DATE: Sunday, November 2, 1997              TAG: 9710310305

SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS     PAGE: 16   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JAY LIDINGTON, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   72 lines

WILSON: FAMILY CONSIDERATIONS PROMPTED BAKER'S RESIGNATION

A message from his best friend moved Wilson head football coach Jenson Baker to quit his position two weeks ago.

Baker, two games from completing his second year and his second go-around as coach at Wilson, took notice when his friend, Western Branch assistant Sam Warren, had a heart attack and was forced to quit coaching earlier this year.

``Man, that woke me up,'' Baker said. ``That started the ball rolling. I thought Sam might me trying to tell me something.''

After weighing the amount of time he was devoting to coaching three sports - football, track and girl's basketball - and in light of the toll it was taking on his mental health and his family, Baker said it was an easy decision to make.

He resigned Oct. 20, effective at the end of the season.

``People always say you have to think about the kids,'' Baker said. ``This is one time I have to think about Jenson Lionel Gilbert Baker.''

Baker leaves the school's football and track programs, but remains as coach of its girl's basketball team, on which Baker's step-daughter, Candace, is a junior point guard.

Both job openings resulting from Baker's resignation will be advertised in local newspapers after the end of football season Nov. 7. It is uncertain if Portsmouth schools will solicit local or candidates across the state for the job.

Wilson athletic director Jack Kennedy had no comment about the state of the football program, but said the district would be well-served to look outside the area for replacements.

``I know some people interested outside of the city,'' Kennedy said. ``It will help Portsmouth to get some fresh blood in there.''

Baker came to Wilson two years ago and inherited a troubled program. The team went 1-9 in 1996, beating Lake Taylor to break a 17-game losing streak that dated from the previous season.

This year's team also has had its problems. Despite close games with Granby and Norcom, before Friday's games, the Presidents were 1-7 and 0-5 in the Eastern District. Baker's Wilson teams are 5-32.

In 1995, Baker was an assistant offensive backs coach at Norfolk State University. Before that, he was head football coach at Wilson and the former Manor high schools for three years. He also coached at Cradock High School for three years before the school closed.

In the end, the pressure of coaching a struggling team was too much for Baker. He felt he wasn't spending enough time with his wife, Natalie, and step-daughter and was neglecting his fraternity, Omega Psi Phi, and his fellow members of the Eureka Lodge of Portsmouth.

Even when his doctor told Baker to take a pre-season vacation this year, he used the occasion to take his basketball team to a camp. His football playbook went with him.

Combined with the demands of coaching winter and spring sports, Baker decided athletics were eating up too much of his time and keeping him from focusing on any single sport.

``I got really kind of stressed out, depressed, trying to win at least one game,'' he said. ``Everybody told me I was trying to do too much. Giving up football and track, it's like a burden has been lifted off me.''

But, Baker hasn't drawn a complete close to his football coaching career. He said if an offer came up from the right school with a team he felt he could help, he'd jump on it.

``Football is my first love,'' he said.

Baker will not be asked to participate in the selection process to find his successor, Kennedy said. If given a vote, Baker said he would nominate defensive coordinator Ray Hicks to take his place.

``He has the dedication I feel you need to become a head coach,'' Baker said. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JAY LIDINGTON

Wilson football coach Jenson Baker serves as timekeeper and referee

during an scrimmage this week. Baker resigned Oct. 20.

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