--Gordon Gee said he is delighted to interview the new vice president and director of athletics. They wanted somebody who would be a strong leader in this new collegiate environment and embraced new opportunities. Somebody who would think differently and fit within the culture at West Virginia. Somebody who will connect and embrace West Virginians. Wren fits every one of the criteria and is positive and easily connects and engages with everybody he meets. Gee assures he will be a wonderful addition.
--Baker begins by thanking his people at North Texas. He knows great things will continue there. He said he doesn't have time to acknowledge by name all the mentors and people that helped him along the way. He is honored and humbled. He has spent 20 years in college athletics preparing for this moment and he is eager to get started. Introduced his wife and daughters. He has worked at a lot of great institutions but why West Virginia? He loves the role the university plays with the people. He is a first generation college graduate, as is his wife, he loves the passion that the fan base has for this program. The Morgantown community is a great place to raise a family. He said the success and well being of the student athletes will be at the forefront. He believes details are important. Baker said they will win with people and they will place a high priority in their growth and success. Baker said he is looking forward and listening and learning all he can. It's a unique and exciting time in college athletics but he knows West Virginians are regarded for their unmatched toughness and grit. He has confidence the university will thrive in this new climate. They will develop elite programs that West Virginians deserve.
--West Virginia isn't able to determine who gets money but they can promote and that's the right place to be. It's about opportunities for student athletes and that's why they are here. It's important they embrace that and promote that.
--Baker feels like passion leads you to where you're supposed to be. There was some divine intervention to led him here. He wanted to be in a profession where he had the opportunity to grow and help people develop. He's taken a different path but each of the steps have prepared him along the way. He served as a 26-year old principal.
--Baker has had several conversations with coach Brown and find out what they need and where are the gaps and find out what resources they need to procure. Brown wants to give West Virginia the program that all fans will be proud of and he's excited to lock arms with him and eliminate hurdles.
--Baker had multiple opportunities to talk officially and unofficially about West Virginia. That's where he figured out that there are a lot of similarities with how he grew up and the people here.
--Gee said they hired Turnkey and they evaluated what they needed in the position with understanding what they need in the new world. They wanted to identify somebody in the new age quadrant and they presented them with a lot of different options and they interviewed power five people, people outside athletics. They focused on about seven or eight candidates, Rob Alsop, Oliver Luck and Gordon Gee zoomed with those. They narrowed it down to three and they met in Atlanta with the screening committee and it was unanimous. The fit and the person and the structure and the place he should be was right here.
--Baker has had a lot of inquiries over the years but this was the first one that there was a consensus. And the more they researched the more this interested them.
--His family has W's in their name that's how he has his name.
--The student athletes that are here have to have a great experience and feel like they are being prepared for more than just athletics and preparing them for life. With the portal they have to provide all the access and technology and making sure the coaching staffs are equipped with the people that can reach out to student athletes in the portal and build a case to sell what they have to offer. It's certainly a different world and he's spent more time on it than he ever thought he would.
--North Texas couldn't provide the resources they needed and that's what he focused on while he was there. When he onboarded there they didn't have the right people and equipped them with the right tools so that was his focus over the course of his time there.
--Baker just arrived last night. He has a lot to learn and listening to do and his first priority will be the programs that are here are well resourced before looking at adding additional ones.
--Baker has known Oliver Luck for a long time and had a chance to talk to the rest of the staff at Country Roads Trust and he sees them as an asset. He wants to have a healthy relationship to provide opportunities within the rules. He is supportive to the extent he can be of their efforts. The MAC is important, other projects are important but those NIL opportunities are important and they need all of Mountaineer nation to embrace.
--Anything they can do to appeal to a younger, hipper demographic is good.
--Baker said that you go in and build a relationship and get in the trenches when evaluating a football coach. He understands where they've been since he has coached before. He looks forward to getting and learning everything he can about the football program.
--Baker was an AD and coach when he first got started and when you're a coach there is positive affirmation but when you're an AD everybody wants something or wants to complain about something. He's gotten used to that and you don't have unlimited funding so there is evaluation of requests and needs when it comes to funding. He's done it for 20 years and this is the biggest budget he has had to work with so he is comfortable he can do that.
--At UNT the television contract, institutional alignment and other factors made the most sense to move to the AAC.
--You have to find a way to honor the past with alumnis and find ways to welcome them back. You have to make them feel valued and celebrated. He has been reaching out to alumns and it will be an important part of the job is connecting with the stakeholders.
--Gee said West Virginia has had a challenging football year. They played two power five teams right off the bat but the recent process came out that said they had the toughest football schedule in the country and they went 5-7 in a competitive environment they took a lot of pride in that. Talked to a lot of people and one of the advantages of being in that role for a long time and they believed the coach had great opportunities in front of him and they needed to provide the support for him to be successful. In the end, they did talk with Wren Baker and he indicated his willingness to work with coach Neal Brown. Few people have connected more clearly than with Neal Brown. This is a moment they are going to embrace each other.
--In terms of engaging the masses, he will go on a tour meeting people and learning about the program. At UNT, they had a lot of professional wrestlers go through there so they did events with that and with football. You have to learn the place and what works. In terms of growing a base, you have to get people in the door and grow it from there. With the larger donors, it's about getting to know them and find out what they're interested in and included to support.
--Baker begins by thanking his people at North Texas. He knows great things will continue there. He said he doesn't have time to acknowledge by name all the mentors and people that helped him along the way. He is honored and humbled. He has spent 20 years in college athletics preparing for this moment and he is eager to get started. Introduced his wife and daughters. He has worked at a lot of great institutions but why West Virginia? He loves the role the university plays with the people. He is a first generation college graduate, as is his wife, he loves the passion that the fan base has for this program. The Morgantown community is a great place to raise a family. He said the success and well being of the student athletes will be at the forefront. He believes details are important. Baker said they will win with people and they will place a high priority in their growth and success. Baker said he is looking forward and listening and learning all he can. It's a unique and exciting time in college athletics but he knows West Virginians are regarded for their unmatched toughness and grit. He has confidence the university will thrive in this new climate. They will develop elite programs that West Virginians deserve.
--West Virginia isn't able to determine who gets money but they can promote and that's the right place to be. It's about opportunities for student athletes and that's why they are here. It's important they embrace that and promote that.
--Baker feels like passion leads you to where you're supposed to be. There was some divine intervention to led him here. He wanted to be in a profession where he had the opportunity to grow and help people develop. He's taken a different path but each of the steps have prepared him along the way. He served as a 26-year old principal.
--Baker has had several conversations with coach Brown and find out what they need and where are the gaps and find out what resources they need to procure. Brown wants to give West Virginia the program that all fans will be proud of and he's excited to lock arms with him and eliminate hurdles.
--Baker had multiple opportunities to talk officially and unofficially about West Virginia. That's where he figured out that there are a lot of similarities with how he grew up and the people here.
--Gee said they hired Turnkey and they evaluated what they needed in the position with understanding what they need in the new world. They wanted to identify somebody in the new age quadrant and they presented them with a lot of different options and they interviewed power five people, people outside athletics. They focused on about seven or eight candidates, Rob Alsop, Oliver Luck and Gordon Gee zoomed with those. They narrowed it down to three and they met in Atlanta with the screening committee and it was unanimous. The fit and the person and the structure and the place he should be was right here.
--Baker has had a lot of inquiries over the years but this was the first one that there was a consensus. And the more they researched the more this interested them.
--His family has W's in their name that's how he has his name.
--The student athletes that are here have to have a great experience and feel like they are being prepared for more than just athletics and preparing them for life. With the portal they have to provide all the access and technology and making sure the coaching staffs are equipped with the people that can reach out to student athletes in the portal and build a case to sell what they have to offer. It's certainly a different world and he's spent more time on it than he ever thought he would.
--North Texas couldn't provide the resources they needed and that's what he focused on while he was there. When he onboarded there they didn't have the right people and equipped them with the right tools so that was his focus over the course of his time there.
--Baker just arrived last night. He has a lot to learn and listening to do and his first priority will be the programs that are here are well resourced before looking at adding additional ones.
--Baker has known Oliver Luck for a long time and had a chance to talk to the rest of the staff at Country Roads Trust and he sees them as an asset. He wants to have a healthy relationship to provide opportunities within the rules. He is supportive to the extent he can be of their efforts. The MAC is important, other projects are important but those NIL opportunities are important and they need all of Mountaineer nation to embrace.
--Anything they can do to appeal to a younger, hipper demographic is good.
--Baker said that you go in and build a relationship and get in the trenches when evaluating a football coach. He understands where they've been since he has coached before. He looks forward to getting and learning everything he can about the football program.
--Baker was an AD and coach when he first got started and when you're a coach there is positive affirmation but when you're an AD everybody wants something or wants to complain about something. He's gotten used to that and you don't have unlimited funding so there is evaluation of requests and needs when it comes to funding. He's done it for 20 years and this is the biggest budget he has had to work with so he is comfortable he can do that.
--At UNT the television contract, institutional alignment and other factors made the most sense to move to the AAC.
--You have to find a way to honor the past with alumnis and find ways to welcome them back. You have to make them feel valued and celebrated. He has been reaching out to alumns and it will be an important part of the job is connecting with the stakeholders.
--Gee said West Virginia has had a challenging football year. They played two power five teams right off the bat but the recent process came out that said they had the toughest football schedule in the country and they went 5-7 in a competitive environment they took a lot of pride in that. Talked to a lot of people and one of the advantages of being in that role for a long time and they believed the coach had great opportunities in front of him and they needed to provide the support for him to be successful. In the end, they did talk with Wren Baker and he indicated his willingness to work with coach Neal Brown. Few people have connected more clearly than with Neal Brown. This is a moment they are going to embrace each other.
--In terms of engaging the masses, he will go on a tour meeting people and learning about the program. At UNT, they had a lot of professional wrestlers go through there so they did events with that and with football. You have to learn the place and what works. In terms of growing a base, you have to get people in the door and grow it from there. With the larger donors, it's about getting to know them and find out what they're interested in and included to support.
