It’s been a busy summer for West Virginia off the field but as the calendar flips to fall the focus is shifting.

Athletic Director Wren Baker has interesting situations in both major sports as football head coach Neal Brown has gone 22-25 over his four seasons and the basketball program has an interim in Josh Eilert.

Brown, who is under contract through the 2026 season, has made it clear that he has to win games this fall after disappointing results on the field to this point. That isn’t lost on Baker, either.

“We know we have to win games. Coach Brown said that. I read his commentary all the time, he knows where we’re at and everybody knows that’s an expectation,” he said.

However, off the field Baker has been impressed with not only Brown but the rest of his coaching staff after meeting with each of them one-on-one and attending a number of practices and scrimmages.

Baker believes there is general excitement around the football program, and he feels good about where the team is at, and their resolve given the fact that they were picked 14th in the 14-team Big 12.

“Their resolve I think the prognosticators not having very high expectations has helped motivate them, it’s motivated all of us really. We want to go out and prove people wrong,” Baker said.

Inside the program, Baker has a core belief that you have to value the person over the player and if you do that then eventually, you’ll get the full abilities out of the player. This coaching staff has done a good job of pouring into their players and developing them to have success off the field.

“There are a lot of positive things going on in this program,” he said.

But ultimately success on the field remains a critical missing component.

On the basketball side, Eilert was tabbed into the interim role in mid-June with a 10-month, $1.5 million contract to lead the program after the resignation of legendary head coach Bob Huggins. It was an off-season of change for the basketball program with roster turnover and plenty of twists and turns.

But Baker believes that some of that turnover was going to happen no matter what occurred once Huggins resigned, and the timing wouldn’t have affected anything for appointing Eilert.

The athletic department has tried to provide Eilert with everything that he needs to be successful in this coming season and as part of that granted him full autonomy and decision-making over the program. That has led to changes with the coaching staff and the roster.

“I think up to this point he’s handled everything as well as you could possibly ask,” Baker said.

There are no guarantees for Eilert after this coming season atop the program, but Baker said that he has not entertained any inquiries or campaigning because for now that job isn’t open. The focus has been primarily on Eilert, his coaching staff and the roster and what can be accomplished.

The pair have discussed the expectations of running the program as well as what Baker is looking for in his position, but he hasn’t set any form of criteria on certain benchmarks Eilert needs to hit. It’s hard to do that because some things are beyond the head coach’s control so the focus has to be on focusing on what can be and evaluating from there.

The goal is to provide support to Eilert with the hope that he gives them a lot to think about when the athletic department conducts a search after the season.

“My hope is he does a great job and he’s part of that search,” Baker said.

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