Larry Williams

Hey all, I'm a Marquette fan and I just came over to ask about your Athletic Director, Larry Williams. Tonight, he was named AD at Marquette. Can you share any info about him, thoughts about his leadership style? Any info you can provide here or at marquettehoops.com would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

Honestly, I was wondering when this was going to happen. I was just wondering when and where he would go. I liked him a lot. He is very smart and I think he is going to have a lot of success. I think he's trying to work his way up to a big football school though.

This is news to me. He will be missed by Pilot fans. Our programs have risen a lot under him.

I think many of us expected this to happen sooner than this considering his family situation. Maybe we'll now be able to have pregame pasta again!

From Fox News:

Milwaukee, WI – Marquette named Larry Williams as its new vice president and director of athletics on Monday.

Williams will begin at Marquette on January 2 and will report directly to Marquette University President Scott Pilarz.

"After personally reviewing and interviewing a highly talented group of applicants and consulting with an outstanding Search Committee, I know that Larry Williams is the right choice to lead Marquette Athletics into its next great chapter," Pilarz said.

Williams had been the athletic director at the University of Portland since 2004.

Under Williams' guidance, the Pilots won a NCAA Division I Championship in women's soccer in 2005 and earned top ten finishes in men's cross country and first-ever national rankings in men basketball, baseball and tennis.

"Marquette is one of the elite names in collegiate athletics. But after getting to know the people here, it was clear to me that this was a program with not only a storied history, but an extremely bright future. Just as importantly, it was a place my family and I could call home," said Williams.

"As I join this community, I look forward to working with an outstanding group of coaches, staff members and student athletes, and getting to know the alumni and fans who love this great university."


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2011/12/05/marquette-names-williams-new-ad/#ixzz1fjCf5Clp

Bummer for us. I wish him well.

And yeah, it was inevitable.

I hope he finds success at Marquette. He seems to have done pretty well with Pilot athletics and I sure hope we continue to flourish without him.

Best of luck to Larry at MU... we are lucky to have had him on the Bluff... our basketball program has grown significantly and Chiles & Merlo have seen extensive updates under his guidance.

So, who replaces LW?

Is Marquette much more than a lateral move? It has 3 times as many students, but about the same number of sports teams. No baseball or rowing, but men's and women's lacrosse, plus men's golf. Jesuit instead of Holy Cross . Much higher profile bball conference (Big East).

Looks like there are some issues he'll need to address. From the ESPN report:

He becomes the permanent replacement for Steve Cottingham, who resigned in June as school and athletic department officials faced questions about how they handled two cases of alleged sexual assault involving athletes.

From his statement:

'Just as importantly, it was a place my family and I could call home,' said Williams.

Guess Portland didn't meet that criteria.

up7587 wrote:Is Marquette much more than a lateral move? It has 3 times as many students, but about the same number of sports teams. No baseball or rowing, but men's and women's lacrosse, plus men's golf. Jesuit instead of Holy Cross . Much higher profile bball conference (Big East).

....and twice the athletic budget- $25 million as opposed to UP's $12 million, according to the Equity in Athletics database.

'Just as importantly, it was a place my family and I could call home,' said Williams.

Guess Portland didn't meet that criteria. [/quote]

Divorces are seldom without hurt feelings his kids did grow up here.

He didn't say Portland wasn't , just that Milwaukee was.

I have to echo SP11s and add a .

I was fortunate to have now-outgoing AD Williams in my Sociology of Sport class this last Thursday.

Obviously, no questions addressed his future but his rather political answers seemed too odd and pat to me. He was disappointed in the gap between the Department's expenses and the donor support (the University pays the difference.) Like Geeze said with an athletic budget of $22,161,736 ($8,185,030 devoted to MBB) compared to $10,230,526 and $1,602,542 (all numbers from bbstate.com), the gap might be easier to cover.

Rather fitting the last question asked of him was what the biggest struggle is for a school like UP against the bigger schools outside of $. His response:the fight for relevance, especially through scheduling. Hopefully Marquette and their Big East Brethren can make the journey west now and help UP's fight.

According to the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel,

In addition to Allie McGuire (a former Marquette University basketball star and son of legendary coach Al McGuire), the university search committee included Doc Rivers, another former Marquette star and coach of the NBA's Boston Celtics; Margaret Callahan, dean of the College of Nursing; and Matt Mitten, professor of law and director of Marquette's National Sports Law Institute

Rather interesting since Williams also said he focused on Sports Law, specifically Mergers & Acquisitions.

Turns out, Williams will go from overseeing one Buzz for another: Marquette's MBB coach is
Buzz Williams.

Early feedback is positive outside the expected "anyone know anything about UP?" but this stood out:

@mikebroeker Mike Broeker (Marquette's Acting AD)
Department's flag fball team just got WAY better. Welcome Larry! Looking forward to running behind you. #groundandpound (I'm a Jets fan)

I wish him well, but I'm still stunned. Not news I expected to read before Finals. Let the Speculation Begin!

I could be reading a bit too much into it (and his family moving to Cleveland last January) but I wonder if there was something wasn't working out well with Portland (the area) for them.

"...Just as importantly, it was a place my family and I could call home."

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/7321720/marquette-golden-eagles-name-former-nfl-player-larry-williams-new-ad

RiseUP wrote:I could be reading a bit too much into it (and his family moving to Cleveland last January) but I wonder if there was something wasn't working out well with Portland (the area) for them.

"...Just as importantly, it was a place my family and I could call home."

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/7321720/marquette-golden-eagles-name-former-nfl-player-larry-williams-new-ad

I suspect what wasn't working out was the pay scale we can offer him and what he can get elsewhere. Larry is young and ambitious, and came from a much larger environment.

You are kidding yourself if you think UP was anything but a career step for him. Just be happy we both benefitted while he was here. Almost every program moved in a direction the university wanted it to. He did a great job here. Let's hope the next guy we get has great ideas, too.

I think LW was a great asset for the UP. I am not familiar with his family situation, but was not surprised at all by the announcement that he is moving on. I always thought it would be to Notre Dame.

He was always friendly whenever I saw him at an athletic event, particularly the sparsely attended Women's Basketball games where he was almost always in attendance.

I wish him well and echo Geezer in hopes that his replacement (male or female) continues to move the athletic department forward in a positive manner.

We should not overlook that fact that not only did the Athletic Department move notably forward under LW's guidance, we have preserved the high ethical & moral standards instilled by Joe Etzel and the University Administration. We do things the "right" way, which takes discipline particularly when trying to grow the programs.

Staying through the end of December, per the UP email:

Larry Williams, who has served as UP’s Athletic Director since 2004, has accepted the athletic director position at Marquette University. He will remain with Portland through the end of the year and a search for his replacement will begin immediately, according to University president Rev. E. William Beauchamp, C.S.C.

Nick Daschel has a story about the search for a replacement on O-Live: LINK. Quite a few comments from Rev in it.

It came out of nowhere to me when I read it today. But when you do what he's done you can't help but be noticed by the big schools.

He's done a fine job here and I wish him the best. He's started some good things and hopefully his successor can build on them.

I do not think anyone would begrudge Larry success in his career--his positive addition to the athletic success on the Bluff is noteworthy. Job well done. Though Larry may be singularly ambitious, as described, he is hardly different than our basketball coach in that regard, who when hired, was referred to as a twin/mirror image of Larry and who may predictably head elsewhere in time as well, perhaps to Marquette. I am grateful to them both for their work in uplifting the program and in Larry's case the entire athletic department.

There has been some really well thought-out input to PN regarding Larry Williams’ departure including good wishes and the various reasons for his leaving. There has also been some apparent surprise regarding this move, but mark my word, this isn’t the first time another school has shown an interest in hiring Larry. He’s a quality guy running a quality program, but now with his family situation as it is and the opportunity to double his athletic and personal budget; it was time to make a move.

Many of us have said over the years that we want coaches and ADs on their way up who will give our programs a sustained kick start before moving on to more money and a bigger, more influential program. UP just doesn’t have the $izable, $upportive alumni or corporate backing that other schools have, including many state schools.

The UP Athletic Department is running at the highest level I’ve seen in my 49 years of association with the university. I believe the reason for that is singular; without a search committee, Father Beauchamp hired Larry Williams. Today, when asked who he would hire to replace Larry, Fr. Bill said “I’m looking for the next Larry.” I say GOOD!

(Larry’s walking into a good basketball situation; Marquette is 8-0 and ranked #8 in the nation according to kenpom.com).

DoubleDipper wrote:(Larry’s walking into a good basketball situation; Marquette is 8-0 and ranked #8 in the nation according to kenpom.com).

Plus Marquette just beat UW and if there's one thing I love, it's seeing the Huskies lose!

I dont think there are significant family issues involved, nor should we read too much into the comment about Milwaukee being a place his family can live.

From what I've heard, LW's decision to move his son to Ohio was about football. Larry believed his son could be a BCS type QB and figured he wasn't going to get enough opportunity to shine at Jesuit. LW's son moved in with family in Ohio to play for a school that is a traditional power and has produced several college QBs... but after moving about a year ago, the Ohio high school sports administration determined that in order for a player to be eligible, he/she has to have at least one parent/legal guardian living in the state... So, in order to have his son be eligible for football, Larry's wife "moved" to Cleveland... Milwaukee is closer to Cleveland than Portland, and there are certainly worse places to live.

I have a lot of faith in Fr. Beauchamp's ability to find a suitable replacement... he was was actively involved in the hiring of the current WCC Commissioner Jamie Zaninovich, and that has worked out pretty well...

Maybe he can get us a home-and-home. Or even run across the street to Bruce Pearl's old stomping ground and convince them to do a home-and-home. Heck I'd take one in Portland, and infinitely more games in Milwaukee. I could guarantee between 1 and 4 Pilot fans in attendance.

My first thought about his move was that it wasn't much of a step up, being a non-football school. But if his goal is to run an athletic department with a big time football program, they will probably want to see him run one with a bigger budget than UP's.

From afar it seems as though he did a great job at UP. Don't really expect much different for him at Marquette. Hope we can get an accomplished and goal oriented replacement. I would like to put in an official nomination for Stonehouse!

Not sure if there is any new information for anyone here. But I'm posting it anyways.

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/goldeneagles/marquette-names-larry-williams-athletic-director-9p3b0c6-135074438.html

Recently heard that one of Larry’s biggest difficulties at Marquette is keeping the players eligible. After last night’s game, he might have to worry about his coach’s safety in Virginia. You can get a quick glimpse of Larry and Buzz (Williams) slapping hands in the video. http://hamptonroads.com.nyud.net/2012/02/west-virginia-students-irate-over-marquette-coachs-victory-dance-their-court

From the Virginian Pilot:

Good thing for Buzz Williams and Marquette that West Virginia is leaving the Big East for the Big 12 next season. He probably wouldn't want to bring a team to Morgantown, W.Va., again.
He decided to bust a move. They wanted to bust his face.

Williams incensed the student section Friday night by dancing on the court after No. 10 Marquette rallied from a 15-point second-half deficit to beat West Virginia 61-60.

To make matters worse, the song he danced to, John Denver's ''Country Roads,'' is the Mountaineers' unofficial anthem.

When he sat down at the scorer's table for an interview, Williams acknowledged the obvious. "They got mad at me," Williams said. "I think they're still mad at you," ESPN's Bob Wischusen replied.

''I apologize,'' Williams said later, according to The Associated Press. ''It was very unprofessional. That's a bad representation of our program.

''I was just really excited. That was all. How I grew up, in the country, that was one of my favorite songs growing up.''

We can understand that it's possible to get caught up in the moment, but seriously, dancing on an opponent's home floor? A coach really needs to have a little more self-control. Save the celebration for the locker room.

I think we can all relate to that!

DoubleDipper wrote:Recently heard that one of Larry’s biggest difficulties at Marquette is keeping the players eligible. After last night’s game, he might have to worry about his coach’s safety in Virginia. You can get a quick glimpse of Larry and Buzz (Williams) slapping hands in the video. http://hamptonroads.com.nyud.net/2012/02/west-virginia-students-irate-over-marquette-coachs-victory-dance-their-court

From the Virginian Pilot:

Good thing for Buzz Williams and Marquette that West Virginia is leaving the Big East for the Big 12 next season. He probably wouldn't want to bring a team to Morgantown, W.Va., again.
He decided to bust a move. They wanted to bust his face.

Williams incensed the student section Friday night by dancing on the court after No. 10 Marquette rallied from a 15-point second-half deficit to beat West Virginia 61-60.

To make matters worse, the song he danced to, John Denver's ''Country Roads,'' is the Mountaineers' unofficial anthem.

When he sat down at the scorer's table for an interview, Williams acknowledged the obvious. "They got mad at me," Williams said. "I think they're still mad at you," ESPN's Bob Wischusen replied.

''I apologize,'' Williams said later, according to The Associated Press. ''It was very unprofessional. That's a bad representation of our program.

''I was just really excited. That was all. How I grew up, in the country, that was one of my favorite songs growing up.''

We can understand that it's possible to get caught up in the moment, but seriously, dancing on an opponent's home floor? A coach really needs to have a little more self-control. Save the celebration for the locker room.

I think we can all relate to that!

I'm waiting for a Marquette fan to come on here and tell us what a great guy Buzz is, he visits sick kids, gives to charity, blah blah blah...

I turned on the Yale/Cornell football game for some random reason... Apparently Larry's son is the starting QB for the Bulldogs as a freshman?

http://www.yalebulldogs.com/sports/m-footbl/2012-13/bios/williams_eric_ohl2

I thought he moved to Cleveland to improve his big time D1 QB status? Sounds like he has a dismal future ahead of him in New Haven...