So what's the takeaway here about Kenny Baker? He doesn't have much experience, especially with recruiting at a high level. But it seems like he's done well at his prior coaching stops. I greatly appreciate @sith_horn's post about Baker's connection with Pete Jenkins - that's actually an important piece of information. Did Jenkins recommend Baker to Sark? I assume, based on Sark's relationship to Saban and Saban's relationship with Jenkins, that an endorsement from Jenkins would mean a lot. At least about Baker's ability to develop talent. But @closetojumping makes an excellent point about evaluating high school talent - if Baker can't evaluate high school talent, the DL room will suffer. We may pull blue chips due to NIL and the staff's recruiting chops as a whole, but if those guys are busts it won't mean shit in the fall. I'm not sure Baker has any experience evaluating and recruiting high level talent. None that I can see anyway.
So it's not an obviously bad hire, but not an obviously good one. But isn't that, in and of itself, disappointing? Why are we gambling on an unknown when we have the resources and position to pull in an "obviously good" hire? Sure, it may work out really well, but why take the chance? @SimkinsMan made a great point a few pages ago - the fact that we obviously could have gotten someone more accomplished, but went with Baker instead, is actually an endorsement of Baker. That's a compelling point. But I can't shake the feeling that the whole thing is weird, and somewhat rushed in light of how much Rod Wright was being discussed. If Baker was such a strong candidate, why wasn't he mentioned sooner?
There's certainly some justification for optimism, although not as much as I would like. I wish we had more insight into the process. I want someone from inside the program to explain why they hired this guy. I'm willing to take their explanations at face value (within reason). But until we get that, I'm siding with the people who are skeptical of the hire. It really seems like we could have picked up someone with more accomplishments and a proven track record, and our failure to do so seems like poor judgment. Even if Baker is a "hidden gem," there's no reason to take the risk on an unproven commodity.
At any rate, I've enjoyed all the discussion this has sparked. I'm not sure why people are complaining about the discussion surrounding the hire. The fuck are you here for if not to see people flip their shit?