NCAA President Charlie Baker drawing on lessons learned as GOP governor in Democratic Massachusetts

BOSTON– Charlie Baker, who grew up in a Boston suburb in the 1960s, learned his first political lesson—the art of listening to opposing points of view—over dinner while his Democratic mother and Republican father discussed the issues of the day.

There was a reason they gave him two ears and one mouth, his mother would tell him.

It’s a story Baker told repeatedly as governor of Massachusetts, and one that offers lessons for his work as president of the NCAA, the nation’s largest college sports governing body that oversees some 500,000 athletes at more than 1,100 schools.

Earlier this month, the 6-foot-6 former Harvard basketball player outlined a vision for a new NCAA subdivision at the top of college sports in a letter he sent to more than 350 schools in the Division I. It was in part an attempt to address one of the most difficult problems facing the NCAA: how best to compensate college athletes.

Baker said his proposal would require schools that want to be part of the new tier to commit to paying athletes tens of thousands of dollars per year through a trust fund. He also suggested that all Division I schools offer internal name, image and likeness compensation for their athletes through group licensing and remove limits on educational benefits that schools can provide to their players.

“Some people will say we’re going too far and some people will say we’re not going far enough,” Baker said.

It’s part of a larger effort by the 67-year-old to help persuade lawmakers in Washington that the NCAA is trying to get ahead of its legal problems as they face antitrust challenges that could usher in a new reality in which some athletes They are treated as if they were paid. employees. Embracing that future is one of the reasons the NCAA hired Baker.

Linda Livingstone, president of Baylor University and chairwoman of the NCAA Board of Governors, said Baker’s history as governor and her time as former CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care demonstrated her ability to listen, learn and adapt.

“In both roles, as governor and as CEO of health care, he was in very complex environments and worked to solve some pretty difficult, seemingly intractable problems,” said Livingstone, who was part of the team that hired Baker. He said the fact that Baker did not come from academics or athletics was another advantage.

What the NCAA needs most from Baker is help finding a model that brings more stability to athletics. Livingstone said that model should provide compensation to athletes but stop short of designating them as employees.

“We’re all working with Charlie as we develop these ideas together,” he said.

For Baker, navigating potentially choppy political waters was a skill he honed as a Republican in Democratic Massachusetts, adapting to a sometimes frosty political environment by making as many allies as possible and picking his fights carefully.

It was a lesson learned in part during his first run for governor against Democratic incumbent Deval Patrick in 2010. During the race, Baker came across as too conservative and a sore loser, said Erin O’Brien, an associate professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts-Boston.

“Four years later he ran as someone who was more bipartisan, friendly, and I think that helped him,” O’Brien said. “He showed that he could learn and change course.”

Although Baker sometimes found himself at odds with some unions, he developed a public “bromance” with then-Democratic Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, a former labor lawyer and current executive director of the National Hockey League Players Association.

“He is used to a semi-hostile environment. He’s used to working with people who aren’t exactly sure about him,” O’Brien said. “As governor, he could agree with Democratic leaders with some small changes. With the NCAA, member schools will not be satisfied with the status quo. He has to be more entrepreneurial.”

Michael McCann, a law professor and director of the Sports and Entertainment Law Institute at the University of New Hampshire, said Baker seems like a good fit for a nearly impossible job.

“He has the right experience for what the NCAA needs to do, which is reorient itself,” McCann said. “He is pragmatic, based on reality and understands the importance of reaching agreements.”

During his eight years as governor, Baker faced a number of challenges, from battling snowstorms to trying to fix a faltering public transportation system and leading the state through the pandemic. He also incurred the ire of former President Donald Trump by refusing to endorse or vote for him in 2016 and 2020.

One issue that vexed Baker during his tenure was the state of the greater Boston area’s public transportation system. Baker spent billions replacing tracks, fixing signals and upgrading electrical systems, even as officials dealt with runaway trains, smoke-spewing subway cars and rush-hour trains running on weekend schedules.

At times, the system seemed beyond repair, as did the NCAA. McCann said the organization has tried to hold on to a model that no longer resonates with the public: the idea that athletes from top schools are amateur athletes, even as college sports rake in billions a year.

Baker will need to guide schools toward a new model, McCann said.

“It’s a big company and he knew it. “I don’t know if there is a right person for the job because it is very challenging,” he said. “The open question is whether it’s too late for the NCAA.”

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AP College Football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football