Wren Baker needs to make a statement

The 2024 regular season is officially over and there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the future of West Virginia football and head coach Neal Brown.

Just a year after winning nine games and finishing in a tie for third place in the Big 12 Conference, WVU took a huge step backwards, winning just six games, with much of the offensive talent from the 2023 squad returning.

The 52:15 result on Saturday in Lubbock caused even more uncertainty. If the game had been competitive or the Mountaineers had won, there probably wouldn’t have been as much talk about the head coach this morning. Being beaten down like that in the last game of the season leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth and makes you wonder if it was enough for the government to make a change.

Commitments will be transferred to other schools, and more changes are on the way. You can attribute this to the team’s lack of success or perhaps the uncertain future of the WVU coaching staff. That’s why WVU fans, players and recruits need to hear from athletics director Wren Baker soon, one way or another.

With the early signing period beginning Wednesday and the transfer portal opening just days later, players need to know who will be calling the shots in Morgantown. I know there are some things in Neal’s contract that would make it cheaper for WVU to wait until after the bowl game to make a move, but if you’re going to make a move, you should make it as early as possible. You want to find the next man up, keep the players you want to keep, and find some of the best players on the portal that you can afford.

There’s a narrative that West Virginia can’t afford to pay for the buyout and hire new employees. That’s not necessarily the case. If they want to make a move, they will make one. Brown’s remaining salary does not need to be paid in full upfront in one lump sum; it can be paid out over time. Additionally, it could cost the university more to retain Brown if attendance declines, NIL support is not as strong, and many other factors.

The only thing West Virginia can’t be afraid of is making a move. Whether that is the right decision or not is up to Wren Baker. He is the one who knows WVU’s financial situation and whether, following a coaching change, they would have the resources necessary for the next coach to be successful. It’s a new world of college athletics we’re in. This is not the same ball game that has been played for decades. Since NIL is a large part of a squad’s makeup, you need to ensure there are enough resources to make a change and then sign quality players.

If Baker feels like there’s a good candidate out there who he believes can not only land, but also has what it takes to build a competitive team in year one, then a move needs to be made become. The takeover isn’t ideal, but winning football games will ease the pain of this takeover, especially if the fan base fully supports the head coach.

It doesn’t matter that the new head coach will probably come from the Group of Five. Coaches make this jump all the time, and many of them coach. You can’t just say: we will hire people from the same industry and end up with the same results. Some coaches just aren’t cut out for a Power Four gig, and that could be the case here. At some point, be it this year or sometime in the future, you have to take a different path. If not, it’s the definition of insanity.

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