Former Gov. Charlie Baker touched on COVID, college kids cashing in, and having a good working relationship with the Trump administration.
The current NCAA president did all that in a return trip to Massachusetts on Thursday at the Boston College Chief Executive Club’s annual luncheon with Red Sox President Sam Kennedy at the Boston Harbor Hotel.
Baker took several questions from Kennedy and attendees on the numerous issues and changes he’s overseen during his tenure as NCAA President, like Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) contracts. When asked specifically about his transition from the governor’s office to the NCAA, Baker admitted that he was referred to the NCAA’s search committee by Kennedy in the final days of his final term in office in 2022.
“And I said, send me the job description. So he sent it to me, and we gave it immediately to my wife. I thought I was getting off the train at the end of the years of the government,” Baker explained. “And that was how I ended up in interview room four and getting the job.”
Baker separately took questions from the media following the event, avoiding delivering concrete answers on Gov. Maura Healey’s job performance, if he is backing one of the three Republican gubernatorial candidates, his handling of the COVID pandemic as governor, and more.
On Gov. Healey and the 2026 race
The Herald asked Baker for his thoughts on the job performance of his successor, Gov. Maura Healey, as she seeks reelection this year. Baker either avoided directly answering any questions related to the Massachusetts political arena, falling back on his new role at the NCAA for taking him away from the Bay State.
“Given the amount of time I’ve actually spent in Massachusetts in the past couple years, so, no, I can’t answer your question,” Baker said, before being asked by the Herald if he is backing one of the three Republican candidates for governor, two of whom worked in his administration, and as the 2026 Massachusetts Republican Convention falls on Saturday.
“I know all three of them. I think they’re all really good people, and I appreciate their willingness to run. It’s a lot of work,” he said, also declining to answer questions on the state of Massachusetts’ economy as both residents and businesses continue to flee the state due to soaring energy costs and other costly state taxes and policies.
On his handling of COVID
The Herald also asked Baker if he has any regrets related to his handling of the COVID pandemic during his time as governor, which saw government-mandated closures of businesses, schools, places of worship, and saw the unemployment rate in Massachusetts soar from a record low of 2% in 2019 to as high as 7.1% during the middle of the COVID lockdowns in January 2021.
“No, I mean I think back on, to me, the most interesting thing or one of the more interesting things about that is the Commonwealth Fund, which is a pretty well-known and respected research organization, did a 50-state analysis using 65 metrics to measure how every state did in handling COVID. And we finished a very close second to Hawaii,” answered Baker.
In 2023, after Baker had already left office, the Healey administration discovered that in 2020, while Baker was in office, the state had mistakenly used $2.5 billion in federal pandemic-era relief funds to pay off unemployment benefits, something that was supposed to be covered by Massachusetts. The state has since been required to pay back $2.1 billion of that sum to the federal government.
On interactions with Trump
When it comes to cooperation with the federal government on numerous changes to college sports during his tenure as NCAA President, Baker complimented the Trump administration for hosting a college sports roundtable in March, which specifically focused on President Trump’s executive order limiting NIL deals. The roundtable saw a turnout of conference commissioners, college sports figureheads, and representatives from several colleges and universities.
“I actually think the big gathering that they put together, maybe like six weeks ago, I think that sort of enabled a lot of conversations about some of the stuff that I’ve been asked about: the ability to make rules and make them stick. That did generate some momentum in DC. There’s a lot going on down there,” said Baker, hinting at the possibility of Congress taking action on NIL deals.
“There are a lot of conversations going on about what might be part of a federal bill to deal with some of the issues that we’re dealing with that most people believe are a problem. You won’t find a lot of people in DC who don’t think 45 different state laws around how NIL should work, all of which are designed to give schools in their particular state an edge, are a good idea if you’re trying to create a playing field nationally around how competition should work,” Baker continued. “But I do think the President will put in all those people in one room and discussing this stuff was helpful.”
Prior to his tenure as governor, Baker worked in the corporate, nonprofit and government sectors. He served as executive in residence at General Catalyst Partners, as the CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, and served in a variety of roles in the Massachusetts state government, including in former Gov. Bill Weld’s administration.
