David Teel talked with Whit Babcock about recent extensions for Fuente & Buzz, and he was pretty candid about his philosophy on salaries, buyouts, etc.
Here's the link for those interested:
http://www.dailypress.com/sports/teel-blog/dp-teel-time-vt-contract-extensions-post.html
It's a really good read, and once again, reinforces the notion of how important giving to the Hokie Club is and will be in the future. A couple interesting quotes that stuck out to me:
"I don't know that it's something we can always do," Babcock said, "but when you get the right guys or ladies in the right spots, I think a long-term contract is appropriate. ... Hopefully I pleasantly surprised both of them. Someone taught me this a long time ago: With coaches or administrators, you want to be somewhere you're celebrated, not tolerated."
...
"Even though they are very high salaries," Babcock said, "hopefully in time it will be a pretty wise buy, so to speak. ... It is a stretch of our budget, absolutely. ... (But) this is just where we choose to invest."
Comments
I'm pretty happy with the VT administration right now. From Sands to Babcock to their staffs and the coaches.
Babcock has a knack for doing and saying the right things.
I love Buzz especially since he coached at my alma mater and he deserves his money but with football being king I would think Fuente would have more guaranteed then that when comparing the two
I'm surprised it's not closer, honestly. With how Buzz Williams proved himself for 6 years with Marquette, I think he would warrant a higher initial starting salary than Fuente (even though this was not the case with Buzz starting at $2.3 million and Fuente at $3.2 million). Buzz had taken Marquette to 2 Sweet 16's and an Elite 8 appearance back when the Big East was more competitive than it is now (had Louisville, Pitt, Syracuse, and Notre Dame in 2012-13). I understand Fuente did amazing things with Memphis and I'm thrilled we have him, but there is a clear difference between what the two had done before arriving at Virginia Tech. Getting Memphis winning back-to-back 10-win seasons is impressive, but I'm always surprised at how little Buzz accepted to coach at Tech.
Reading what Buzz has said and done with his contract negotiations I'm the past, he is not concerned too much with them amount of money. Buzz drives hard for the benefits like paid travel for his family to come on the road with him, car leases and paid insurance, commitments to hire additional staffers, and other things. He's also made it clear that he doesn't chase $$ if considering another school.
How much longer has Buzz been here 3 years? That's a factor too.