Gary Williams Has Strong Run

Maryland basketball Coach Gary Williams retired late last week to the surprise of some.

But the guy earned the right to quit on his own terms. Williams served as a head coach for 33 years including the last 22 at alma mater Maryland.

He left his mark with the Terps. He led them to a 460-248 over record including the 2002 National Championship. Williams’ teams were a consistent visitor to the NCAA tournament and would occasionally defeat Duke and North Carolina in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

Williams’ fire on the sidelines will be missed. The guy worked extremely hard on game day. He was consistently “chewing” out his players and frequently the guys in the stripe shirts. A Gary Williams team was never dull.

Williams could also be controversial. The latest incident was when former Maryland Athletic Director Deb Yow charged that he sabotage Yow’s present school’s (NC State)
basketball job search. It’s safe to assume that the two didn’t get along too well when they worked together at College Park.

Williams won’t go too far as he will now assist the athletic department. The new guy in the Maryland basketball chair will face challenges. He will replace a legend and the Williams will have a nearby seat to chart the progress of the national caliber-team he built.

A Curious Hire

North Carolina State finally landed itself a basketball coach yesterday and it was just plain strange.

I have nothing against Mark Gottfried the new coach. I have heard and read he is a good guy. Gottfied had success at Alabama before resigning in the middle of the season. He has been working for ESPN the last two years.

The fact that the Pack hired a coach who had been out of the game for two years tells you something about how low this job has sunk. Virginia Commonwealth’s Shaka Smart turned it down and apparently a host of others.

In another strange twist, athletic director Deb Yow sent an email out to Pack fans the night before Gottfried was hired. She said coaches she talked to about the position said it would take a major revamp job and that fans need to be patient about the search.

Then to top off the strangest of all twists, Yow attacked Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams for in Yow’s words “sabotaging the search.” This happened at Gottfied’s press conference. Yow is a former Maryland athletic director and the two didn’t get along in College Park. Apparently, Yow thought Williams wasn’t saying nice things to potential NC State coaching candidates. Williams, of course, denied this through the Maryland sports information office.

I am wondering if after the sideshow, Gottfried really wants this job. The marriage has gotten off to a rocky start and we haven’t even had time for the honeymoon.