Q&A with interim Mizzou AD Wren Baker: ‘I’m not made to sit in neutral or tread water’

Missouri’s Wren Baker was promoted from deputy athletic director to acting AD on Wednesday when Mack Rhoades decided to leave for Baylor.

Baker joined the Tigers’ athletics administration in May 2015 from Memphis, where he also served as deputy athletic director. His resume includes previous stops as the athletic director at Rogers State in Claremore, Okla., and Northwest Missouri State.

The Star spoke with Baker late Thursday night as he wrapped up his first full day as the man in charge of Mizzou athletics. Here’s that conversation:

Question: When did you find out Rhoades would be leaving?

Baker: “Mack informed me the day before. I think it happened really quickly for him. We had a conversation maybe Tuesday morning that it looked like this was going to happen. We had a moment with each other that I’ll keep private, but he was very kind and very gracious when he talked to me. Then, I just went about helping him move forward with the announcement.”

Q: You haven’t been in Columbia very long, but are you hoping to stick around? Or have there been any discussions about following Rhoades to Baylor?

Baker: “First of all, there have been no conversations about Baylor. Mack is going to be fair to the staff there. He’s going to give them a chance to show him what they can do. Mack has great admiration for Mizzou and the people here. I don’t think he’d want to do anything to hurt Mizzou.

“My family and I love Columbia. This is our second time to live in the state of Missouri. This feels a lot like home. Heather and I are both from Oklahoma. This is a great city in a great state and has a lot to offer. We love the university.

“The University of Missouri is a terrific place with a great academic reputation and a strong tradition in the athletic programs that I think have a high ceiling. I think we can take those to another level and consistently compete for championships across the board. We do not have a desire to leave Columbia. We like it here very much.”

Q: What are your immediate goals as the interim athletic director?

Baker: “The first thing, I want to make sure that I bring some reassurance and stability to our coaches and our staff. We have some great people at the University of Missouri, some really top-notch people. There is some instability around in terms of leadership, so I’m hoping that’s the first thing I do. I want to reassure our staff they are doing a great job and to move forward.

“One thing I’m not made for is to sit in neutral or tread water. I want to keep advancing forward. We had some key initiatives that we been working on over the last 14 months that Mack started the ball rolling and developing those. They’re very important when you talk about the Mizzou Made curriculum and what we’re trying to accomplish there, when you talk about revenue generation opportunities that we’re trying to identify, when you talk about facility assessment and a strategic plan for improving our facilities.

“In that is the football operations/MATC project. I would say we are 80 percent of the way there. We’ve got that vetted down to just a couple concepts and possibilities, and we are going to keep moving forward. That was not an initiative that Mack developed in a vacuum. That was something that had department-wide input and buy-in.

“For us, at this critical moment in the athletic department’s future, we have to continue to move forward on that. Whoever ends up being the permanent AD will be glad that we did. We don’t need to lose time by not continuing that.”

Q: Safe to say you will throw your hat in the ring to be the permanent AD?

Baker: “At this point in time, the chancellor has asked me to be the interim AD. We still have to talk through what the timeline will look like. We’ve had a couple of brief conversations, but I know that he and others at the university need to determine what that looks like.

“I was honored to serve. I think there are a lot of different people that could’ve served in an interim capacity. We’ve got a lot of great administrators, but I was honored to have that opportunity. I want to be an AD. I’ve always been open, transparent and honest about that. I was an AD twice before at the Division II level and I want to be an AD at this level.

“I think I’ll have a chance to sit down with (Interim) Chancellor (Hank) Foley and the committee at some time and talk through that. I think that once they’ve developed a profile and know what they’re looking for, that would be an appropriate time to have that discussion.”

Q: What is your understanding of the timeline for this hire? With an interim president an interim chancellor, is it imperative to fill those positions first and allow them have some say in hiring the new AD?

Baker: “I don’t have a sense for that yet. I think some clarity will come there as I visit more with Chancellor Foley. There are two schools of thought: Certainly, one would be to fill the other two positions and allow them to have input on the AD spot. But I could also argue that there’s never been a more critical time in the history of Mizzou athletics, being in the SEC and with the facilities boom that’s going on and some of our other initiatives that we need to move forward on.

“You could make an argument that it’s really important to stabilize the leadership in the athletic department. I’m sure that our coaches would probably like that, but I’m going to leave that to the leadership at the university to decide. I will say this — I have great respect for Chancellor Foley. In my interactions with him and from what I’ve observed, I think he’s provided really, really strong leadership to the university in some difficult times and I’m confident that his leadership will shine in this. I think the fans and alumni can rest easy that he’s going to make the right decision.”

Q: Were you surprised by Mack’s decision and the timing of it, especially with what’s going on at Baylor?

Baker: “Obviously, there’s some surprise there. I left Memphis to come here when Mack hired me. We had a relationship and I knew him from our days in American Athletic Conference. We had a strong friendship there.

“I know that the last year has not been easy, but I also think that inside the walls of our department, Mack earned a lot of respect with how he handled some tough times and battled through those and led through those.

“At the end of the day, is there a little bit of surprise? Yes, but you also know that in this business anything can happen. You have to expect the unexpected. Who would’ve thought a year ago that Gary Pinkel wouldn’t be our football coach? Things happen in this business. What I told Mack is, at the end of the day, you have to do what you think is best for you and your family. I respect his decision and I know that he is doing what he thinks is right.”

Q: How impressed were you with the way first-year football coach Barry Odom handled himself at SEC Media Days, especially given one heck of a curveball that was thrown at him mere hours before his debut there?

Baker: “I was really proud and impressed. I thought he did an amazing job, the players too. I’ve been impressed with Barry at Memphis. We worked together, and I watched what he did there. I’ve watched what he’s done here, and I’ve been impressed with the leadership and the decisiveness and his vision along with just his passion and determination since he’s been here.

“I guess put succinctly, if Barry Odom was a stock, I would liquidate my assets and purchase all of it I could. I couldn’t be more bullish on his capabilities as a football coach and as a leader of young men. I was proud of the players and the way they handled it. But listen, you grow together as a family when you go through things. They certainly have seen their fair share of ups and downs the last year. They know we’ll come together as a family again, and we’ll get through this.”

Q: How have the coaches and staff on campus and reacted to the new reality? Can you give me the temperature of the athletic department?

Baker: “All of us, for one thing, hate when there’s a light that is shown on the university and athletic department that is not positive. One, we are proud of our coaches and our staff and our student-athletes. We are proud of their success.

“There’s a strong desire from the coaches to do whatever we can to continue to highlight our successes. We had our best women’s golf season that we’ve had this year. You’ve got (two-time NCAA champion and Olympic wrestler) J’den Cox.

“Unfortunately, once that spotlight’s on you, it doesn’t leave you easily. When you have some things happen like we have, all the sudden every blemish is magnified. There’s a strong desire that we do whatever we can to help people realize that Mizzou has a lot to be proud of, our fans and alumni have a lot to be proud of.

“This is a great city, a great state. We’re not perfect and we have things we need to work on to get better, but there’s some really, really good things that are happening. I think our coaches want to continue to emphasize and highlight that.

“The next thing is, I believe that they want stability. This has been tough. I’m in the process of reaching out to each of them to sit down and just let them know that I view this not as a placeholder or somebody who’s just holding down the fort for a period of time. I view this as I am the AD for an interim period of time, but during that time we are going to continue to grow and focus on advance of each of their programs.

“Whatever I can do to help them, to provide them what they need to go out and compete for championships, they have my full commitment. We are going to do that. This is a great job. There’s going to be a very lucky person who gets to be the director of athletics at Missouri, and they’re going to inherit a dedicated staff and a lot of great student-athletes. I think that’s what our coaches want to get out there.”

Q: With Rhoades’ departure and given the situation at Baylor, there’s a narrative developing that things must be really bad at Missouri right now. How attractive is this job right now?

Baker: I probably can’t answer that for everybody nationally and I certainly would do nothing to discredit Baylor. I sympathize with them and I think that’s a great institution. If you look at where their athletic program was 10, 15, 20 years ago versus where it is now, they’ve done some remarkable things there.

“What I can speak to is what I know about Mizzou and, again, I think we have an education that is as good as any public school education in the United States. I think we have a community that has as much to offer as any community that serves as a college town. Within our athletic department, we have a great tradition, a bright future and a lot of really good people that work in it.

“If you’re asking Wren Baker, I think it’s a great AD’s job and anybody would be crazy to not be interested in it. I think somebody’s going to be really, really lucky when they get to be the director of athletics at Missouri.”

Q: Obviously, there was the boycott last year, but there also was the protest with softball in the spring as well. What’s your understanding of the Ehren Earleywine situation now?

Baker: “I really need to get caught up to speed. That’s one of the things that’s very high on my list to sit down and find out where the university is in their process and when that will be computed and how we can move forward.

“It’s in everybody’s best interest to get that done as quickly as we can, while making sure that the process is done the right way and we did a thorough job. I’ve had some opportunities to visit with coach Earleywine and have a lot of respect for what he’s done here. I like him as a person. I know that he would like to see concluded. I know the players would. Certainly, the fans would and I would.

“I think Mack — I know Mack — wanted to see it resolved as quickly as possible. I don’t have an answer for what that timeline looks like, but I do want to get it done as quickly as possible.”

Q: I know the Title IX piece of this investigation is out of the athletic department’s hands, but how much input do you expect to have on whether he’s retained or not?

Baker: “I think I’ll know more about that in the coming days when I have a chance to learn a little bit more about the investigation and where it is. Once I know everything there is to know after that’s concluded, I’ll sit down with the chancellor and I think I’ll know more. That’s probably something, at this point in time, I wouldn’t want to take any liberties in saying. I’m not real sure.”

Q: Being the administrator in charge of basketball, you have a lot of familiarity with Kim Anderson’s program. If you remain the interim AD into the spring, do you feel like you have a mandate to make a decision about Anderson’s future?

Baker: “My hope is and my plan is to be the AD for an interim period. Time will tell what that is, but I want to continue to lead us. I don’t want to put anything on pause. I don’t think that’s in anybody’s best interest.

“Coach Anderson and I meet at least weekly and talk multiple times a week. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, I think he’s a really good person and a really good basketball coach. I think he walked into some circumstances that were going to be difficult and I think he’s done a good job in many, many ways in trying to right the ship.

“We’ll evaluate throughout the course of the year. He and I will talk like we do, weekly and sometimes daily, and we’ll do everything we can to help him be successful.”

Q: Would you be interested in remaining at Missouri if an athletic director was hired from outside the department?

Baker: “I really haven’t thought that far, but I love being at the University of Missouri and love Mizzou. I want to be an AD at this level and certainly hope that that is in the cards. But I’m not looking to leave, so I think I would sit down if somebody new was coming in and we would talk through what their plans are, what their desires are and we will go from there. But I really haven’t thought that far ahead.

“Right now, there so much to be done and I just want to get to work and focus on doing that. Then, no matter what the results are on the back of this thing, I’ll feel good about the value that I brought to the university.”

Q: Basketball was ramping up in November, so I know you had some other things on your plate, but how active of a role did you take in managing the situation surrounding the boycott and hiring Barry Odom?

Baker: “I was certainly talking to Mack throughout the process. He would bounce the situations off of me and I would give him my opinion. A lot of conversations were between (Rhoades) and coach Pinkel, but we would walk through that.

“Once we got to the coaching (search) part of it, I was on the committee. There were four of us. We left in the dark of night. I didn’t even tell my wife what city we were in or where we were, because we didn’t want any of it to get out. I just said, ‘Hey were going to be going to some unknown location for an unknown time and, hopefully, we return with a football coach.’ ”

Q: Was that when you were in Toledo or Denver?

Baker: “I will forever deny any knowledge.” [laughs]

This story was originally published July 15, 2016 at 1:51 PM with the headline "Q&A with interim Mizzou AD Wren Baker: ‘I’m not made to sit in neutral or tread water’."