Contract Details for Ex Texas A&M Coach Buzz Williams Emerge

The deal that lured the former Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams away from the Aggies has been revealed.

Texas A&M Aggies head coach Buzz Williams and guard Wade Taylor IV (4) reacts after the win over Yale Bulldogs at Ball Arena. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

A lot has happened in Aggieland since the beginning of April — The baseball team saw a revival, the softball team has been on a tear, spring football has came and gone. The most drastic change, however, has been the complete rebuilding of the Texas A&M basketball program with former Samford coach Bucky McMillan at the helm.

Samford Bulldogs head coach Bucky McMillan during the first half in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament against the Samford Bulldogs at Vivint Smart Home Arena-Delta Center. / Rob Gray-Imagn Images

On April 1, 2025, then-A&M coach Buzz Williams flipped the program upside down when he announced that he would be leaving A&M in exchange for Maryland. The deal that drew Williams from the Lone Star State to the East Coast includes $4.8 million annually for six years, as reported by USA Today’s Steve Berkowitz. That number will increase by $100,000 each year he remains with the team, with a $1 million extension if he is still the Terrapins’ coach in 2031.

Williams will get $1 million retention if he remains Maryland's coach on 4/15/2031. He can one automatic 1-yr extension for Terps playing in NCAA tournament. https://t.co/F1oGe6ozfQ

— Steve Berkowitz (@ByBerkowitz) April 28, 2025

With the Aggies, Williams was making $4.6 million a season and was signed through the 2028 season. In his six years in Aggieland, Williams stole the hearts of the 12th Man through his genuine personality and commitment to character. He coached arguably the greatest Aggie basketball player of all time in point guard Wade Taylor IV and took the Aggies to multiple NCAA Tournament appearances. Towards the end of his tenure in College Station, Texas, Williams had begun to rub fans the wrong way due to his teams’ seemingly never being able to consistently shoot from beyond the arc.

Upon his departure, A&M brass decided to go in a completely different direction. They brought in coach Bucky McMillan to fill Williams’ shoes, whose style of play, known as “Bucky Ball,” includes a constant offensive battering 3-point-land.

Williams left among an exodus of A&M players and gave McMillan a completely blank roster to build the Aggies the way he wants to. The portal class features Marcus Hill from N.C. State, Mackenzie Mgbako from Indiana, Jacari Lane out of North Alabama, Jaime Vinson from Texas and Josh Holloway who followed McMillan from Samford.

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