Buzz isn’t going anywhere. Marquette announced today that the university and head coach Buzz Williams have agreed to a contract extension that is believed to pay him in the ballpark of around $2 million per year.
By: David Kay
Buzz’s coaching stock blew up with the exposure he received from the national media during Marquette’s run to the Sweet 16. They fell in love with his honesty, obsessive behavior with numbers, and anecdotes about his All-American story of working his way to the top.
His name was linked to the head coaching vacancy at Arkansas before the Hogs hired Mike Anderson away from Missouri. Oklahoma then reportedly turned their attention towards the Golden Eagles’ head man with Mizzou also rumored to be interested. I never really bought into the rumors because I did not see the allure of leaving an established program in the best conference in the country for a program like Oklahoma that is in re-building mode. Money and the chance to move closer to his roots would have been the only reason for Buzz to leave MU, a place that he has truly made his home.
In a release given by the university Williams said, “I was given an opportunity beyond my wildest dreams 1086 days ago and my entire family is extremely humbled and grateful by the opportunity to continue this journey.”
“Too much attention is given to my position, but I assure you, it’s the collective ownership of all of those who impact our program daily, who have developed the culture we currently have,” Williams added. “I am thankful to all of those who work so diligently to make our program the success it is today.”
Personally, I am glad to have Buzz back. I have said it before and I will echo my past thoughts, I like Buzz the person more than like Buzz the coach. That is not in any way a slight on his ability as a coach but more so a compliment about him being an ambassador for everything positive about Marquette University.
He truly seems to appreciate the opportunity he has been given. Sometimes his “aw-shucks” attitude and excessive humbleness may come across as fake, but that is just who Buzz Williams seems to be. I for one, am glad he will be a fixture of the Marquette program for hopefully a long time to come.
Check out my look ahead to the 2011-2012 Marquette season.
David Kay is a senior feature NBA Draft, NBA, and college basketball writer for the Sports Bank. He also heads up the NBA and college basketball material at Walter Football.com and is a former contributor at The Washington Times Communities. You can follow him on Twitter at DavidKay_TSB.