Wren Baker Explains How He Landed on Rich Rodriguez as WVU's Next Coach

The reason behind the decision to bring Rich Rod home.

West Virginia University Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker / Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

Several candidates were in the mix to land the West Virginia head football coaching job, but Rich Rodriguez was the guy that Director of Athletics Wren Baker kept coming back to. Baker laid out those reasons during Rodriguez's introductory press conference on Friday afternoon.

“We had tremendous interest in this job from all over the country. Assisted by Parker Search, we vetted dozens of candidates, interviewed over 15, and narrowed that down. Candidates wanted this job because of our history, our tradition, our resources, but time and time again we heard it was because of you - the passionate fans of West Virginia.

“One candidate stood above all others, Coach Rodriguez is a winner. He has coached and won football at virtually every level of college football. He’s an innovator and has been known for his creativity and adaptability of his schemes over the years. Not only has he won at a high level, but he won here. And West Virginia is a fit job and not just everybody can come here and win. We wanted somebody that we knew could come and win here.

“We also wanted a leader. So we talked to administrators from every university that Rich has ever worked at. I spoke with former student-athletes from different places. I’ve spoke with coaches who coached with, for, and against him. Every one of them spoke highly of his competitiveness and his desire to bring out the best in everyone in his program. His relentless desire to chase perfection has been a key ingredient to him winning games and building championship programs.

“When I sat with him, no other candidate had the kind of passion for this state, this community, this university, and this football program the way that he did. It’s very personal.”

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