West Virginia Athletic Director Wren Baker has a list of qualities that he wants to find in any potential candidate when it comes to head coach openings.
Former men’s basketball coach Darian DeVries certainly checked off those boxes, but ultimately only remained with the program for one season. But with what unfolded does that change his outlook?
Ultimately, the answer to that question to Baker is a resounding no.
While losing DeVries after just a season is certainly a blow, you can’t change your philosophies or panic after one situation that unfolded losing a coach to another program.
“Human nature is to think we have to get somebody who’s connected to here. I just think your job is to go out and get the best coach that you can,” Baker said. “And you want to have coaches that other people covet and want to come after. Because the alternative is that nobody wants your coach and that’s not very good.”
That doesn’t exclude those coaches that have ties to the program, nor does it mean that you wouldn’t still risk losing them either depending on the situation. Each one is different and unique.
So, that doesn’t change the overall profile much when it comes to what Baker wants in potential candidates.
One of the biggest factors for him when it comes to selecting a basketball head coach is the fact that West Virginia is a place that is about fit. Baker will spend a lot of time in the search process hammering that home to the point that he believes he might even do it too much.
“I will talk a lot about the spotlight and the fishbowl and a lot about fit,” he said.
Baker points to the success that programs have had with coaches he has hired in recent years and while he obviously wishes he wasn’t doing this process again a year later, that doesn’t mean something is wrong with how he goes about identifying and selecting a new head coach.
“Does that mean that there was something wrong with our process? I don't think so. I think our characteristics and our profile are still very similar,” Baker said.
While three searches in a 21-month span isn’t what Baker envisioned a few years ago, he does believe that he’s getting better at it with the more at-bats that he gets. But he does believe that in some interviews in might lead to an extra question or two although he isn’t sure that it will alter things all too much.
West Virginia wants to find the right coach and then give them the tools to be successful while keeping them retained. The Mountaineers took a good first step last season, but now they must go back to the drawing board and re-do things but the trust in the process remains.
“I don't think you can just like second guess everything about your process. You try and learn from it,” he said.
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