Wren Baker in consideration for Mizzou AD job…

[emmitt01]

2 hours ago, NorthTexan95 said:

Couldn't do worse than he did as a coach. 

[MGNation92]

8 hours ago, greenminer said:

Jared Mosley is working literally around the corner from Wren.  If we somehow lose Baker, and wake up on the other side of all this shuffling with some new-body that "checked off all the boxes" that is not name Jared Mosley....

...that would be very North Texas of us.

Exactly. Hell, I wanted Mosley for the job when RV left. He's extremely qualified and has been working hand in hand with Baker's agenda for the last few years.

It's a no brainer

[Tom McKrackin]

 

[97and03]

14 hours ago, MeanGreenTeeth said:

No slight on the guy, but I'd be shocked if he got it.

I am sure there will be good candidates but not sure why you would be shocked. They thought enough of him to hire him before as deputy AD and have him serve as interim AD. 
 

Baker was hired as the Deputy Director of Athletics at Missouri in 2015 after serving in a similar role at Memphis from 2013-2015. At Missouri he was responsible for assisting the athletic director with all aspects of administration, including head coaching searches in football and baseball. He led the athletic department's external relations team, including development, marketing, licensing, the ticket office and strategic communications. During his first year at Missouri, Baker oversaw the implementation of a new annual fund model and restructured the external team. Shortly after Baker’s arrival in Denton, Mizzou announced the completion of a record fundraising year. He also served as the interim director of athletics at Missouri before accepting a leadership position at UNT.

[greenminer]

Digging up old Tasty posts about Mosley, because I think they are relevant.

 

On 10/1/2015 at 8:17 PM, TheTastyGreek said:

Jared Mosley, current Executive Director at the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in Waco. 

Former AD at Abilene Christian, spent 10 years there before resigning to take the HOF job in 2014. He's somewhere near 40 years old, so he has a lot of good years left in front of him. 

Here's the article announcing his hire in Waco. Highlights relevant to why he might be a good AD option for us include:

He's a 6'8" former ACU basketball player, so he wouldn't let nonsense like Benford happen here. 

He has 10 years of success in hiring winning coaches, building facilities, and navigating conference improvement. He's raised money. He's worked in Texas in the shadow of bigger programs and succeeded anyway. 

Anything you could want from an AD, he's already done successfully at a non-prestige Texas school. And he's young, and he's charismatic. 

If he had any interest in leaving his new job, I'd dance with joy to see him at North Texas.

On 1/22/2021 at 12:11 PM, TheTastyGreek said:

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. 

 

On 1/21/2021 at 7:43 PM, TheTastyGreek said:

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. 

 

On 9/2/2016 at 9:54 PM, TheTastyGreek said:

This is phenomenal. This is really, really fantastic. 

As Greenminer already dug up... If we'd come out of the AD search with this guy running our operation, I'd have been THRILLED. To bring in a guy like Baker, AND end up with Mosley here, too? This is great. 

We have an AD with a future so bright I doubt he'll last more than 5 years here. And now we have a guy arguably as talented and capable, training on the job, ready to take over as soon as success leads Baker elsewhere. 

And, both of these guys can hire basketball coaches.