He comes in at a time when both our major sports programs are abysmal and the future looks bleak, very bleak for both programs. One could argue that he only has one direction to go and that is up. And there is some truth to that. But it looks increasingly likely that he is going to have to replace both coaches. And there is ZERO room for error. If he whiffs on both, his tenure at WVU is over and his reputation forever damaged.
Brown has one more year. I have zero confidence that he will perform well enough to keep his job. Wren's first big decision will be on a new football coach. And since football is the big money maker, his decision could not be more important for the athletic department, for the University and the State and for Baker. Getting it wrong would be catastrophic for all parties involved.
But Huggs will be a far bigger challenge for Baker. If we have another poor season next year, how does Baker move on from Huggs? Moving on from Brown will be easy since Baker would have the support of the key constituents of WVU. But Huggs would be a far different situation. Huggs will still have a lot of big donor support. And Baker would not have the power to fire Huggs, imo. So he would have to get Huggs to retire and if we have another poor year next year, is Huggs going to want to go out on that note?
Fixing football will be all about hiring the right guy. Fixing basketball will be far more difficult unless Huggs either turns it around or does Baker a favor and retires. I really hope that Huggs somehow turns it around but I see little room for optimism. And if we are bad again next year, what does Baker do and how does he do it? He simply cannot afford to make a mistake. I wonder how well he is sleeping?
Brown has one more year. I have zero confidence that he will perform well enough to keep his job. Wren's first big decision will be on a new football coach. And since football is the big money maker, his decision could not be more important for the athletic department, for the University and the State and for Baker. Getting it wrong would be catastrophic for all parties involved.
But Huggs will be a far bigger challenge for Baker. If we have another poor season next year, how does Baker move on from Huggs? Moving on from Brown will be easy since Baker would have the support of the key constituents of WVU. But Huggs would be a far different situation. Huggs will still have a lot of big donor support. And Baker would not have the power to fire Huggs, imo. So he would have to get Huggs to retire and if we have another poor year next year, is Huggs going to want to go out on that note?
Fixing football will be all about hiring the right guy. Fixing basketball will be far more difficult unless Huggs either turns it around or does Baker a favor and retires. I really hope that Huggs somehow turns it around but I see little room for optimism. And if we are bad again next year, what does Baker do and how does he do it? He simply cannot afford to make a mistake. I wonder how well he is sleeping?
