UNT AD Wren Baker joins the GoMeanGreen Podcast Thursday - Fan questions welcomed!

[Harry]

We are very pleased to welcome back North Texas AD Wren Baker for our summer edition of the podcast.  Wren has graciously accepted to spend an hour with us and we are grateful for his time.   There is so much to talk about with the realignment, NIL, the new AAC conference, capital projects and many other topics of interest.   The podcast should be up for listening this Thursday night (7/14) and we will post links here and on our social media.

As always, we welcome your questions for Wren and feel free to list them here in this thread.  We will try to cover as many as we can but likely will do a part II later on and use the rest of them then.  Thanks again to Wren for taking the time and as always, Go Mean Green!

[UNT 90 Grad]

Is Wren aware that award winning pitcher Skylar Savage of the 2022 CUSA Champion Mean Green Softball team will be throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at the UNT Alumni Family Night with the Frisco Roughriders this coming Saturday?  Will Wren be in attendance to cheer her on?

[Coach Andy Mac]

 

[Coach Andy Mac]

 

[Coach Andy Mac]

 

[Coach Andy Mac]

 

[UNT Texas Hooligan]

Why was Littrell not fired after last season?

[MGNation92]

33 minutes ago, UNT Texas Hooligan said:

Why was Littrell not fired after last season?

Or more tactfully:

What is his process in reviewing a coach's contract, and how does he measure whether or not to fire a coach and/or extend a coach/give them a raise?

[UNTLifer]

Who is his fashion consultant?  That shirt and jacket are not a good match.

[greenminer]

How does he feel about all the UNT alumni in DFW, and is there any desire/plan in place to connect them back to athletics?

[Coach Andy Mac]

 

[Cr1028]

Is there a way for fans to come and see our historical trophies/awards that are not digital?

For instance, the Sun Belt or New Orleans Bowl trophies, and other memorabilia from more than 10 years ago, across all sports? There was an actual display in the AC years ago with real footballs, trophies, nets, etc but I’ve heard it is all digital now. 

[meanrob]

Got no questions but good catch Harry and crew. 

[El Paso Eagle]

Can we get back to focusing on the name MEAN GREEN for football and try and build brand recognition? We have a very classic look but it seems lately we try for the uniform of the week club.

[Side.Show.Joe]

Despite earning a bowl in 2021, UNT had an average attendance of 16,689, down from pre-COVID years like 2019 when the Mean Green had average crowds of 21,358 with a 4-8 record. With Apogee back open at full capacity, what does Wren feel is keeping some of our fans away, and how are season ticket sales looking for this season? Up or down from last year?

[Side.Show.Joe]

UNT's recruiting is lagging far behind SMU, and now also UTSA. SMU has 15 recruits and enjoys a current ranking of #44 on 247Sports. UNT has 4 recruits and no ranking by the site. 10 of the commits held offer from both programs, but only 1 of those 10 recruits chose UNT. UTSA also enjoys a similar recruiting advantage against UNT. Why are we failing to recruit these high caliber players? Is this a result of the recent NIL changes in college football or is it a different problem? What is your plan to improve our recruiting as UNT prepares to join the AAC in 2023?

Edited July 13, 2022 by Side.Show.Joe

[Jonnyeagle]

1 hour ago, Side.Show.Joe said:

UNT's recruiting is lagging far behind SMU, and now also UTSA. SMU has 15 recruits and enjoys a current ranking of #44 on 247Sports. UNT has 4 recruits and no ranking by the site. 10 of the commits held offer from both programs, but only 1 of those 10 recruits chose UNT. UTSA also enjoys a similar recruiting advantage against UNT. Why are we failing to recruit these high caliber players? Is this a result of the recent NIL changes in college football or is it a different problem? What is your plan to improve our recruiting as UNT prepares to join the AAC in 2023?

All good questions.  I might add that the NIL is not coming from the athletic department and they are really supposed to be steering clear of it.  In some ways it’s like NIL is taking away from the athletic departments fund raising it seems.

[NT80]

Was Wren proud of being able to keep Grant away from Smut?

-As mentioned, more use of Mean Green name.

-Return "Mean Green Club" name to use.

- Baseball? 

-Partnership between MWC/AAC for OOC scheduling in all sports, fewer FCS and Dll?

-can we re-focus on DFW region and not just Denton county?

-does he have a short list to replace Seth?  lol

 

 

 

[dml7007]

With all the changes in re-alignment where is the top he sees for north Texas. What are we doing to make our self stand out over others. Especially UTSA and SMU.  Would you consider a PAC12 invite if they wanted into Texas with the uncertainty around the others in the conference.  In your conversations with other conferences in the past or present is there things they would like to see from North Texas.

 

Edited July 14, 2022 by dml7007

[UNTLifer]

4 hours ago, El Paso Eagle said:

We have a very classic look but it seems lately we try for the uniform of the week club.

If I remember correctly, last year we predominately wore the throwback jersey and just changed helmets out.

[Coach Bill Lewis]

Which of the new AAC teams are you most excited about joining with?  Which roadtrip are you looking most forward to?

[Glory to the Green]

What’s been the most surprising  challenge you’ve faced while at North Texas?

How has the job changed since you first arrived here?  How do you anticipate it further changing?  How are you preparing for the inevitable future changes?

Side note:  It’s been an absolute pleasure watching you help grow the UNT brand. I’m glad you decided the good guys in Green and I look forward to a bright Mean Green future with you as AD. GMG!

Edited July 13, 2022 by Glory to the Green
Typo

[97and03]

How many season tickets did we sell last year and how many this year? Same question for MGSF.

[Jonnyeagle]

When exactly will you reinstate men's baseball and do you agree that it was a mistake to ever shut it down?

[Coach Andy Mac]