Buzz Williams Questionably Says Kermit Davis Was SEC's Best In-Game Coach Days After His Ole Miss Firing
Following his team's win over Ole Miss on Tuesday night, Texas A&M head coach Buzz Williams was asked about the now vacant head coaching job in Oxford. Instead of talking about the opening, Williams pivoted to talking about the man the Rebels recently fired, Kermit Davis.
Williams, who has led two different programs to the Sweet Sixteen, made it sound as if Ole Miss may have made a mistake in firing Davis. In his opinion, there's no better in-game coach in the entire SEC than Davis.
"I think on both sides of the ball, Kermit Davis was the best coach in this league," Williams said. "Inside the lines, the best coach. He's had every bad job, he's had every hard job, been a head coach since he was 27 years old."
Kermit Davis was fired by Ole Miss after close to five seasons as the head coach in Oxford. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
While you can appreciate the kind words from Williams, the Aggies' head coach went on to describe the changing landscape in college hoops, something Davis undoubtedly struggled with based on his record at Ole Miss.
"Your skillset has to be just coaching in between the lines, anymore," Williams said. "How you put together a roster 10 years ago, that's not how you put together a roster now. And so, because there's such roster volatility, your style of coaching has to change because it's very much plug-and-play."
Ole Miss was 10-18 overall and just 2-13 in SEC play when it parted ways with Davis on February 24. Over the last two seasons with Davis in charge, the Rebels posted a 6-27 record in the conference resulting in the program not even sniffing the bubble for March Madness.
Davis posted an overall record of 74-79 record in his five seasons in Oxford to go along with one NCAA Tournament appearance, which came during his first season with the Rebels.