WB on UCF AD watch list

[denton_days]

Hopefully not

Edited January 21, 2021 by denton_days

[RBP79]

Go for it Wren! Heck...if you can't get in with Tenn.....( must want a pay raise)

[RiseUNT]

Can we combine these until hiring  season is over?

[TheTastyGreek]

3 hours ago, RiseUNT said:

Can we combine these until hiring  season is over?

No. We will have to carry over the same discussions at each step of the poaching process, from Tennessee to UCF, on and on until we get to some D3 school or private high school that loses an administrator and Baker gets included on their rumored interest list. And after that, when someone needs help managing their fantasy football team. 

In that spirit... 

- - - - - - - - - -

Baker is fine. If he stays, that's fine. If he goes, that's fine, too. He'll leave eventually. If he doesn't, inevitably his flaws will overwhelm his appeal and the fan base will flip focus to hammer one side while ignoring the other, complaining that he's still around and criticizing him as subpar because he never got hired away.

He hired some good coaches, but he throws money for extensions and raises around like a drunk at a strip club. Take the good with the bad. 

He's signed some good series in football, but made some baffling or outright dumb choices on that front, too (Liberty, Army). Better overall than not, but definitely not without his share of mistakes or bad choices. 

If he goes, his COO was one of the guys I'd have been thrilled to see get the job when Baker was originally hired. We have an ideal replacement, already well established in our area and at our institution, primed and ready to go with no interruption or disruption in performance. He might even do some things a little better. 

So, if he stays, swell. If he leaves, no worries. No raises just because of an interview, though. If the department is well run and well staffed, Mosley can slide over a desk and we should be in just as good shape as we are today. Maybe better. 

Interview or not, leave or stay... We'll be about as well off as we already are now. 

[Harry]

55 minutes ago, TheTastyGreek said:

He hired some good coaches, but he throws money for extensions and raises around like a drunk at a strip club.

[DeepGreen]

23 minutes ago, Harry said:

 

[cogido]

So has Wren put out the word that he’s looking to leave North Texas  ?  Is he officially trying to leave ? Or do these schools just toss a net out there in a publication to see if they can generate an interested pool of possible contenders from logical conferences/schools ?

[GrandGreen]

Wren Baker has been a successful AD and is going to get looks.

Of course he has an agent that is going to want to get his name out there as much as possible. 

You realize there are 15 people on that supposed UCF look list.  NT's recent years in football will be hard to sell. 

I agree with Tasty Greek, if he goes he goes.  The UCF last AD made about 200k more a year than Baker. 

It may be more than a coincidence that Wren's name is being floated out there, and he has just promoted several of his staff. 

 

[MeanGreen_MBA]

Win loss record for football is not the final metric for an AD success ratio. Look at the total state of the athletic department. Graduation rate, Olympic sports, fund raising, facility growth and management. Wren has excelled in those areas. Heck, even though it wasn’t as successful as we had hoped, we had an almost complete football season when others barely got to suit up. We have raised more money than ever, grown our MGSF participation rate under his management. WB has an impressive CV. I hope we keep him for a long time

[meangreenJW]

9 hours ago, cogido said:

So has Wren put out the word that he’s looking to leave North Texas  ?  Is he officially trying to leave ? Or do these schools just toss a net out there in a publication to see if they can generate an interested pool of possible contenders from logical conferences/schools ?

Neither IMO. Job opens and reporters just throw out names of ADs that have good reputations. Ark State's AD is always on lists as well. I don't think WB or any other candidate is advocating for mentions nor can they stop it. Same goes for coaching jobs and lists. I think its just reporters trying to get likes and retweets and followers. Everyone relax

[NorthTexasWeLove]

42 minutes ago, MeanGreen_MBA said:

Win loss record for football is not the final metric for an AD success ratio. Look at the total state of the athletic department. Graduation rate, Olympic sports, fund raising, facility growth and management. Wren has excelled in those areas. Heck, even though it wasn’t as successful as we had hoped, we had an almost complete football season when others barely got to suit up. We have raised more money than ever, grown our MGSF participation rate under his management. WB has an impressive CV. I hope we keep him for a long time

There is absolute truth in what you are saying. But the fact that this needs to be prefaced dictates that football is king and if football is struggling people will look into it as to why. You can't really be a GREAT (or even a good one at a lot of places) AD if football is struggling regardless of what else is going on. Of course unless you're at a KU, Duke, or UK type place and winning basketball national championships. If football isn't fixed he'll always be meh as far as job performance goes. It's the one engine piston that can't fail. If everything around us is flailing and crumbling, but we're going 10-2/11-1 and putting ourselves in the pecking order for a G5 new year's day bowl, only hardcore basketball fans will complain. 

[greenminer]

16 hours ago, TheTastyGreek said:

If he goes, his COO was one of the guys I'd have been thrilled to see get the job when Baker was originally hired. We have an ideal replacement, already well established in our area and at our institution, primed and ready to go with no interruption or disruption in performance. He might even do some things a little better. 

I remember you being really high on someone.  I think he was from ACU, so it's probably Mosley.

[97and03]

2 minutes ago, greenminer said:

I remember you being really high on someone.  I think he was from ACU, so it's probably Mosley.

Yes it was a huge boner for Mosley. 

[TheTastyGreek]

12 minutes ago, greenminer said:

I remember you being really high on someone.  I think he was from ACU, so it's probably Mosley.

 

9 minutes ago, 97and03 said:

Yes it was a huge boner for Mosley. 

It was. 

Everything I liked about him 5 and a half years ago still applies. And now, he has almost half a decade in our institution, leading that office, connected to everyone and everything relevant to our program. 

If Wren Baker goes somewhere else tomorrow, we're fine. We don't even need to pay for a moving van to replace him. An ideal replacement has been training on the job for years, right here. 

...and hopefully, in 5-8 years when Mosley earns a shot at a major step up, we'll have already hired and developed someone ready to take over for him, too. That's how a program turns a good run under one person into an institutional legacy of success. 

[97and03]

I love you, Tasty. 

[xyresic]

11 minutes ago, TheTastyGreek said:

 

It was. 

Everything I liked about him 5 and a half years ago still applies. And now, he has almost half a decade in our institution, leading that office, connected to everyone and everything relevant to our program. 

If Wren Baker goes somewhere else tomorrow, we're fine. We don't even need to pay for a moving van to replace him. An ideal replacement has been training on the job for years, right here. 

...and hopefully, in 5-8 years when Mosley earns a shot at a major step up, we'll have already hired and developed someone ready to take over for him, too. That's how a program turns a good run under one person into an institutional legacy of success. 

I like Mosley fine, but curious if this is just your research on him or if you know him. He and Wren are very different.

[UNTLifer]

29 minutes ago, 97and03 said:

I love you, Tasty. 

[97and03]

7 minutes ago, UNTLifer said: