Buzz Williams leaving Marquette for Va Tech

[shupirate98]

Buzz leaving now reminds me of when Amaker left Seton Hall right after he in his final season there had turned in the worst coaching job I've ever seen in any year in any sport. For the first time in his SHU tenure Amaker was getting criticism. He somehow found a sucker willing to hire him off of the miserable year he had just had and he bailed. 6 years and no NCAA Tournaments later he got fired. And he had gone to a school with massive resources, huge brand-name appeal and significant basketball history. Buzz is going to...Virginia Tech? Good luck with that and with your next job search which will be coming sooner than you think.

[ivet]

Seems like there is more to this than just "tv exposure." I'm inclined to believe that he was pressured out. Rumors were out that he was looking into the Auburn job then all of a sudden VT?

So here's some hearsay. Guys from Depaul board mentioned that there are some threads on muscoop about Marquette about to get investigated with regards to recruiting violations and how they handled the rape case a few years back.

This move just doesn't make sense, financially for sure. I mean, he's going to Blacksburg Virginia also known as BFV. This is the same guy that was mocking WV in Morgantown by doing a hoe down on their logo in center court.

[stever20]

{/quote]
So he's all pissy about FS1 and goes to a league that's on ESPN even though the only time his team will actually be on ESPN is when they're playing Duke. Whatever. Get a good coach in there and Marquette will be infinitely more successful than Va Tech in the years to come. Of that I have no doubt.

VT was on ESPN or one if it's networks 5 times this year plus the tourney. Plus Tru TV 2x and NBCSN 1x.[/quote]

So you are telling me that is better than Marquette being on national TV over 20x?? Even though the ratings are lower, the exposure is greater. It's ESPN propaganda, I doubt that is the reason Buzz left.[/quote]
If 100k are watching a game, is it really national tv? I'm sorry, but FS1 is not God's gift to basketball. I'd rather have 10-15 games on ESPN than 25 on FS1.(which wasn't happening)

More than 2x folks watched the AAC final on ESPN than the Big East final on FS1. That's not good.

[Dew]

More than 2x folks watched the AAC final on ESPN than the Big East final on FS1. That's not good.

Relevance? Buzz didn't play in it this year and sure as hell won't be playing in a conference title game at VT anytime soon.

[xu2002]

More than 2x folks watched the AAC final on ESPN than the Big East final on FS1. That's not good.

We're talking about a station that has existed for 7 months. No one expected it to compete from day one with ESPN. It will take time to build viewership and for FOX to buy additional programming to build the awareness. I would rather have every game on national TV with less viewers now and build it over the next 10 years then 5 games buried on ESPNU or ESPN3.

[stever20]

{/quote]
So he's all pissy about FS1 and goes to a league that's on ESPN even though the only time his team will actually be on ESPN is when they're playing Duke. Whatever. Get a good coach in there and Marquette will be infinitely more successful than Va Tech in the years to come. Of that I have no doubt.

VT was on ESPN or one if it's networks 5 times this year plus the tourney. Plus Tru TV 2x and NBCSN 1x.

So you are telling me that is better than Marquette being on national TV over 20x?? Even though the ratings are lower, the exposure is greater. It's ESPN propaganda, I doubt that is the reason Buzz left.

If 100k are watching a game, is it really national tv? I'm sorry, but FS1 is not God's gift to basketball. I'd rather have 10-15 games on ESPN than 25 on FS1.(which wasn't happening)

More than 2x folks watched the AAC final on ESPN than the Big East final on FS1. That's not good.[/quote]
Relevance? Buzz didn't play in it this year and sure as hell won't be playing in a conference title game at VT anytime soon.[/quote]
It's what he's had to go up against at Marquette though for recruits. That's the problem. I just love how all of you think FS1 is anywhere near as close as ESPN. It's not. Could easily see a coach viewing FS1 as not national at all.

[stever20]

More than 2x folks watched the AAC final on ESPN than the Big East final on FS1. That's not good.

We're talking about a station that has existed for 7 months. No one expected it to compete from day one with ESPN. It will take time to build viewership and for FOX to buy additional programming to build the awareness. I would rather have every game on national TV with less viewers now and build it over the next 10 years then 5 games buried on ESPNU or ESPN3.

The problem though is that there is so little programming for the next 6-7 years available. If FS1 doesn't get the NBA or Big Ten, which is very possible, it would be 2021 at the earliest before anything comes up. Recruits aren't going to come to a school because all their OOC games are on tv.

[xu2002]

More than 2x folks watched the AAC final on ESPN than the Big East final on FS1. That's not good.[/quote]
Relevance? Buzz didn't play in it this year and sure as hell won't be playing in a conference title game at VT anytime soon.[/quote]
It's what he's had to go up against at Marquette though for recruits. That's the problem. I just love how all of you think FS1 is anywhere near as close as ESPN. It's not. Could easily see a coach viewing FS1 as not national at all.[/quote]

I'm not sure many, if any, people on here are saying FS1 is currently anywhere near ESPN. I think most people are being rationale in realizing we're on a new network and it will take time to grow. The good new is that it is a national network, no matter how many times you want to keep repeating your line about how many people watch the games. I'm sure people laughed at how little the ratings were when ESPN first started compared to games on the national networks. Today there are so many more options that people are crazy to think that the ratings were going to be any better this year then they were. If in year 5 of the contract the games still have 100k viewers then I would say signing this deal was a mistake, but I don't think that will be the case.

[stever20]

More than 2x folks watched the AAC final on ESPN than the Big East final on FS1. That's not good.

Relevance? Buzz didn't play in it this year and sure as hell won't be playing in a conference title game at VT anytime soon.[/quote]
It's what he's had to go up against at Marquette though for recruits. That's the problem. I just love how all of you think FS1 is anywhere near as close as ESPN. It's not. Could easily see a coach viewing FS1 as not national at all.[/quote]

I'm not sure many, if any, people on here are saying FS1 is currently anywhere near ESPN. I think most people are being rationale in realizing we're on a new network and it will take time to grow. The good new is that it is a national network, no matter how many times you want to keep repeating your line about how many people watch the games. I'm sure people laughed at how little the ratings were when ESPN first started compared to games on the national networks. Today there are so many more options that people are crazy to think that the ratings were going to be any better this year then they were. If in year 5 of the contract the games still have 100k viewers then I would say signing this deal was a mistake, but I don't think that will be the case.[/quote]
The huge difference between ESPN's start up and FS1's startup though- as we saw in the movie that aired on Sunday- there wasn't much being televised on cable. They could get almost anything that they wanted. Now, much less is available. My problem is I think a lot of folks just think that FS1 is a guaranteed success. I just don't see that. I'm not saying that FS1 is going to be a failure. But, it's not a lock. And to act like it had nothing to do with Buzz leaving Marquette I think is foolish. how much it had to do with it? Who knows.

[jayelan]

Ok have to say didn't see this coming, but then again as a West Coast guy don't know all the innuendos of politics at Marquette. Nonetheless it is a head scratcher for several reasons. He had everything a coach would need to be successful at a top university, academic wise and athletically speaking. I am sure the money is not better a VT, but the expectations will more than likely be less. Maybe the pressure was getting to him and a lateral move conference wise is a good decision in his mind. But it is anything but lateral move wise to go form top tier to bottom dweller.

But in the end, Marquette will not only survive but get a coach better suited for the BE. Its not having to start all over, more akin to getting rid of some clothes in the closet that don't fit anymore.