Why Jeff Monken is Too Much of a Risk for Wren Baker, West Virginia

The Army head coach is in the mix for the WVU job.

Danny Wild-Imagn Images

The search for West Virginia's next head coach is now on its 10th day, and fans are beginning to become worried that Wren Baker may land on the wrong guy for the job. Relax, folks, these things take time.

Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall told school officials that he is staying put and is getting a new deal with the Green Wave, and Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki withdrew his name from the opening to remain in Happy Valley.

With most jobs now filled, Baker's list is shrinking, and the two names likely at or near the top are Jacksonville State's Rich Rodriguez and Army's Jeff Monken. Rodriguez makes sense for a lot of reasons, but the latter, not so much.

There's no denying that what Monken has been able to do at Army is anything short of incredible. To have this much success, and consistent success at that, at a service academy, proves how good of a football coach he is.

At some point, Monken is going to make the jump to a Power Four job and will likely find success there, too. But Wren Baker can't afford to roll the dice on a head coach who has been operating a triple-option offense for much of his coaching career.

Obviously, Monken won't be running that offense in Morgantown, but who is he going to hire as an offensive coordinator? How about filling out the entire offensive coaching staff?

My guess is that there would be serious consideration to keep some or most of the guys on WVU's current staff who have an identity of what offense they want to run. Perhaps another option, albeit a long shot, is that he could bring in his cousin, Todd Monken, who is the offensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens.

If he doesn't take either of those routes, where does he turn? I'm sure he already has some ideas in place, and those will be a part of his pitch for the gig, but there's too much uncertainty around what it will look like. That will cause some to enter the transfer portal while also creating challenges in recruiting out of the portal until it's clear what direction the offense is headed.

Baker needs strong fan/booster support for the next head coach, and I'm not sure Monken would have it.

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