DRC exclusive : UNT finalizes contract with Wren Baker

[Brett Vito]

 

[UNT Texas Hooligan]

Massive. Worth every penny

[Jonnyeagle]

 

[meangreenbob]

Hope that translates into hiring the right football coach. 

Time is of the essence. 

[Cr1028]

58 minutes ago, Jonnyeagle said:

 

[Moobs]

I like this.  I like this a lot... I think.

We haven't seen him hire a football coach yet.  Hell, we haven't seen him fire one yet either.

[drex]

Money well spent.

[El Paso Eagle]

[TheColonyEagle]

Is giving a big raise to an AD before he ever hires a football coach equal to giving a big raise to a HC with little to no wins against FBS winning teams?

Just curious....

[UNT Texas Hooligan]

1 minute ago, TheColonyEagle said:

Is giving a big raise to an AD before he ever hires a football coach equal to giving a big raise to a HC with little to no wins against FBS winning teams?

Just curious....

Wren got us McCasland and got us into the American. His extension isn't the same ballpark or even the same stratosphere as Littrell's. Not to mention the facility improvements, budget growth, etc.

[NorthTexasWeLove]

Premature. Stuff of UNT lore. 

He hit on his basketball hire, but now sustaining the program will be key and has yet to be seen. 

Football = awful. 

He was a key component in getting UNT into the AAC. But let's wait until at least 2025 to see what the AAC actually is. 

Was someone after WB? If not, what are we doing? If someone was, he's too unproven in where it matters (football), so what are we doing? 

[UNTLifer]

He is the Athletic Director, not the Football Director, responsible for the entire department.  He has provided a clear vision of growth and has pretty much achieved everything he has set forth.  Indoor Practice Facility?  Check.  Golf Practice Facility?  Check.  New Soccer/Track venue?  Check.  New/better conference?  Check.  Hiring a basketball coach to elevate the program?  Check.  Improvements to the Super Pit?  Check.  All programs improving?  Pretty much everything except football and we are about to see him put his mark on this program as well.  He has done more than any AD in our history and still has many items on his agenda to complete.

I think this is well deserved and solidifies him as our AD for the foreseeable future.

[NorthTexasWeLove]

2 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

He is the Athletic Director, not the Football Director, responsible for the entire department.  He has provided a clear vision of growth and has pretty much achieved everything he has set forth.  Indoor Practice Facility?  Check.  Golf Practice Facility?  Check.  New Soccer/Track venue?  Check.  New/better conference?  Check.  Hiring a basketball coach to elevate the program?  Check.  Improvements to the Super Pit?  Check.  All programs improving?  Pretty much everything except football and we are about to see him put his mark on this program as well.  He has done more than any AD in our history and still has many items on his agenda to complete.

I think this is well deserved and solidifies him as our AD for the foreseeable future.

ADs are shown the door for incompetent football, not women's golf. 

He has done a good job. Let me not take that away. But football is king. Let's see how that unfolds before rolling out the red carpet, though too late it appears. 

Edited November 2, 2021 by NorthTexasWeLove

[ADLER]

Worth Every Penny. 

 

 

[Udomann]

I still have absolute faith in Wren. I have seen our brand, marketing, PR, everything (except, well...you know... friggin' football) since he's come on board.

Short of actually having WB coach the football team (which might be an actual step up at this point), he's been stellar. 

[jdennis82]

Like this.

Wren and President Smatresk appear to have a very good working relationship. Some of us remember the athletic department being at odds with University leadership. I will not take for granted the trust, confidence, approval, and support Wren has developed and earned with Smatresk.

[Jonnyeagle]

1 hour ago, UNTLifer said:

He is the Athletic Director, not the Football Director, responsible for the entire department.  He has provided a clear vision of growth and has pretty much achieved everything he has set forth.  Indoor Practice Facility?  Check.  Golf Practice Facility?  Check.  New Soccer/Track venue?  Check.  New/better conference?  Check.  Hiring a basketball coach to elevate the program?  Check.  Improvements to the Super Pit?  Check.  All programs improving?  Pretty much everything except football and we are about to see him put his mark on this program as well.  He has done more than any AD in our history and still has many items on his agenda to complete.

I think this is well deserved and solidifies him as our AD for the foreseeable future.

Amen!  Great post @UNTLifer with the thread closer.

[RBP79]

So a quick search shows Vanderbilt AD is the highest paid AD, 3 million plus-April 2021, and it drops from there with mostly P5 AD's making a million plus and not alot of them. Wren is in the park.( Williams past away in 2019..the AD it's referring to at Vanderbilt)

Google has lied to me before though.

https://work.chron.com/much-money-athletic-directors-d1-schools-make-30835.html

Edited November 2, 2021 by RBP79
Link

[TheColonyEagle]

2 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

He is the Athletic Director, not the Football Director, responsible for the entire department.  He has provided a clear vision of growth and has pretty much achieved everything he has set forth.  Indoor Practice Facility?  Check.  Golf Practice Facility?  Check.  New Soccer/Track venue?  Check.  New/better conference?  Check.  Hiring a basketball coach to elevate the program?  Check.  Improvements to the Super Pit?  Check.  All programs improving?  Pretty much everything except football and we are about to see him put his mark on this program as well.  He has done more than any AD in our history and still has many items on his agenda to complete.

I think this is well deserved and solidifies him as our AD for the foreseeable future.

This is going to ruffle people but what if he never hires a good football coach to turn the program around? We don't know if it's deserved yet. What AD gets a huge raise because the golf program got a training facility?

It's all football. It's the only thing that matters. You say he's not the Football Director? Bull Schnikes....he is the football director. Because football is all that matters. The only reason you build all that stuff...is to complement or pump up the football program. And if that fancy new indoor facility (that he absolutely gets a ton of credit for no doubt) doesn't lead us to winning conference championships and top 25 rankings and NY6 type bowls....then why build it? There's a reason head football coaches make a lot more money than their bosses.....because Football is everything to an athletic department. And right now our everything is an absolute train wreck. Under his watch by the way.

Don't misunderstand me....I like Wren, I'm thrilled he's here. He gives me hope and I hope he's here a long time (which means he will have turned the football program around) But to use a standard that should be used to make this a top athletic program, you could easily argue Wren Baker does not deserve this raise yet. He hasn't turned around the only program that matters in his department. He may earn it in a few years for sure. But if Wren Baker leaves here and our football program doesn't make huge improvements, Wren Baker will have failed. That's still a possibility. 

He has a LOT to prove yet. And it all hinges on this hire coming up. 

Edited November 2, 2021 by TheColonyEagle

[NorthTexasWeLove]

5 minutes ago, TheColonyEagle said:

This is going to ruffle people but what if he never hires a good football coach to turn the program around? We don't know if it's deserved yet. What AD gets a huge raise because the golf program got a training facility?

It's all football. It's the only thing that matters. You say he's not the Football Director? Bull Schnikes....he is the football director. Because football is all that matters. The only reason you build all that stuff...is to complement or pump up the football program. And if that fancy new indoor facility (that he absolutely gets a ton of credit for no doubt) doesn't lead us to winning conference championships and top 25 rankings and NY6 type bowls....then why build it? There's a reason head football coaches make a lot more money than their bosses.....because Football is everything to an athletic department. And right now our everything is an absolute train wreck. Under his watch by the way.

Don't misunderstand me....I like Wren, I'm thrilled he's here. He gives me hope and I hope he's here a long time (which means he will have turned the football program around) But to use a standard that should be used to make this a top athletic program, you could easily argue Wren Baker does not deserve this raise yet. He hasn't turned around the only program that matters in his department. He may earn it in a few years for sure. But if Wren Baker leaves here and our football program doesn't make huge improvements, Wren Baker will have failed. That's still a possibility. 

He has a LOT to prove yet. And it all hinges on this hire coming up. 

Reason and logic. It's a rarity around here sometimes.  

[greenminer]

If I remember correctly, it was the AAC commish who said we are the only one of the new programs going in that have already taken the financial steps needed to be in the AAC.

That is Wren.

[TheColonyEagle]

So should we read into this that this probably means that Littrell is for sure gone after this season? Surely they talked about the plan for football…

[meaniegreenie]

1 hour ago, jdennis82 said:

Like this.

Wren and President Smatresk appear to have a very good working relationship. Some of us remember the athletic department being at odds with University leadership. I will not take for granted the trust, confidence, approval, and support Wren has developed and earned with Smatresk.

Yeah, lots of people have no idea what it was like when we had a President that would have eliminated athletics if possible.

[meangreenJW]

16 minutes ago, greenminer said:

If I remember correctly, it was the AAC commish who said we are the only one of the new programs going in that have already taken the financial steps needed to be in the AAC.

That is Wren.

Agree with you on this and I think the timing of this is even more important. Those of us that have been around a while know that before the combo of Baker/Smastresk athletics has never been a priority or supported at a high level. (as a side note I wasn't the biggest RV fan but building Apogee with the lack of support at the time was a huge accomplishment). 

I would think coaches and agents see what has happened under Wren and Neal and say man, that's impressive. But a quick google search would reveal Neal is 70 years old. Maybe I'm wrong but I see this announcement coming out at this time as saying " Hey, our AD is going to be here to see us transition to the American conference, come coach the Mean Green!"

If that's the case, very smart IMO.

[greenminer]

I will say this, after seeing the following tweet, Wren has work to do.  The chart puts some perspective on where we are as a program vs what we are paying our leader.