West Virginia University has hired Wren Baker as the new Athletic Director and clearly this means a transition period will happen with WVU sports. Most eyeballs are focused on the football program and rightfully so.
In the past four seasons under Head Coach Neil Brown the football team has went 22-25. During that time WVU has just 2 bowl appearances and half as many bowl wins, winning the Liberty Bowl in 2020 and losing the Guaranteed Rate bowl in 2021. The program is also coming off its third losing season in four years.
Statements made by Wren Baker himself states that he will use this next season to evaluate the football program. More specifically Baker wants to evaluate what resources Coach Neil Brown needs to make the program successful.
Baker comes to WVU after serving as North Texas’ Director of Athletics where his new hires won 70% of their games. Baker set records in fundraising and looks to bring fresh ideas to the table in this new day and age of NIL deals. At North Texas Baker was also responsible for increasing attendance at sporting events. All things WVU can use.
As we all know football carries the load for most of the other athletic programs, especially when it comes to the financials. Not to mention a good football program can even boost school enrollment and the sense of pride throughout the state of West Virginia. That is why the close attention to this program is needed.
Coach Brown has said himself he his not happy with where the program is now and wants it to be better. No coach comes to a program with the hopes to fail or do anything short of the best job they can, Coach Brown included. This isn’t just about Coach Brown, every assistant on the team also made this commitment. This involves moving families, enrolling kids into new schools, and more. It demonstrates a level of commitment to WVU.
One would think WVU should show the commitment back to these people and make sure they have a fair evaluation process and give them every tool they need to succeed. It is a smart move by Baker to not just come in and make changes just to make changes. That is to easy. He is going to figure out why what is happening is happening. It could very well be the football program needs more help in one form or another.
If you think about recent history and a program and a state not far from here, Michigan went through a very similar situation. Fans called for the firing of their Head Coach Jim Harbaugh after a few mediocre seasons and some awful losses to Ohio State University., But what did Michigan do? They stuck with their guy. Now Michigan is back to the blue-chip program they were known for with two consecutive wins verse Ohio State University and another College Football Playoff appearance. We will see how that shakes out soon enough.
There are other examples of teams giving up to quick on coaches. One of the greatest football coaches ever, Bill Belichick, didn’t exactly have a stellar career in Cleveland, but finally landing a job in New England. Most sports people know how that went.
With everything going on Coach Brown is still putting in the work and not giving up on the ship. He believes he will be successful here and wants nothing but success at WVU. In fact, I saw Coach Brown and even spoke to him for a few seconds over at the Super Six Football Championship games this past weekend on Wheeling Island. I have been attending the Super Six for years and this is the first WVU Head Coach I have seen there. Coach Brown mentioned how he was there to scout a couple of the players that were participating in the games. I will add Coach Brown is a very nice and personable guy. He took his time out to do some photos with the ladies that help with the catering in the VIP room and spoke to everyone that spoke to him. You could tell he was a real and genuine guy.
With the win now, mentality of today’s sports AD Baker is doing right to see what we have before making any changes because they might very well not be necessary. Many coaches started out in a way the did not want and have turned it around to have a very nice career. I for one, am pulling for Coach Brown and WVU! Hang in there fans, good days are ahead.
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