West Virginia Athletic Director Wren Baker prepares for mayonnaise dump

Unlike West Virginia University Head Football Coach Neal Brown, the school’s Athletic Director Wren Baker doesn’t have any qualms with mayonnaise.

“I’m not like Coach Brown -- you see, Coach Brown, he really hates mayonnaise, like, he really hates mayonnaise,” Baker said during a December press conference.

Baker does have a food item of choice that he finds repulsive however.

“My food like that is pickles,” he said. “Like, if this were a pickle juice challenge, there’s no way. I’d be headed to some country without extradition.”

Luckily for Baker, there is no pickle juice in his future. But there will be a sizable chunk of mayonnaise on the way.

Last December, during the run-up to WVU football’s Duke’s Mayo Bowl appearance, Baker and the West Virginia-focused NIL collective Country Roads Trust agreed to a deal. If the Trust could reach 1,500 members, Baker would take part in the same mayonnaise dump that the Duke’s Mayo Bowl gives to the winning team’s coach. Brown ended up earning his bath following a 30-10 bowl win over UNC.

Now, the Country Roads Trust is partnering with Duke’s Mayo and the Charlotte Sport Foundation -- which runs the Duke’s Mayo Bowl -- to sponsor Wren Baker’s mayo bath. All proceeds from the event are being donated to the WVU Children’s Hospital, with WVU Medicine Children’s chief administrative officer Amy Bush agreeing to take part in the dump as well. For every $500 raised a jar of Duke's mayonnaise will be added to the coolers to be dumped on Baker and Bush.

At this point, the fundraiser has generated $3,303 towards its cause. Donations will be accepted leading up to the event, and more information on donating can be found at this link. The mayo dump is scheduled to take place next Wednesday, March 20th, at 5:30 pm. For those interested in watching, the event will be televised via the local network of Nexstar news stations. 

It will be available on WTRF of Wheeling, WOWK of Charleston, WBOY of Clarksburg, WVNS of Beckley, and WDVM of Hagerstown.

“I do think it's exciting, I just think I probably underestimated how much West Virginians love their Mountaineers,” Baker said.