While I am not foolish enough to underestimate T-A&M's financial ability to lure Buzz away it wouldn't surprise me if Buzz stays put. You have to remember why Buzz left Marquette. If you do the research he left for several reasons: First, the AD at Marquette treated him very badly when an assistant committed a minor NCAA violation (giving a prospect an extra sweat shirt for a brother). When Buzz refused to fire the assistant the AD fired him and suspended Buzz for a game in a very public manner. Marquette then had a down season (with some minor media criticism of him), the AD was fired by the school President and then the President announced he was retiring. This in conjunction with the seeming break up of the Big East gave Buzz uncertainty as to his long-term job status and success.
Also Buzz and his predecessor, Tom Crean, always had to operate under the shadow, literally and figuratively) of Al McGuire- there is actually a statute of him in front of the basketball arena. Nothing short of a Final Four appearance would get him out from under that shadow. Buzz likely felt that he was leaving ahead of trouble to come. The new AD would likely hire his own man at some point.
VT gave Buzz a fresh start to mold a program in his own image with an AD who is very much a coach's AD- supportive who gives the coach a great deal of autonomy; and Buzz and his family could live in a nice peaceful area, good pay, decent schools and good environment where there would not be too much pressure but in a very high visibility league. He could build the program with a chip on its shoulder, like him.
I live in Oklahoma and Texas A&M fans and boosters are kind of like UNC fans and boosters- but without the championships. They believe that should be considered an NC contender every year in football, in particular, and in basketball. Consider that they just fired a coach who beat UNC in the big dance a year ago and got to the sweet sixteen each of the last two years I believe. The coach had a young team to develop but he was fired, not so much for the record this season, but rather because attendance and interest was down. Kennedy didn't create enough buzz (sorry for the pun) around the program.
Remember that A&M fired not just Kennedy but his staff, including Buzz friend Jeff Reynolds,, an assistant. Isaac Chew, another team-Buzz guy, left the program in January purportedly to attend to family-personal matters. I'm sure Buzz will talk to both of those guys in making a decision and what they may tell him may not be totally positive. A&M will want success and increased attendance early and often in a league with one big chief (Kentucky) and a lot of little Indians, so to speak. Here in Big 12 country the ACC gets much more pub than the SE conference. If the program has a bump in the road and attendance drops, believe me, they will dump Buzz in a New York minute. Again, A&M has a reputation for arrogance. At A&M he will have to compete with the legacy of the Billy Gillespie era who, to A&M fans, was their version of CFB only for b'ball. Whit will remind Buzz he has a supportive AD who will be with him during the down seasons (witness how Whit came to his defense immediately with the Yahoo sports article about Fox), that the school and fans appreciate Buzz. Also, and don't think this is insignificant, the school opportunities for the kids where he is are superior to those in Texas- trust me on that. VT may not be able to pay as much now as A&M but Whit can offer annuities down the road and remind him that he is building his own program in his own image.
Again you can't bet against A&M on this but it is not at all a slam dunk in their favor.


[Post edited by lazarus1 at 03/16/2019 7:07PM]