INTEL Addressing the Blake Baker & Tulane Rumors
- The Quad
- 18 Replies
I wanted to take a few minutes and address a lot of the stuff floating around on social media and things being reported by other outlets in regard to Blake Baker possibly leaving LSU to become Tulane’s head coach. As most of you probably remember we were well out in front of the Blake Baker and LSU buzz when we reported that major changes were coming to the defensive coaching staff more than a month before those changes occurred. At the same time, we reported sweeping changes were coming, others were reporting House would be retained. We mentioned Blake Baker as a name to watch in November of 2023, before Matt House was even let go.
You may even remember that I mentioned during that time that Baker and BK were talking on a regular basis, and it wasn’t just to catch up. Another thing mentioned during that report was Blake Baker’s desire to be a head coach and that if Tulane offered him the position, he would 100% take it, in fact he was positioning himself for the position and trying to throw his name in the mix. Had Tulane offered him, we wouldn’t even be talking about this right now because Baker would have never made it to LSU.
Fact is, Blake Baker is a rising name in the coaching ranks and is a name that’s starting to pop up on a lot of head coaching searches around the country. Last year he was brought up very early in discussions during Houston’s search for their next head coach, but Baker was eliminated pretty early in the process before UH identified Willie Fritz as their top target. Baker was also on Tulane’s radar but wasn’t the top candidate after Willie Fritz left for Houston. But sources told me at that time that if he were offered it’s the job he wanted and would have taken it.
It’s also worth noting that Tulane still has a head coach and until they don’t this is a non-issue. I’ve talked previously about how agents like to float stuff to certain members of the media as factual information and to be honest, a lot of times it couldn’t be any further from the facts. Agents will do anything in their power to boost the image of their clients, including spreading misleading information. It happens all the time. So just be leery of that pertaining to this situation. Because that could happen from different angles, whether it’s Baker’s representatives or Jon Summerall’s reps.
I’ll give you guys an example of a real-world situation I was directly involved in that probably resonates a little with the LSU fan base. You might recall back in November of 2016. Then Houston head coach Tom Herman was the hot name on the market and both LSU and Texas were trying to pursue him. At the time I was covering Houston and of course they were trying to retain him. Well Tom Herman wanted the Texas job; it was his No.1 job and “The Job” that he wanted. Well, the decision makers in Austin were dragging their feet on moving on from Charlie Strong and making Tom Herman an offer, so Herman’s agent purposely leaked information about Tom Herman agreeing to become LSU’s next head coach. If memory serves me correct, on Thanksgiving night. It came out of nowhere, because at that time everything I was hearing was pointing to Texas, problem was they hadn’t fired Charlie Strong yet. So, Herman’s agent leaked the “news” and it forced Texas to scramble and it forced their hand because if he was the guy they really wanted they had to move fast. Well long story short they did, and I can’t remember exactly how fast it happened after that news was leaked but Texas fired Charlie Strong and reached agreement with Herman before anything with LSU became official and it happened pretty quickly.
So yes, a lot of rumors and stuff like that are planted by agents. I’ve been involved with it on multiple occasions and ever since that Tom Herman fiasco, I’m very hesitant to trust any intel I get from the agent side of things.
With all that said. We know that unless things have changed recently Blake Baker wants to be a head coach. We know that last year he wanted to return home to the state of Louisiana to be closer to family. We also know that he played for Tulane and as of last year if he was offered the job, he would have 100% taken it. I will continue to dig on that, but I’m inclined to believe those things are all likely still true. If he wants to be a head coach and stay in Louisiana Tulane would absolutely be an ideal landing spot for Baker.
But for now, until that job opens up it's a non-issue. Sure, Jon Summerall has Tulane doing good things. But Tulane was already doing good things under Willie Fritz. But if Sumerall moves on, I would expect Blake Baker to be a hot name for that opening. There are other openings that may ultimately identify Baker as a primary target as well, it's a good problem to have if you're LSU because that means you made the right hire last year. But it's very early in the coaching carousel and these things can and often do change on a daily basis.
As of now Tulane has a head coach and they've still got a lot to play for. It would take Jon Summerall leaving and moving on to another job. I'm not going to say it can't happen, but all of the rumors out there right now are likely either speculation or agent leaks to try and get the most for their clients.
We will continue to monitor the situation and keep you informed with the latest we're hearing as we hear it.
You may even remember that I mentioned during that time that Baker and BK were talking on a regular basis, and it wasn’t just to catch up. Another thing mentioned during that report was Blake Baker’s desire to be a head coach and that if Tulane offered him the position, he would 100% take it, in fact he was positioning himself for the position and trying to throw his name in the mix. Had Tulane offered him, we wouldn’t even be talking about this right now because Baker would have never made it to LSU.
Fact is, Blake Baker is a rising name in the coaching ranks and is a name that’s starting to pop up on a lot of head coaching searches around the country. Last year he was brought up very early in discussions during Houston’s search for their next head coach, but Baker was eliminated pretty early in the process before UH identified Willie Fritz as their top target. Baker was also on Tulane’s radar but wasn’t the top candidate after Willie Fritz left for Houston. But sources told me at that time that if he were offered it’s the job he wanted and would have taken it.
It’s also worth noting that Tulane still has a head coach and until they don’t this is a non-issue. I’ve talked previously about how agents like to float stuff to certain members of the media as factual information and to be honest, a lot of times it couldn’t be any further from the facts. Agents will do anything in their power to boost the image of their clients, including spreading misleading information. It happens all the time. So just be leery of that pertaining to this situation. Because that could happen from different angles, whether it’s Baker’s representatives or Jon Summerall’s reps.
I’ll give you guys an example of a real-world situation I was directly involved in that probably resonates a little with the LSU fan base. You might recall back in November of 2016. Then Houston head coach Tom Herman was the hot name on the market and both LSU and Texas were trying to pursue him. At the time I was covering Houston and of course they were trying to retain him. Well Tom Herman wanted the Texas job; it was his No.1 job and “The Job” that he wanted. Well, the decision makers in Austin were dragging their feet on moving on from Charlie Strong and making Tom Herman an offer, so Herman’s agent purposely leaked information about Tom Herman agreeing to become LSU’s next head coach. If memory serves me correct, on Thanksgiving night. It came out of nowhere, because at that time everything I was hearing was pointing to Texas, problem was they hadn’t fired Charlie Strong yet. So, Herman’s agent leaked the “news” and it forced Texas to scramble and it forced their hand because if he was the guy they really wanted they had to move fast. Well long story short they did, and I can’t remember exactly how fast it happened after that news was leaked but Texas fired Charlie Strong and reached agreement with Herman before anything with LSU became official and it happened pretty quickly.
So yes, a lot of rumors and stuff like that are planted by agents. I’ve been involved with it on multiple occasions and ever since that Tom Herman fiasco, I’m very hesitant to trust any intel I get from the agent side of things.
With all that said. We know that unless things have changed recently Blake Baker wants to be a head coach. We know that last year he wanted to return home to the state of Louisiana to be closer to family. We also know that he played for Tulane and as of last year if he was offered the job, he would have 100% taken it. I will continue to dig on that, but I’m inclined to believe those things are all likely still true. If he wants to be a head coach and stay in Louisiana Tulane would absolutely be an ideal landing spot for Baker.
But for now, until that job opens up it's a non-issue. Sure, Jon Summerall has Tulane doing good things. But Tulane was already doing good things under Willie Fritz. But if Sumerall moves on, I would expect Blake Baker to be a hot name for that opening. There are other openings that may ultimately identify Baker as a primary target as well, it's a good problem to have if you're LSU because that means you made the right hire last year. But it's very early in the coaching carousel and these things can and often do change on a daily basis.
As of now Tulane has a head coach and they've still got a lot to play for. It would take Jon Summerall leaving and moving on to another job. I'm not going to say it can't happen, but all of the rumors out there right now are likely either speculation or agent leaks to try and get the most for their clients.
We will continue to monitor the situation and keep you informed with the latest we're hearing as we hear it.
