Buzz = Jamie Dixon

[Tugg Speedman]

Early on in the process, a lot of people compared Buzz to Pitt's Jamie Dixon.  Recall, Howland bolted for UCLA (and worse than Crean did not even bother to say goodbye, just left).  In a "panic" Pitt promoted their assitant Jamie Dixon to head coach.  Cracked sidewalks did a comparsion

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2008/04/interesting-perspective-on-pitt-circa.html

The parrallels are stunning similar

Pitt was acting at the time with only an interim AD — no excuse for that since it had been 4 months since the former had left (and he gave notice). So you had the school chancellor and an interim AD doing the search. They only interviewed two candidates: Wake Forest's Skip Prosser and Jamie Dixon.

Prosser was the guy they wanted. It was to the point where they were down in New Orleans for the Final Four and didn't even contact any other possibilities to at least informally talk about the job. Prosser ultimately turned down the job and chose to stay at Wake Forest. A good deal of which had to do with still not finding a full time AD. After very publicly flubbing the pursuit of Prosser, the school hired Dixon.

The entire thing is interesting



Fast forward five years later and Pitt is pre-season #1 in some polls.  Andy Katz now has a long puff piece on Dixon up on ESPN.com right now

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=3387734

some excerpts:

Chasing the big bucks is more the norm, but what has changed over Dixon's five-year tenure is how much Pitt has become a destination job. No longer is there a reason to run with Pitt arguably one of the premier jobs in the Big East, which makes it one of the top gigs in the country.

And still Dixon is doing it at a place where elite players in the area are virtually nonexistent. So with the help of his assistants from former aide Barry Rohrssen (now the head coach at Manhattan) to current assistant Orlando Antigua, he continues to make Pitt a familiar name in New York City. The Panthers can call Madison Square Garden their home away from home, too, going 23-8 in the building since 2000, which is better than what UConn, Syracuse and St. John's can boast.

"He put Pittsburgh in a position where it's an upper division team in the Big East," said Florida associate head coach Larry Shyatt, a former assistant in the Big East at Providence under Rick Barnes and a former head coach at Wyoming and Clemson. "That's the way it's thought of outside and in the Big East. That's the best compliment I can give.

Maybe the most amazing stats are that the Panthers had just one transfer (Dante Milligan) during Dixon's first five seasons, only one early-entrant to the NBA (Chris Taft), only one current NBA player (Aaron Gray), no McDonald's All-Americans, only one player from the Pittsburgh area (rising sophomore DeJuan Blair) and Pitt has had five Big East Most Improved Player winners in the past nine seasons while Dixon was on the staff. "Our best asset is that we are consistent," said Brandin Knight, a former Pitt player under Howland and Dixon, and now a member of the staff. "We get kids to buy into our defense, rebounding. That's what gives us an opportunity in every game."

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Can lighting strike twice?  Will Buzz be the next Jamie Dixon? 

Discuss

[THEGYMBAR]

I bet that there is not one person out here that does not have their fingers crossed hoping you are right. But, without a signed a recruit or victory under his belt it might be a tad early to the comparison. If it does come true everyone involved will be extremely happy.

[HarveysWallbangers]

Dixon was with Howland for like 5 or 6 years. He was Pitt's number one assistant for at least 4 years. It's likely he was on the radar of a number of schools, considering his success with Howland. If Pitt hadn't hired him, somebody would have.

If it wasn't for the Marquette job falling into his lap, Buzz would not have been considered for any head coaching job for several years, if ever.

There's no comparison.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

I bet that there is not one person out here that does not have their fingers crossed hoping you are right. But, without a signed a recruit or victory under his belt it might be a tad early to the comparison. If it does come true everyone involved will be extremely happy.

Too early to be positive or negative at this point... he hasn't won/lost a game because we haven't played one.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Dixon was with Howland at Northern Arizona, UCSB and Pittsburgh.  He recruited many of Howland's classes for years.  Dixon was also a DI player at TCU. 

[Murffieus]

Although situations can be similar in part----no two situations are exactly the same in all respects.

Buzz took over the MU program under similar circumstances as Dixon, but we have to see if Buzz can coach.
IMO, Dixon wasn't the greatest coach in the world (better recruiter than coach), but we did see a 180 degree difference after that 3 game losing streak late in the season------every aspect of the game improved dramatically overnight. Has just about everyone back too.

[augoman]

have to agree w/ 'Harvey'..., no comparison at all.

[Tulsa Warrior]

One thing about Buzz that I like is the number of influances on him.  From Gillespie to Layer.  He has some great loyalty from every stop along the way accept for New Orleans.  Ironically it seems like Gillespie has given him more support than Crean.  Perhaps that is not that ironic.

[wildbill sb]

One thing about Buzz that I like is the number of influances on him.  From Gillespie to Layer.  He has some great loyalty from every stop along the way accept for New Orleans.  Ironically it seems like Gillespie has given him more support than Crean.  Perhaps that is not that ironic.

Buzz spent a lot more time with coaches other than Crean

Renewable energy IS homeland security

[mviale]

5 or 6 years with Howland is like 1 family year with Crean

[nola03]

84--

Again, cut back on the lattes.

I never once saw anyone -- online or not -- seriously compare Dixon and Williams.

The situations aren't even remotely close.

[Tugg Speedman]

84--

I never once saw anyone -- online or not -- seriously compare Dixon and Williams.

If you've never seen one, let me intoduce you to cracked sidewalks.  The link is in the first post.  Back on April 2 they compared Buzz to Dixon.

[Pakuni]

Buzz = Buzz

[HarveysWallbangers]

The writer of that piece in Cracked Sidewalks, which was written before Buzz was hired, says they are "willing to bet" that Marquette would interview more than 1 person for the job. Guess they lost that wager.

[nola03]

If you've never seen one, let me intoduce you to cracked sidewalks.  The link is in the first post.  Back on April 2 they compared Buzz to Dixon.

You missed the word "seriously". CS is a great outlet for MU news but that posting was more informative then a comparison of the two situations.

Again, when you have an assistant that travels with you through multiple HC jobs it is foolhardy to compare him with an assistant that you've worked with for 9 months.

There is no comparison for Williams.

[Niv Berkowitz]

I can understand some people jumping the gun and comparing the two. At first glance, sure they are somewhat similar. But then, after you actually do ten minutes of researching, you'll see that there is no comparison to the situations.

This job fell in Buzz' lap. Hope he's great and proves all the doubters wrong...but again...the process was awful.

[Tugg Speedman]

So the only difference is the amount of time Buzz served under Crean? Had Buzz been here three years, then it would be the same?

And speaking of 10 minutes of research, here is what PITT said about Dixon ... sure sounds they were up in arms that the job fell into Dixon's lap.

http://www.pittblather.com/2007/03/20/dealing-with-ben-howland/

It was one thing to pursue one particular coach hard and strong, but to not get him, and then fall back on an assistant, who at the time was an unknown and the interview seemed like a courtesy to him and the players that wanted him. It wasn't like Dixon was the "hot assistant" at the time. The highest profile job he had been considered was at Wright State. This was and is no knock on Coach Dixon. It was the reality of the situation.

Well it came off as minor league and a decision that if they couldn't get the guy they really wanted, the school would take a clear 2nd choice on the cheap. That contributed to fan frustration and more annoyance at Howland leaving.

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The situations are similar but that does NOT mean the OUTCOME will be similar.  Just pointing out their is an another example similar to how MU handled its coaching sitution and that one turned out well - Pitt 5 years ago.  That is all.

[HarveysWallbangers]

Speaking of Wright State -- if we had hired Brownell, does anybody believe that Buzz Williams would have been considered for that opening?

[ChicosBailBonds]

So the only difference is the amount of time Buzz served under Crean? Had Buzz been here three years, then it would be the same?

And speaking of 10 minutes of research, here is what PITT said about Dixon ... sure sounds they were up in arms that the job fell into Dixon's lap.

http://www.pittblather.com/2007/03/20/dealing-with-ben-howland/

It was one thing to pursue one particular coach hard and strong, but to not get him, and then fall back on an assistant, who at the time was an unknown and the interview seemed like a courtesy to him and the players that wanted him. It wasn't like Dixon was the "hot assistant" at the time. The highest profile job he had been considered was at Wright State. This was and is no knock on Coach Dixon. It was the reality of the situation.

Well it came off as minor league and a decision that if they couldn't get the guy they really wanted, the school would take a clear 2nd choice on the cheap. That contributed to fan frustration and more annoyance at Howland leaving.

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The situations are similar but that does NOT mean the OUTCOME will be similar.  Just pointing out their is an another example similar to how MU handled its coaching sitution and that one turned out well - Pitt 5 years ago.  That is all.

I think the major difference is in the number of years.  Folks at Pitt, the recruits, etc clearly knew Dixon for a good number of years.  There isn't that same comfort level for many folks with Buzz.  9 months is 9 months.