West Virginia Athletic Director Wren Baker has already operated one major coaching search at the school. As well as several other key hires.
Baker tabbed Darian DeVries to lead the Mountaineers basketball program after a quick, efficient search that ran at his own pace. This time he is tasked with finding the next head football coach after relieving Neal Brown of his duties after six seasons and a 37-35 record during that time.
During the search to replace DeVries, Baker made it clear that while certain data points stand out to create a profile for what he wants in a head coach – that doesn’t limit it to just one candidate.
“If you have the support system in place and the infrastructure and NIL support you’re finding a profile, but that profile is not one of one,” Baker said at the time.
That same logic should hold true for a West Virginia football program that is rich with history and tradition but has one been ranked once over the last six years. The Mountaineers compete in a power four conference and one that is as wide open as any as well as being located in a fertile surrounding recruiting area.
That should make the post an attractive position for potential candidates and with a timeline that would appear expedited with the way that the recruiting calendar lays out, that’s certainly a good thing.
And Baker is not new to this process, having conducted over 20 coaching searches during his time as an athletic director at various stops in his career.
West Virginia is one of four power four jobs currently open along with North Carolina, Purdue, and UCF. That means there is competition, but it doesn’t necessarily translate to those options overlapping.
Much like the previously vacant basketball job, Baker has some ammunition he can sell when it comes to what the football program can offer potential candidates. There is of course the tradition but continuously improving facilities and a strong passionate fan base are also major attractions to the job.
West Virginia is in the search for a new head coach but has the right leadership to make the correct call.
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