A Q&A with athletic director Wren Baker

Skipper · December 6, 2019

With the fall semester coming to an end, I set down with Wren Baker, UNT’s Vice President and athletic director. Baker joined the Mean Green staff in the summer of 2016 and has made efforts to turn North Texas athletics into a program that is competitive throughout Conference USA. When Baker arrived, he implemented a five-year plan to accomplish this. Sitting down with him, I wanted to cover his plan’s progress as well as other athletic topics.

So you’re about 3.5 years through [your five-year plan]. I looked online and I looked through what you’ve accomplished. Do you feel like the five-year plan is on a good pace right now?

We are. There’s some areas where we hit targets ahead of schedule and some where we’re slightly behind and that’s okay. When you put a plan like that in place, it’s meant to be malleable so that as things change or maybe different priorities elevate, you have the ability to shift resources, both human and money. I think by-and-large we’ve made a lot of progress in those areas. If you zoom out and look at the department as a whole, I think all of the metrics are trending in a favorable way. Our momentum is strong and [it’s] not just about wins and losses, although those have definitely improved. Financial contributions, number of donors, academic success, overall health and well-being, all of that stuff is trending in a favorable way I think that’s due a lot to the plan and we’ve involved a lot of people in the formulation of that plan.

I think the most noticeable part of that plan has been the infrastructure for athletics facilities. What were your thought in increasing the qualities of facilities and what was your goal there?

When I took the job, a lot of the conversation was around, ‘We have good facilities,” and having been at some other institutions, I felt like the stadium was in really good shape. Outside of that, everything needed some help. I think for us, a lot of progress has been made in facilities because before they acquired the old Liberty campus, they didn’t have anything. They just played in city parks and that kind of stuff. People aren’t standing still, waiting on you to catch up and so when I came in, I did an assessment. We took some donors around and looked at facilities and opened their eyes to what the competitors are doing. I think the vision here was to be one of the best Group of 5 programs in the country and that hadn’t been where we had been historically.

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edcollopy · December 7, 2019

Good interview!

Salsa_Verde · December 7, 2019

Good read.

97and03 · December 7, 2019

Good job by the reporter. Impressed he asked the Reeder/Reffet question

El Paso Eagle · December 7, 2019

Credit to Zachary. Very well done.

Shows the difference between reporting and writing opinion pieces.

Harry · December 7, 2019

This was an excellent piece.

NorthTexasSportsNetwork · December 8, 2019

Very good article. I am surprised that Baker said something about baseball. I would think that's the last of his concerns, but I know UNT would love baseball

Salsa_Verde · December 8, 2019

His explanation about not having a baseball team made total sense. Really appreciated the candor. You can’t add the extras if the infrastructure isn’t in place to handle it.

Harry · December 8, 2019

10 hours ago, Salsa_Verde said:

His explanation about not having a baseball team made total sense. Really appreciated the candor. You can’t add the extras if the infrastructure isn’t in place to handle it.

I get that, but why does UTSA have a baseball program? Or La. Tech? Seems that schools with lessor resources can make it happen. In La. Tech's case it doesn't seem to drag down their football program.

How about we focus more on how to get the most out of the vast resources we have compared to many other C-USA programs?

UNTLifer · December 8, 2019

On 12/8/2019 at 11:53 AM, Harry said:

I get that, but why does UTSA have a baseball program? Or La. Tech? Seems that schools with lessor resources can make it happen. In La. Tech's case it doesn't seem to drag down their football program.

How about we focus more on how to get the most out of the vast resources we have compared to many other C-USA programs?

👍. I am a huge baseball proponent, but I fully agree with Baker and Harry's comment above. Let's not half-a$$ a program just to add it. Let's make what we have the best and then look at adding programs.

Edited December 10, 2019 by UNTLifer

Salsa_Verde · December 10, 2019

On 12/8/2019 at 11:53 AM, Harry said:

I get that, but why does UTSA have a baseball program? Or La. Tech? Seems that schools with lessor resources can make it happen. In La. Tech's case it doesn't seem to drag down their football program.

How about we focus more on how to get the most out of the vast resources we have compared to many other C-USA programs?

Well...like he said, if they add another program like baseball they’ll have to add another woman’s sport...and as it stands right now, the weight room is not big enough as it is and the athletic center is below standards...so expand those first, then baseball. I’m sure we could have a baseball team but they want to do it right and give the team a solid base to start off. I mean it made sense to me.

Edited December 10, 2019 by Salsa_Verde