less..or hes great and leaves within 8 years for more money at a higher profile uni.. either way he isn't a "lifer" and we start all over.. PONY UP AND BRING SOME $$$..with a rediculous buy-out, or we will be having a coach search every 8-10 yrs regardless..with that said i hope buzz proves me wrong on every issue..now lets get to work..W's are all that matters..    GOOD LUCK BUZZ

[MU06CU10]

Good to see that PRN, aka Gordito Mojito, is taking his shtick nationally.

http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2008/04/08/marquette-chooses-a-quiet-buzz/

I'm assuming that is him due to the anger regarding Buzz, Crean, and the mascot change, but if not, it looks like PRN has a new friend.

[ToddPacker]

None of you know exactly what happened during the hiring process.  All of your "opinions" on what happened during the interview process mean absolutely nothing.  Do you really believe that you are more qualified to hire a new coach than the athletic department? Give it a rest, wait until the season starts to judge Williams. 

Bingo!  Why do all of these knuckleheads think that they know better how to hire a coach?  If they are so knowledgeable, why not make a career shift?  They could consult schools with job openings so that they don't make the mistake of making an indefensible hire. 

Buzz has the recruiting chops to be a very, very good coach at MU, if his fan base does not march to the front door of his house with torches in hand first. 

Anyone want to guess how many more threads PRN and his lackeys are going to open saying the exact same thing ad nauseum?  The over/under has to be around 50 or 60.

[79Warrior]

If Crean hadn't pushed so hard for Buzz and pushed to all the right people i.e. major donors, we probably would still be going thru the hiring process.

Yes. You know with certainty Crean was behind the hiring. Get a life.

[Pakuni]

That said, what's done is done.  I'm not going to beat on Buzz nor blindly support him.  Basically, I'll hold off on my opinion until after the following:

• Coaching Staff
• Current Roster / Recruit Retention
• 2008 / 2009 Recruiting

Prove you can handle the job, Buzz

You may want to add some trivial things like "wins and losses, player development and whether the team plays to its potential" to that list.

As to how to defend this hiring, there actually are many ways. Just as there are many ways to criticize it. But since we've seen plenty of the latter and are asked by PRN about the former, here goes:

- Buzz, unlike a guy like Lowery, has proven himself to be a quality recruiter at the high-major level. That is significant because
    a) recruiting is huge at a place like Marquette. Unlike some places, the school   doesn't recruit itself
    b) plenty of guys with success at the mid-major level flopped at the next level because they couldn't land the players they needed (see: Deane, Mike)

- Buzz provides continuity and MU's best hope to avoid a complete roster implosion. Regardless of who was selected, we were going to see some defections. But keeping Williams on board likely softens the blow and keeps some kids/recruits here who otherwise would have gone elsewhere.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

None of you know exactly what happened during the hiring process.  All of your "opinions" on what happened during the interview process mean absolutely nothing.  Do you really believe that you are more qualified to hire a new coach than the athletic department? Give it a rest, wait until the season starts to judge Williams. 

Bingo!  Why do all of these knuckleheads think that they know better how to hire a coach?  If they are so knowledgeable, why not make a career shift?  They could consult schools with job openings so that they don't make the mistake of making an indefensible hire. 

Because it's easy to sit on the sidelines and just critique everything.

If Buzz wins, everybody will be elated... but if he loses... you will get a ton of "I told you so's"

[only a warrior]

and that my friend is why Head Coaches get paid the big bucks....... to shoulder this b.s.