Wren Baker Sees a 'Different Energy' Around WVU Football

Things may finally be turning for the Mountaineers.

Sep 13, 2025; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Rich Rodriguez celebrates with West Virginia University athletic director Wren Baker after defeating the Pittsburgh Panthers at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

If you are catching yourself getting too excited for the start of football season, don't worry, you have every right to be.

This 2026 team should be the first step in putting West Virginia football back on the map. Getting in the national conversation may not happen this fall, but it will be a competitive group that will have a chance every week they take the field.

WVU athletic director Wren Baker shares that same opinion, giving a brief synopsis of this year's group during an appearance on 3 Guys Before the Game.

“I’m very excited. The team has a different look, a different feel," he said. "There’s a different energy and excitement, and you can even see it in Rich."

Baker also pointed out that he noticed something different about this team when he was at one of the baseball team's regional games against Kentucky.

“I always have a routine somewhere between the middle of the 7th, middle of the 8th. I will walk down out of the radio booth, and I make my way down near our dugout, and ultimately in the 9th, I’ll finish the game at the end of the dugout. So I walk out, and I look at the hill for a second, and I see a whole bunch of our football players out there with their tarps off, going nuts on Randy’s Ridge. And so the next day I was talking to Rich, and I was like, ‘Dude,’ and he was like, ‘Oh yeah. They were calling me in the ninth inning,’ saying, ‘Coach, can you get us in?’ He’s like, ‘Hey guys, it’s the ninth inning.’ Like you could have given me a little heads up. But I say that to say I think the culture they are developing and the culture with each other and with the state…I think Rich is doing a good job with that.”

It may seem like a simple thing, but bonding off the field is such an important piece to the puzzle, and this group has done it seemingly since they were pieced together back in the winter. QB Mike Hawkins Jr. has gone out on the lake with his offensive linemen, taken them out to dinner, and the skill guys are constantly working together, getting reps in.

The level of buy-in is incredibly high right now. There aren't any egos and they fully believe in Rodriguez's vision. Now, it all comes down to execution. The 2026 season is one every Mountaineer fan should be looking forward to.