Statement from Athletics Director Mark Coyle regarding Tracy Claeys

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I'm not sure if bringing back Tracy Claeys is the right move or not, but I believe this past season was only the fifth in which the Gophers have won 5 or more Big Ten games since the last time we won a share of the conference title. Based on that, there's no way he was getting fired.
 

I'm disappointed. I was hoping they'd hire someone who wears his headset for what I determine to be an appropriate amount of time.
 

This team has most pieces in place to win the west. They need better receivers (come on Johnson and Howard). More consistent play from the QB, hopefully Croft or Green will fill that bill. I have my 4 season tickets and I will be back at it next year. Not sure how many more years I have left in me though if we can't win a trophy game once in a while
 

Not excited but not disappointed or mad either. Glad Coyle made the decision quickly.
 

Yeah I like the timing of this and the message from Coyle. Coach Claeys has our support and I think he is going to surprise some folks here by continuing to build upon the foundation that he and Kill have started.
 


GophersInIowa said:
Not excited but not disappointed or mad either. Glad Coyle made the decision quickly.
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I agree and it seems as though Coyle is shocked he needed to put a statement out. It's almost like the phones in the athletic office have been ringing off the hook and they forced him to put out a statement. I'll take that as good that the Coach and AD have built a relationship in which no one is panicking and they are on the same page.
 

Does this mean we aren't getting the Les Miles / Charlie Strong / Lane Kiffen combo package?
 

By the way some posters make it sound, you'd think we were 4-8 this season...

For crying out loud, we were within a few plays of winning the West. Our 4 losses were to the West and East division champions (both top 10 teams) and 2 other top 25 teams. No, I don't accept mediocrity and have the expectation of winning the West. We have the best defense of my lifetime, and the best class of true freshman on defense in my lifetime. We are a few pieces away. This isn't the time to blow things up. The only way you make a change is if you get a "can't miss" coach. My bet is Coyle made some calls and no one on that list said yes. So this was absolutely the right move.
 

John Galt said:
By the way some posters make it sound, you'd think we were 4-8 this season...

For crying out loud, we were within a few plays of winning the West. Our 4 losses were to the West and East division champions (both top 10 teams) and 2 other top 25 teams. No, I don't accept mediocrity and have the expectation of winning the West. We have the best defense of my lifetime, and the best class of true freshman on defense in my lifetime. We are a few pieces away. This isn't the time to blow things up. The only way you make a change is if you get a "can't miss" coach. My bet is Coyle made some calls and no one on that list said yes. So this was absolutely the right move.
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Interesting. I didn't realize Iowa was back in top 25. The whole season shows that we are a good program and still building.
 



Thanks Mark Coyle! I am excited the Coach Claeys and his staff will have the opportunity to build for the future! Go Gophers!
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Nah this was the only statement you needed to hear and it came last night:

Quote Originally Posted by BleedGopher
"You look around the country; Les Miles loses two games [at LSU] — he's gone," Dean Johnson said. "Charlie Strong loses to Kansas, he's packing his bags. I don't think we exactly do it that way in Minnesota. We take our time. We're thoughtful. We want to be strategic and look at the grand picture of our athletic department and our coaches, their values, but most importantly our student-athletes.
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Good luck Tracy. Hopefully you can prove me wrong and bring us out of mediocrity.
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Which team is more likely to win a conference championship first, the foolish impetuous Longhorns, or the deliberate thoughtful Gophers?
 


GhostofBronko said:
Which team is more likely to win a conference championship first, the foolish impetuous Longhorns, or the deliberate thoughtful Gophers?
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Big12 is terrible and Herman takes over a young team with highly recruited guys. They could challenge for Big12 in year #1.

MN can win the West next year provided the offense continues to improve. Wisconsin will again be hands on favorite and hopefully it comes down to final game at TCF.
 



mnsportsgeek said:
I'll take one basement recruiting class. And another. And another. And another.
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mnsportsgeek said:
Tracy is a recruiting hindrance.
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I'm really tired of this narrative. Based on what? The current ranking of a class that is incomplete and won't sign for over 2-months while ignoring the only class that has signed while TC has been HC (which was good on paper and looks even better after this year)?

At least wait until February before you start spouting off too soon about how bad our class is based on what others besides you or our coaches think before ever seeing them play.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Spoofin said:
I'm really tired of this narrative. Based on what? The current ranking of a class that is incomplete and won't sign for over 2-months while ignoring the only class that has signed while TC has been HC (which was good on paper and looks even better after this year)?

At least wait until February before you start spouting off too soon about how bad our class is based on what others besides you or our coaches think before ever seeing them play.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Also, an extension in his contact will help recruiting greatly. So see what he can pull of, recruiting-wise, if the players he's recruiting know he'll be their coach for all 4 years they are there. Also having a new athletic facility(not just pictures of the facilities to come) will make a huge difference. So I'd say, if he has those tools he hasn't had, going forward, he'll do much better on the recruiting trail.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 


Pure cowardice, but what else was I expecting.
 

John Galt said:
By the way some posters make it sound, you'd think we were 4-8 this season...

For crying out loud, we were within a few plays of winning the West.
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No we weren't. This is the type of mindset that has left the Gophers in the middle to lower tier of the B1G for decades. Losing all four impact games isn't close to winning them. Our winning percentage against T25 teams and rivals tells you exactly what this program has been, and it's disingenuous to claim we're close now to winning those games. If we want that to change, we have to speak honestly about the fact that we've been losers, and it's time for the program to create change through hard decisions.

I agree that an 8-4 record is good out of context. That said, many Gopher fans are just exasperated at this program losing at every major opportunity, and losing to your main rival for 14 years in a row. Combining that with an extension for a buffoonish coach really ruffles some fans' jimmies.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
Big12 is terrible and Herman takes over a young team with highly recruited guys. They could challenge for Big12 in year #1.

MN can win the West next year provided the offense continues to improve. Wisconsin will again be hands on favorite and hopefully it comes down to final game at TCF.
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So you agree it's silly to use Texas (or LSU) as a self-serving measuring stick for what Minnesota should or shouldn't do?
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
Good news.
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Darren, I'm usually agree with your posts. You seem to be a level headed poster that gets the big picture. However, I just can't get excited about Claeys having Coyle's support. Beating three terrible teams in Purdue, Illinois and Rutgers and two pretty average teams in Northwestern and Maryland just doesn't do it for me. You can say we were a few plays away from being 8-1 in the Big Ten but we were also one play away from losing to Rutgers.

I really hope this works out and Claeys does a great job next year and into the future. However, I'm deeply concerned about how our recruiting is looking (albeit on paper only), the shoddy offensive line play we've seen, the lack of any consistent offensive play, and game management.

Mostly, I'm sick of getting laughed at by Wisconsin. This staff is what, 0 for 6 against them? I've reached a point where I'm seriously wondering if we're going to beat them in the next 13 years. I'm sick of seeing a half empty stadium for Big Ten games. I'm tired of thinking we need to celebrate an 8-4 season in which we only beat one team that could be considered decent.

I really do want this to be the right move and to believe that Claeys will get us to where we all want to go. However, I'm still beaten down and demoralized by the last game and I just don't know if I can stomach watching Wisconsin beat us for the 14th time in a row next year.
 


This was a non-statement by Coyle, as far as I can tell. Until there's an extension in hand, I'll continue to hold out hope that we aim higher and go elsewhere, for all the reasons in Ron Johnson's post, above. This was by no means a successful season, given the pathetic schedule we played and the utter lack of success against key rivals. This was, in fact, year 6 of this regime vs. WI. And we got blown out yet again. NOT acceptable.
 


MNGoldenGophers1 said:
How many games did they play in a season from 1903-1906?
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Much more importantly how many teams did they beat that they were the underdog too? Huh, huh! :mad: If they only beat the teams they should have beat it doesn't count.
 

MNGoldenGophers1 said:
How many games did they play in a season from 1903-1906?
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Iceland12 said:
Much more importantly how many teams did they beat that they were the underdog too? Huh, huh! :mad: If they only beat the teams they should have beat it doesn't count.
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The three 8-win seasons had records of 14-0-1, 13-0 and 10-1, but 1903 included games against Minneapolis Central HS, St Paul Central HS and Minneapolis Eastern HS, plus schools like Carleton, Grinnell, Macalester, Hamline and Beloit (WI). 1904 and 1905 only had one game each against HS opponents though.
 

joshvanklomp said:
The three 8-win seasons had records of 14-0-1, 13-0 and 10-1, but 1903 included games against Minneapolis Central HS, St Paul Central HS and Minneapolis Eastern HS, plus schools like Carleton, Grinnell, Macalester, Hamline and Beloit (WI). 1904 and 1905 only had one game each against HS opponents though.
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Those Central schools were tough back then. Not sure about Eastern.....That must have been the forerunner to Marshall.
 

joshvanklomp said:
The three 8-win seasons had records of 14-0-1, 13-0 and 10-1, but 1903 included games against Minneapolis Central HS, St Paul Central HS and Minneapolis Eastern HS, plus schools like Carleton, Grinnell, Macalester, Hamline and Beloit (WI). 1904 and 1905 only had one game each against HS opponents though.
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Aside from having a more difficult schedule in 1903-1906, what's your point?
 

dpodoll68 said:
Can you hear it? The sound of hearts breaking all over GopherHole. Guess you'll all have to put up with the fat, poorly dressed, inarticulate, accent-having, soft-spoken, 8-game-winning coach for another season.
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I think you just nailed it. An 8-game winning coach. I hope I'm wrong. I hope Claeys leads the Gophers to a string of 9- and 10-win seasons. I just don't expect it. I think this year was his ceiling. This is as good as it gets. I hope you, and all other Gopher fans, can live with that.
 

Sounds like the Dreaded Vote of Confidence from this quarter
 

Pompous Elitist said:
I'm fine with it, but without a firm x year extension in hand some would say this is still a recruiting hindrance. If Coyle mortgages the house, or barn then I won't be ok with it. Need more details.
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Already mortgaged the "house" to the tune of 100million on the new athletic village. A new, energetic,articulate head coach might have helped. But then winning 10/11 might also help.
 

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