Wren Baker leaving a good setup to become WVU’s A.D. | West Virginia University Sports

Baker was hanging out with UNT alums like former Steelers star “Mean” Joe Green, and the services at UNT have been enhancing every single day. Needless to say, Baker was in no hurry to go away.

But when WVU parted methods with Shane Lyons and got here to Baker to see if he had any curiosity, the Valliant, Oklahoma, native had to cease and hear.

“I have definitely had a lot of inquiries as we’ve had success at North Texas over the years,” Baker admitted throughout his introductory press convention at WVU final week. “Heather and I are each from Oklahoma, so the place we lived was inside three hours of most of our household. That’s a fairly robust hurdle to overcome, so the bar is excessive once you’re taking a look at alternatives. This was actually the primary one the place there was a consensus amongst our household, that this looks like a actually excellent spot to stay and lift a household and a nice establishment. The extra we researched, the extra this us.

“This establishment is that particular. The extra we dove into it, the extra we figured that out.

“I love the role the university plays for the state and its people. I love its roots as a land-grant institution. I love that we’re nationally known for providing an elite education — as evidenced by our R1 research rating and many other rankings — while providing access for all West Virginians. Heather and I are both first-generation college graduates, so we understand firsthand the benefits of a quality education. I love the passion that this state has for the Mountaineers. It is special and unique. It’s something I’m excited to be a part of and will not take for granted.”

The Bakers even have two daughters, Addisyn and Reagan, so a household environment was equally essential.

“Everyone I talked to that’s lived here, spent time here or visited here said what a great place it is to raise a family,” stated Baker. “I had numerous opportunities to talk officially and unofficially to people that have been here, who are here. Natasha Oakes (WVU’s newly hired senior associated athletics director) is on the senior staff here, and she had just come from my place. She broke my heart, and now I broke hers back. I’m joining her again. But I had a chance to talk to a lot of people. That’s where I figured out that there’s a lot of similarities to where I grew up, how I grew up and the people and the culture here. Every time I had a chance to interact with members of this institution, I grew more and more interested.”

The path to Morgantown for Baker, who grew up in a city of round 800 individuals, spending a lot of his time on his grandparents’ farm, was an unconventional one.

After incomes his bachelor’s diploma in training from Southeastern Oklahoma State in 2021, Baker journeyed to Oklahoma State in pursuit of his grasp’s diploma. He additionally served as a graduate assistant after which basketball operations assistant for the Cowboys’ males’s basketball program beneath legendary head coach Eddie Sutton.

With his grasp’s in training management in hand, he returned to his hometown and have become the youngest principal in Oklahoma historical past on the age of 26.

“I was having to do evaluations of my seventh-grade math teacher, who I had feared most of my life,” stated Baker. “Then when you get later in life and you’re having to have conversations with coaches and evaluate programs, those are experiences that really helped form me. There was never a more intimidating point in my life than when I was a 26-year-old principal.”

In 2006, Baker turned the primary athletic director and males’s basketball coach at Rogers State University in Claremore, Oklahoma, main his staff to a 20-11 file earlier than giving up these teaching duties to think about being a full-time athletic director.

In 2011, Baker moved on to NCAA Division II, main the athletic program at Northwest Missouri State. After success there, he was the deputy director of athletics on the University of Memphis and the University of Missouri. In 2016, Baker landed at North Texas, the place he stayed till deciding to transfer the household to Morgantown.

“I feel like passion leads you to where you’re supposed to be,” he stated. “I’m a person of faith, and I feel like there was some divine intervention in my steps along the way. It certainly was a little bit of a different path. I’ve just always cared about being in a profession where I had the opportunity to help people grow and develop. Once I plugged into intercollegiate athletics, I really found that.

“I had an opportunity to coach early. I had some success there, but I didn’t feel as comfortable and confident in that role as I did in the AD role. It is a different path, but I can look back at each of those steps and how they prepared me along the way.”

Now comes his largest problem to date, main a Power 5 athletic program on the highest degree, however Baker has a plan.

“Our student-athletes’ success and well-being will be at the center of everything we do,” he defined. “They’ll be at the forefront of our decisions, and we will do everything we can to give them the best experience possible. That’s what they deserve. We’ll build them into champions, leaders and, most importantly, graduates.

“I believe details are important. Little things make big things. Attention to those details reflects a commitment to excellence that is critical to building and sustaining winning programs.”

One of these packages, after all, is soccer, the place Baker faces the less-than-desirable process of making an attempt to get a program again on observe after back-to-back shedding seasons beneath coach Neal Brown.

Baker, although, isn’t shying away from that process and has already met with Brown to get a really feel for what’s wanted.

“It was better than the first time I shook hands with him because Troy was beating North Texas (50-30) in the New Orleans Bowl,” Baker joked of that preliminary assembly with Brown in 2017. “He’s been great. We’ve had several conversations, and I look forward to getting here and working with Coach Brown and doing a thorough assessment of the program so we can determine what we need and where are our gaps. What hurdles can I eliminate? What resources can I procure? The football program’s obviously important to the university and to the state. Coach Brown knows that. He wants to give WVU and the state of West Virginia the kind of program that all fans will be proud of.

“I think you get in and build a relationship and work every day in the trenches. There’s not many ADs left that have had any kind of coaching experience. I think that helps me. I think I understand how coaches think a little bit and how to communicate with them. I understand when they need to feel support and that there’s a time and place to have conversations. I look forward to getting in and working with Coach Brown and learning everything I can about the football program. I’m confident we can together figure out where we need to go.”

Another essential position for Baker shall be managing the athletic division’s finances and discovering the perfect locations to allocate the funds. Every program has wants and needs, but it surely’s Baker’s job to set the priorities.

“When you’re a coach, there’s some positive affirmation — ‘Good game, coach.’ Even if you lose, there’s, ‘You’ll get them next time.’ When you’re an AD, everybody that knocks at that door wants you to give them something or wants to complain about something. That was a big adjustment when I first transitioned over into doing this job. I’ve gotten used to that. We don’t have an unlimited supply, so there is an evaluation of requests and needs. But I’ve been doing that for 20 years now, and this will be the biggest budget I’ve had to work with. I think I’m used to having to punch above our weight class and find ways to be resourceful.”

As with any athletic program, there are people on the market screaming to add extra sports activities to the lineup. At WVU, the loudest cries are most likely for softball and males’s observe. Baker stated he enjoys each sport and likes having as many packages as attainable, however any enlargement can be properly down the street.

“I haven’t had a lot of time to dive into those kinds of things yet,” he defined when requested about including sports activities. “I’ve got a lot to learn and a lot of listening to do, but my first priority is to make sure that the programs that are here are resourced in a way that they can compete for championships and be relevant nationally. I love the addition of sports. I love college softball. I’m out there every game at North Texas standing on the third base line. But my obligation is to come here and provide the experience that these athletes deserve.”

Baker may even regulate the athletes of the previous — together with these like ESPN’s Pat McAfee, who’ve the flexibility to deliver optimistic consideration to this system.

“You have to find opportunities to celebrate the past — whether that’s reunions or different ceremonies to honor people that have helped you get to where you are,” stated Baker. “You have to proceed to present avenues for them to come again — make it simple for them to come again and present them love and appreciation. It’s these relationships that they miss essentially the most. If we’re doing a good job there, I’m assured that they’ll really feel valued, appreciated and celebrated.

“I’ve already started reaching out to some of our alums. I’ll rely on the team here to give me a comprehensive list, but that will be a really important part of these first 100 days on the job, getting connected to as many of our stakeholders as I can.”