Buzz's New Deal

According to the official Marquette press release, two days ago Buzz Williams signed his new contract to remain the coach of the Marquette Warriors. Per school policy, Marquette has not revealed the terms of the agreement, however, Rosiak's blog post fills in the whispers. From Rosiak, "it's believed the contract will again be in the form of a rollover and pay Williams in excess of $2 million annually".

We think this is (obviously) great news.

Buzz definitely ends up very well in the new arrangement. With an annual roll-over contract, he gets what is essentially a lifetime contract with minimum downside. One may argue that a rollover contract minimizes his upside. However, the fact that it's been renegotiated each year suggests his upside can be maximized further as well. While it's speculation, Buzz probably got a reduced buyout as part of the deal as well.

Clearly, Marquette is comfortable with a higher-level of long-term risk with Buzz Williams. Marquette certainly gave their head coach plenty, placing his salary into (and beyond) many of college basketball's elite coaches on top of rolling it over year-to-year. Still, one key question is what Buzz gave up in the contract.

Currently, Georgia Tech is experiencing the downside of a rollover contract, as they are now on the hook to Paul Hewitt for a substantial sum, perhaps as much as $5M over the next seven years. On Twitter, Todd Rosiak confirmed that the Buzz contract is"exactly like Hewitt's", though Buzz is set to be paid a much higher annual salary. It is also notable that Hewitt signed his lucrative deal after leading the Yellow Jackets to the 2004 Final Four whereas Buzz earned his after a Sweet 16 appearance.

We believe Steve Cottingham is a competent and professional negotiator. There had to be more that Buzz conceded in the contract other than, "I won't look at Oklahoma". Perhaps the buyout, previously rumored at $3.8M, stayed relatively large with the new deal, affording MU a great amount of institutional control.

The most important signal from a contract this size is one of increased expectations. The layperson will probably wonder what Buzz has done to deserve a contract that is one of the top twenty contracts in the country. Despite the successes, Marquette has not been an elite, top twenty program the last three years. In addition, anyone that has a potential gripe with the program also now has additional ammunition to state, "Buzz is getting how much per year and we ..... ". Regardless of those looking to complain, increased expectations for the program are well deserved.

However, while Marquette would have been fine had Buzz elected to move on, there is no disputing the value of continuity. This contract helps demonstrate Marquette's continued commitment to the basketball program. Almost every program thinks they can pull in a better head coach than they really can. The tizzy that occurred when rumors increased about Arkansas and Oklahoma highlighted the potential concern about starting with yet another new coach.

Honestly, Buzz has managed to represent Marquette well, stock the roster with highly ranked recruits, developed a high-quality offense year after year, and make the NCAA tournament each year. Oh yeah... and a Sweet Sixteen. Fix the defense and Marquette is near-elite.

Again, this contract says Marquette will continue to invest the necessary financial commitment to successfully compete in the toughest basketball conference in the country. Not all conference members can say that. Congratulations to all parties for making this deal happen quickly and without drama.

Daily Update

Just catching folks up on the various bits of Marquette information spreading across the airwaves:

• Continuing on the original Rivals article by Bob McClellan that we commented on last week, Rivals has a new article asking "Was Williams the right choice for Marquette?. The article starts off by saying that

It's fair to categorize Marquette's hiring of Buzz Williams to replace Tom Crean as a major surprise

• McClellan calls the hire a "Good Hire" (not great), but the co-author Andrew Skwara calls it "Questionable". Read the link for additional information. Just like the original article sparked a six page thread on MUScoop, the new article is likewise generating further debate.
• Rosiak's excellent blog covered Crean's MU Salary yesterday. Crean earned $1.85 million in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007 and was by far the highest paid faculty member at the school. The article has additional details, including comparisons with other coaches.
• In some good news, the Chicago Tribune has a front page story about McNeal, titled "Marquette's McNeal intent on taking his shot at NBA". Just like Dominic James last year, the situation is really a win-win for McNeal. He gets to test out the process and receive NBA feedback, and his worst case scenario is returning for his senior year.
• Buzz Williams was the featured guest on the Dennis Krause show yesterday afternoon. According to GoMarquette.com's release, the show will be broadcast over two dozen times in the next week. You could also watch it on the internet (requires IE)
• Finally, Time Warner Sports is re-broadcasting classic Marquette games throughout the summer. The station will broadcast a different Marquette game every Friday night, with an encore presentation on Sunday evening. The schedule features only Marquette victories (which is nice), and includes competition such as Pitt, Cincy, Louisville, Duke, South Carolina, and "It's Indiana, It's Indiana". This week's game is Louisville at Marquette (2/20/97). Check the link for more details.

Above Expectations

The most recent Cracked Sidewalks post about the Buzz hiring seems to have re-opened a nerve in the comments section here at Cracked Sidewalks and on MUScoop. Personally, I was also fairly critical about the decision to hire Buzz, but I said my piece and then waited to see what happened. My position was not one where I wanted him to be the wrong choice, so that every setback (like the Tyshawn Taylor situtation) was judged harshly. However, it was also not one where Buzz received automatic acceptance that he was the right person for the job. My position?

Prove it.

I've seen some suggestions that Buzz deserves 2-3 years to grow into the job. I totally disagree. In my opinion, Buzz gets exactly one year to prove that he's the right choice for a program coming off of three straight NCAA appearances / Top 25 finishes. One. Year. Buzz managed to convince Cracked Sidewalks punching bag Steve Cottingham he was the right choice, but I want to see him prove he's a Big East coach this year.

Buzz gets graded this year based on six areas:

• Roster Continuity (5%)
  
• Coaching Staff Selection (5%)
• Representative of Marquette (10%)
  
• 2009 (or 2010) Recruiting (25%)
  
• Regular Season Success (25%)
  
• NCAA Success (30%)
  

I think that the percentages are fair, but certainly the opinions of CS readers are welcome. Thus far, only two of those areas are even complete, and a third (Representative of Marquette) has only limited information. However, I have to say that Buzz has been Above Expectations in all three areas.

Roster Continuity - (4 out of 5)
When we look at what the worst case scenario could have been (losing all four recruits for this year, Erik Williams, Scott Christopherson, Trevor Mbakwe, and Dominic James), I've got to say that Buzz did a pretty good job here. Once Crean left, Nick Williams was never going to set foot on Marquette's campus. Plus, Jimmy Butler was an upgrade over Scott Christopherson. The only area that could have been better would have been if Tyshawn Taylor stuck with MU. There was some definite ugliness, but in reading the outstanding Blog from Rosiak, I believe that Buzz handled the situation pretty well and kept the high road.

Coaching Staff Selection - (4 out of 5)
Unlike his employer, Buzz took his time filling out his coaching staff (gratuitous dig!). With a realistic view of things, I think he did pretty well. Tony Benford is experienced, well regarded, and has worked with big men in the past. "Aki" Collins is unproven, but appears to be the hungry young coach with East Coast connections. It's a bit odd that Dale Layer is now working for his former employee, but that's their relationship. Layer also brings experience to the bench and the recruiting trail. Add to that the positions for Autry and (almost certainly) Monarch, and the staff has real promise. I think the only thing really keeping this from being a five is if Buzz had hired someone like Josh Pastner.

Representative of Marquette - (4 out of 5)
I keep thinking about a quote from Billy Gillespie about Buzz (which you can find on his Marquette home page).

Everyone likes him. If they don't start out liking him, he forces them to like him.

I've heard several interviews with Buzz, and I've got to say that I like the guy. If you haven't listened, check them out yourself on his home page. There's a refreshing honesty and candor about him. Certainly, there's considerably less coach-speak than the previous coach, and I don't think I've heard him say phenomenal once. Heck it even seems like Murff is warming up to Buzz.

In summary, the proof will be when we start getting to 2009 recruits and when the season kicks off. Until then, Buzz has been Above Expectations. Keep on proving it, Buzz!

Cottingham details 'the process'

OK, let's start with the good stuff.......Bob McClellan from Rivals.com pulled together an article on Buzz Williams -- the piece effectively recaps the 'how we got here' and 'here's what we know about Buzz' storylines.

Of course, we also have to put up with Marquette AD Steve Cottingham's defense of his unwillingness to conduct a thorough, national search to fill the institution's most visible job. So, in honor of FireJoeMorgan.com, we're going Ken Tremendous on Cottingham.

"I think the general public might see it that way (as a risky hire)," Marquette athletic director Steve Cottingham told Rivals.com.

Despite being an inside job, the Politburo would have seen it as a risky hire. Hiring a coach embroiled in a legal battle with his previous employer -- a job he left under questionable circumstances after a losing season -- is risky. For a university that believes its men's basketball program is a key part of its strategy to attract interest from prospective students and dollars from alums, the hire was risky by any measure.

"My view is it's a much greater risk to hire somebody based on the popular opinion."

Please ring that gong, Chuck Barris.

Would everybody who thought that MU should hire a coach based on popular opinion raise your hand? (no hands go up in our virtual world).

No, Mr. Cottingham. Marquette fans wanted to see the institution engage in a competitive evaluation and hiring process that didn't include "hire the last assistant remaining in the program" as a key criterion.

"There wasn't a risk in hiring Buzz because we know what he can do and know what he's going to do."

Seriously, Cottingham said that. You can't make this stuff up. To recap, here is what we knew about Buzz Williams at the time of his hiring:

• Buzz Williams did not have to defend his resume or approach to building a program against a slate of competitive candidates.
• Buzz Williams quit on the folks at the University of New Orleans and was engaged in a protracted legal battle with them.
• Buzz Williams led UNO to a 14-17 record as head coach.
• Buzz Williams played a brief, minor role in building the MU program.
  
• Buzz Williams would have been an assistant coach at any other D1 program in the nation for the 2008-2009 season.
• Buzz Williams seems to have been an effective recruiter as an assistant coach.
  
• Buzz Williams might be just fine in the end. Or he might not.

"It would have been easy to settle for a name on somebody else's list."

I think Cottingham mis-spoke here. What he meant to say was, "It would not have been easy to conduct an aggressive, national search. Such a search would have taken time and forced candidates to demonstrate their competing visions of Marquette basketball. Those candidates could have challenged this institution's perspectives in what would have been a very healthy dialectic. Ultimately we just didn't need that kind of distraction."

Cottingham admits other coaches were approached. He declined to reveal any names.

Approached? Stalked? Left messages for? Sigh.

It took Buzz Williams more time to hire his first assistant coach than it did for MU to hire its 16th head basketball coach. And per Internet reports, Williams actually conducted an aggressive national search to build out his staff (I didn't think MU allowed such a thing!). Bravo, Buzz.

"We did our job in terms of looking at people we thought would be interested and would be the right fit"

Looking at people but not interviewing people, apparently.

"That's all part of doing your due diligence."

Due diligence? This process was reminiscent of the fella who marries the first girl he kisses, only to realize later that playing the field for a while might have resulted in out-kicking his coverage.

"Buzz emerged pretty quickly as a strong candidate."

A haunting refrain reappears near Cottingham's noggin as a Pop-Up Video bubble , "Hire the last assistant remaining in the program."

"Recruiting is a huge part," Cottingham said.

Of course!! Nobody else that MU might have considered as a head coach can recruit -- only Buzz Williams can recruit. It's all making sense now.

"Even during the season, it became clear to me he'd be a high-major coach," Cottingham said. "I just didn't expect it would be at Marquette."

On this point we agree. Nobody else did either.

Um, hi....we're back

Life (er, work) has a funny way of interrupting your hobbies, hence the dearth of material here for the last several days. Capitalism has a funny way of demanding increasing amounts of your time. Anyway, we're back. For those of you who follow the threads on MUScoop and other sites, some of this might be redux -- but let's get caught up with Marquette hoops.

Marquette has offered 2009 stud Jeronne Maymon of Madison Memorial High School. Mark Miller of WSN Boys Basketball has the details here. Maymon, a 6'6" combo forward, currently sports offers from MU, USC and Iowa State with many more to follow. Maymon is off to a fast start this spring on the AAU circuit, turning in a series of eye-catching performances.

Darrius Morrow signed with ECU. Recruiting successfully requires patience and vision more than a hunger to settle for the 'best (only?) player available'. I'm glad to see that Buzz Williams appears to have exhibited that with Morrow.

6'10" Kyle Rowley reclassified to 2008 and signed with Northwestern. Good luck, Kyle.

According to the Big East Basketball Report, MU is after 2009 PG Justin Jordan of Fort Wayne.

Marquette University's athletic programs delivered academically once again. According to MU, each of th university's 14 athletic teams exceeded the NCAA's required Academic Progress Rate (APR). Congratulations, MU. If you want to see what happens when a university does not take care of the academic side of life, check out the SHU situation. For a history on MU's position with the APR over time, read our post on the subject from last year.

Steve Yanda of the Marquette Tribune ran a provocative article about the university's proclivity to favor the internal hire over a competitive, national search. Here's my key take-away from the article:

In February, Cottingham was named Marquette's athletic director after a 14-month interim stint during which he conducted the search for a permanent replacement. Though Cottingham stated throughout the search process that he was not interested in the full-time position, he eventually concluded he was the best person for the job.

Of the 60 candidates who applied for the full-time position, none were interviewed. As a private institution.

Talk about it in this thread at MUScoop if you're interested.

New Marquette AD faces daunting task

Now that Tom Crean has cast his lot with the Indiana Hoosiers, Marquette faces the unenviable task of starting anew.

Steve Cottingham, Marquette's newly minted AD, will lead the effort to find a new head basketball coach just 36 days after taking over the reigns of an athletic department for the first time. Cottingham has never hired a coach before (a scenario which made Cracked Sidewalks ask "Why Cottingham" when he was originally announced). Cottingham now faces the daunting challenge of replacing the man who, along with strong support from the administration and alumni, rebuilt the Marquette program to heights only surpassed by the legendary Al McGuire.

Given MU's willingness to pay Tom Crean top-dollar to run the program, there's no reason to believe that the administration will pare back its commitment to maintaining a high level of success with the men's basketball program. In the past, Marquette University President Robert Wild has indicated that a successful men's basketball program is a key aspect of his overall strategy for the university. As long as Father Wild remains at MU, expect the Golden Eagles to invest in hoops.

Considering the administration's long-term commitment to hoops, Cottingham should have the resources to land a very desirable candidate. Of course, he'll need to because this hire will define his tenure at Marquette.

With first-class facilities, strong support from the administration, a large budget, a burgeoning fan base, expanded online coverage, and a strong roster of returning talent (we hope), the Marquette coaching job is as appealing as it's been in a long time. Now it's time to fill it with a candidate who can continue the momentum the program has built during the past nine seasons.

Steve Cottingham is on the clock.

......much more to come here on Cracked Sidewalks, check back often!