GMG.com interview with UNT AD Wren Baker

[Harry]

Join @Harry and @TheReal_jayD as they visit with UNT athletic director Wren Baker who answers questions and and discusses some of the exciting stories and inside news from behind the scenes of the recent addition of North Texas to the American Athletic Conference.

Direct audio link:  https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/gomeangreen/Wren_10.27.21_mixdown.mp3

 

[UNT Texas Hooligan]

1 hour ago, Harry said:

Join @Harry and @TheReal_jayD as they visit with UNT athletic director Wren Baker who answers questions and and discusses some of the exciting stories and inside news from behind the scenes of the recent addition of North Texas to the American Athletic Conference.

Direct audio link:  https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/gomeangreen/Wren_10.27.21_mixdown.mp3

 

Man, y'all just rolling out the heavy hitting interviews. Didn't even give us a chance to breathe from the McMurphy interview before you put this out. Great stuff

[El Paso Eagle]

@Harry and @TheReal_jayDVery nice job. You realize you have set the bar really high. The pressure is on you to maintain the momentum. Thank you for all you do for the Mean Green fans. 

[Zeleny' Orel]

Very informative...good job!  Lots of good insight from Wren.

[ADLER]

Incredible show guys. I am amazed at how strait forward and open Wren is concerning scheduling, conference realignment, financing, and facility plans. There was a time when Rick V used to have to keep his cards so close to his chest, mostly because of our then shoestring budget.

Times are so much better now, and it's almost impossible not to have total faith in Wren.

Now...if he'll just start having our teams play in Green and White using our current logos.

[Mean Green Matt]

4 hours ago, ADLER said:

Incredible show guys. I am amazed at how strait forward and open Wren is concerning scheduling, conference realignment, financing, and facility plans. There was a time when Rick V used to have to keep his cards so close to his chest, mostly because of our then shoestring budget.

Times are so much better now, and it's almost impossible not to have total faith in Wren.

Now...if he'll just start having our teams play in Green and White using our current logos.

I think there’s one more big test for Wren in the coming…month and a half or so. 

[TheColonyEagle]

Another good one guys!

Interesting that the president of Memphis called him and they're still close...First thing I thought of was the HC they have a mutual relationship with. If that certain coach gets let go, I wonder if there will be another conversation between the Memphis President and Wren. I saw it in other thread....but I'm now leaning heavily toward him being our guy if he and Littrell are let go. If so....I'm on board.

[bstnsportsfan3]

Great interview. Wren always does a great job of communicating both our challenges and our positives! 

[MeanGreen22]

Awesome interview, guys. 
 

Question for Wren: WHERE ARE THESE UNI COMBOS YOU SPEAK OF? Haha

[greenminer]

3 hours ago, Mean Green Matt said:

I think there’s one more big test for Wren in the coming…month and a half or so. 

The test is already on the table and at this point he can't do better than a C.

[MeanGreenTexan]

15 minutes ago, greenminer said:

The test is already on the table and at this point he can't do better than a C.

I'm wondering if he's giving Littrell the official "opportunity" to make a bowl game/winning record before firing him.

Surely Baker doesn't see benefit in keeping Littrell on with a losing season already wrapped up?    Let the players breathe some & just play the rest of the season without having to hear the same tired stuff over & over.   

And if Littrell happens to find some inspiration and can pass it on to the players for 5 straight weeks to close out the season 6-6, then it would be a miracle, and he'd deserve to coach the bowl game... and possibly beyond.    I just don't see it happening.

[Mean Green Matt]

1 hour ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

I'm wondering if he's giving Littrell the official "opportunity" to make a bowl game/winning record before firing him.

Surely Baker doesn't see benefit in keeping Littrell on with a losing season already wrapped up?    Let the players breathe some & just play the rest of the season without having to hear the same tired stuff over & over.   

And if Littrell happens to find some inspiration and can pass it on to the players for 5 straight weeks to close out the season 6-6, then it would be a miracle, and he'd deserve to coach the bowl game... and possibly beyond.    I just don't see it happening.

And then we go on to win every football game we play until the end of days. 

[ADLER]

33 minutes ago, Mean Green Matt said:

And then we go on to win every football game we play until the end of days. 

Yeah, and they could call us thee Emerald Tide.

[UNT Texas Hooligan]

3 hours ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

I'm wondering if he's giving Littrell the official "opportunity" to make a bowl game/winning record before firing him.

Surely Baker doesn't see benefit in keeping Littrell on with a losing season already wrapped up?    Let the players breathe some & just play the rest of the season without having to hear the same tired stuff over & over.   

And if Littrell happens to find some inspiration and can pass it on to the players for 5 straight weeks to close out the season 6-6, then it would be a miracle, and he'd deserve to coach the bowl game... and possibly beyond.    I just don't see it happening.

I thought this was all attributed to 2 things: 1. Littrell's buyout dropping significantly the day the season ends, and 2. Wren not being a fan of firing a coach mid-season (ala Benford). Other than that, Littrell is and has been done. I sincerely hope they aren't allowing him to coach for his job. 

Edited October 28, 2021 by UNT Texas Hooligan

[NorthTexasSportsNetwork]

14 hours ago, MeanGreen22 said:

Awesome interview, guys. 
 

Question for Wren: WHERE ARE THESE UNI COMBOS YOU SPEAK OF? Haha

They apparently sold most of the 17-19 feather ones minus the black. Not sure why but I don't like it

[MeanGreen22]

9 hours ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

They apparently sold most of the 17-19 feather ones minus the black. Not sure why but I don't like it

That’s so dumb. It was their best uni in a longgg time. Now we have these glorified practice jerseys with no team name, player name, etc on them. 

[Greenrex]

1 hour ago, MeanGreen22 said:

That’s so dumb. It was their best uni in a longgg time. Now we have these glorified practice jerseys with no team name, player name, etc on them. 

I agree and have found over the years that nothing signals more clearly the coming of a new head coach. It's as reliable as that smoke signal announcing a new pope.

 

[ColoradoEagle]

23 hours ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

I'm wondering if he's giving Littrell the official "opportunity" to make a bowl game/winning record before firing him.

Highly doubtful. I'd be shocked if Wren didn't start talking with a consulting firm last year, if not the year before, about a potential replacement. Any opportunity he had to save his job vanished weeks ago.

He's currently at 3-9 over his last 12 games. If you just leave 2020 completely out, he's 2-10 out of those 12. He's gone.

[UNT 90 Grad]

On 10/28/2021 at 10:56 AM, MeanGreenTexan said:

I'm wondering if he's giving Littrell the official "opportunity" to make a bowl game/winning record before firing him.

Surely Baker doesn't see benefit in keeping Littrell on with a losing season already wrapped up?    Let the players breathe some & just play the rest of the season without having to hear the same tired stuff over & over.   

And if Littrell happens to find some inspiration and can pass it on to the players for 5 straight weeks to close out the season 6-6, then it would be a miracle, and he'd deserve to coach the bowl game... and possibly beyond.    I just don't see it happening.

This is where my head is.  One more loss and I think Seth’s time is up.  I also think that will mark when we start seeing some of the red shirts seeing some playing time (since it won’t count against their redshirt year) since there won’t be much left to play for this year.