Claeys Announces Changes To Staff - Limegrover & Zebrowski are gone per U

Donate To GopherHole
I don't know how to feel about this.
I was critical of Limey for awhile, but always kind of knew it was Kill handcuffing
his play calling. Just knew it...felt when Kill wasn't there over his shoulder, Limey
usually called a good game, with an offense that moved the ball, including vs Wis
if it weren't for the bloody fumbles..

For Claeys to make a move like this, 'continuity talk and all', he either
A) has someone in the pipeline ready to go. (Mason? I highly doubt it) or..
B) some of the hotsh*t recruits were threatening to de-commit if not for a change.

I mean, this can't be 'im a first time HC and i'm firing our long time OC and going to
start looking for one and still keep these recruits', could it?!
 

Word said:
What exactly does Claeys mean when he says he wants "one coordinator calling the plays"? Wasn't Limegrover the only one calling the plays before?
Click to expand...

Maybe Limey (as he did with Kill) kept asking Claeys, "what should I call? should I call this? tell me what to call, i don't know what to call.."
 

Gopher028 said:
B) some of the hotsh*t recruits were threatening to de-commit if not for a change.
Click to expand...

If you're giving in to ultimatums from recruits you may as well just quit. How's the locker room gonna go if you make it clear that even guys who aren't officially part of the team are in charge? I guarantee this was not it.
 

Gopher028 said:
A) has someone in the pipeline ready to go. (Mason? I highly doubt it)
Click to expand...

I'll see your 65 year old BTN analyst that hasn't been an offensive coordinator since 1985 with a 63 year old BTN analyst that hasn't been an offensive coordinator since 1990 when his Colorado Buffaloes won the national championship.

Bring on DiNardo! Equally plausible.
 

You can't make coaching changes based on one recruiting class

I'm assuming claeys has few guys in mind
 


leadpipegopher said:
We do not run pro style offense! We run read option among other things from shot gun and spread formations. Will the comparisons to MSU, Wisconsin, and Iowa stop.
Click to expand...

I'd bet at least half our running plays are blocked with a power scheme. Yes, plenty of zone read mixed in...and definitely not a "pro style." I didn't say "pro style." I said, "power running game," which we do a lot of.

That said, I'd be curious how you interpreted his comments about the offensive philosophy being tougher to implement. I honestly have no idea, but I ventured a guess.
 

salzie said:
You can't make coaching changes based on one recruiting class

I'm assuming claeys has few guys in mind
Click to expand...

Isn't this recruiting class the reason why people were demanding we hire Claeys, so we don't lose this recruiting class?
 

I don't think this was such a slam dunk as most feel. Did a shakeup need to occur? Yes. Limegrover basically said today in his Strib interview his job was too hard. I thought they'd keep him around and just make him OC, maybe hire a new QB coach or just keep Z, and hire a new OL coach with the open spot. This is pretty drastic IMO.

The grass isn't always greener. Claeys is taking a risk as he's pretty much on a one year deal with the buyout being reasonable and the AD position unknown. Hiring a new OC, regardless who it is, is going to take time to implement a system with a senior RS QB in Leidner who showed improvement this year in Limegrover's and Zebrowski's system.

The good news is we have more potential on offense than we've had in a long time. Brooks, Smith, Still, Lingen, Moore, and a bunch of promising young players like Gentry, Gant, Holland, Oseland, Connelly, etc.
 

I suspect he has a couple of guys in mind. I miss the Mason offenses. All that was needed to go with
it was at least a decent defense. If they could run something along those lines, and hire an OC that
could do it, I'd be thrilled.

I miss having All-American linemen and TE's almost every season, and numerous All-Big 10's as well.
Frankly, if he announced Mitch Browning would be the OC and Gordie Shaw would be the O-line coach,
that would be okay by me.

However, he likely has his own plans.
 



GO4INLALALAND said:
Isn't this recruiting class the reason why people were demanding we hire Claeys, so we don't lose this recruiting class?
Click to expand...


Yes. My statement remains

I also think Claeys was right choice
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Well, we were average the year before as well. We've been a middle of the road Big 10 offense the last two seasons.

Getting plays to the QB in time? This happens to every team. It seems like something that shouldn't happen, but this happens in college and the NFL for just about every team.

The Michigan fiasco was on Limey and Claeyes. If Claeys was not plugged into that play call, it's his fault for not being hands-on.

I'm not a big Limey fan, I just think OC is the easiest person to second guess.
Click to expand...

By what measure were we average in 2013? We have been far below average nationally and in the Big Ten except for 2014, an average year. Total, scoring, S&P+. The defense and special teams were the largest factors allowing the team to win in 2013 and 2014.

Unnecessary timeouts are not a facet of every coaching organization. Consistently burning timeouts, sometimes even on possession changes or coming out of tv breaks is not the norm in college or the NFL.

Claeyes shouldn't have to hold Limeys hand and tell him not to run a 10 second shift and motion play. One could say he shouldn't have trusted him with the responsibility though, as the buck stops with Claeyes. He had been on the job 3 days at that point.

Sometimes it really is the coaching and not the Jimmies and Joes.
 

Hollinsanity said:
I wonder if the Michigan fiasco influenced Claey's decision to make a change at all. Obviously as the Head Coach Claeys needed to be more aware of the time/situation, but it was his first game in forever with any offensive responsibility. I blame Limegrover for the mismanagement, and perhaps Claeys did too.
Click to expand...

That play kind of set a negative tone, didn't it... cost them a bowl game.
Yet, the game Limey called vs Iowa was hard to over look..
 

Claeys clearly has an offensive philosophy he believes will work at Minnesota. Taking his shot the way he wants. Would assume the recruiting and development of the QB position also played a part.
 



scools12 said:
Claeys clearly has an offensive philosophy he believes will work at Minnesota. Taking his shot the way he wants. Would assume the recruiting and development of the QB position also played a part.
Click to expand...

My biggest problem with the Claeys hire was I haven't been a huge fan aesthetically of the Offensive game plan. Hopefully this changes things. Adds some intrigue to the offseason too at least.
 

I don't think the offense/Leidner improved as much as some other posters do post-Kill. The Ohio State game was 21-0 through 3 quarters and most of Mitch's success in that game came after that point. The offense/Leidner did pretty well against Iowa, but the first four drives of the second half were three 3 and outs and one nice touchdown drive. The offense/Leidner was pretty horrific for the second half of the Illinois game and the the entire Wisconsin game. So post Kill, I felt like we had reasons to be encouraged by the offensive performance against Michigan and Iowa, but that the offensive was largely ineffective for long stretches of the other 3 games. I think it's also important to remember the number of potential int's Mitch threw against Michigan, Ohio State, and Illinois that were dropped. Unfortunately, Wisconsin held on to all, but one of the balls they had a great chance to pick yesterday.

One thing that may or may not be a factor in all of this is Claeys decision to take the ball first each week. I believe Minnesota failed to score on their first drive each time. Given that Claeys has notoriously had trouble stopping other teams on their first drive and then made adjustments, it might have been particularly glaring to him that Limegrover could not give opposing defenses similar trouble.
 

TC gets one shot to be a HC. He should do it his way and it seems he is.
 

Vandy said:
I'm no expert on the topic, but what do you all think about waiting on this decision until after signing day, on the chance that some of our recruits are attached to the "full" staff that was involved in their recruitment? Is this a factor?
Click to expand...
I like this decision as it is. It says to offensive recruits, skill players in specific, that the clusterf#ck offense they saw is gone. It says that we acknowledge we need to score more points to win more games, skilled position players are valuable to this team and those skills will be used to their fullest potential.

IMHO, being inside Michigan's five yard line with twenty five seconds to in the game and not getting three plays run falls squarely on the OC. I think many schools will point this out to Limegrover as he repeatedly gets turned down for positions. No team wants either a HC or OC who makes such a wasteful decision to call such a complicated clock wasting play with a game on the line.



Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 

Interesting. Claeys is single. I wonder how that plays out. Anyone know how many D1 HC's are single? Who's the First Lady of Gopher Football and recruiting?




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

EG#9 said:
I don't think the offense/Leidner improved as much as some other posters do post-Kill. The Ohio State game was 21-0 through 3 quarters and most of Mitch's success in that game came after that point. The offense/Leidner did pretty well against Iowa, but the first four drives of the second half were three 3 and outs and one nice touchdown drive. The offense/Leidner was pretty horrific for the second half of the Illinois game and the the entire Wisconsin game. So post Kill, I felt like we had reasons to be encouraged by the offensive performance against Michigan and Iowa, but that the offensive was largely ineffective for long stretches of the other 3 games. I think it's also important to remember the number of potential int's Mitch threw against Michigan, Ohio State, and Illinois that were dropped. Unfortunately, Wisconsin held on to all, but one of the balls they had a great chance to pick yesterday.

One thing that may or may not be a factor in all of this is Claeys decision to take the ball first each week. I believe Minnesota failed to score on their first drive each time. Given that Claeys has notoriously had trouble stopping other teams on their first drive and then made adjustments, it might have been particularly glaring to him that Limegrover could not give opposing defenses similar trouble.
Click to expand...

We also seem to get most of our big plays on gimmick type plays. Great when they work, but IMO, not a sustainable offensive philosophy especially when the run was ineffective.
 

This has lifted my depression from yesterday. Didn't think he had the stones to do it. I imagine Jerry is miffed.
 


MaxyJR1 said:
Interesting. Claeys is single. I wonder how that plays out. Anyone know how many D1 HC's are single? Who's the First Lady of Gopher Football and recruiting?




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

What would that possibly have to do with this?
 



scher215 said:
What would that possibly have to do with this?
Click to expand...

It conflicts with the "family atmosphere" message they try to sell. Recruits and players mom's like to have a mom around their sons. There was an article written about this a couple years ago.
 

beavergopher said:
It conflicts with the "family atmosphere" message they try to sell. Recruits and players mom's like to have a mom around their sons. There was an article written about this a couple years ago.
Click to expand...
Single parent family now
 

justthefacts said:
If you're giving in to ultimatums from recruits you may as well just quit. How's the locker room gonna go if you make it clear that even guys who aren't officially part of the team are in charge? I guarantee this was not it.
Click to expand...
I think it is the perfect recruiting message, especially if there are families from whom you want to recruit.

If you haved signed Eddie Smith, who is a four star recruit at DB and he has a 15 year old potential five star recruit brother named Emmitt Smith, but Emmitt thinks your offense will just waste his skills, then yes you do consider this. You consider this especially if you hear it from more than one family of recruits.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 

beavergopher said:
It conflicts with the "family atmosphere" message they try to sell. Recruits and players mom's like to have a mom around their sons. There was an article written about this a couple years ago.
Click to expand...

There are good escorts that can be used for that role.
 


Well this sure blows a hole in the "Claeys will keep a successful staff together that has been so, so successful under coach Kill and that Claeys is leading a tight-knit group of coaches who work so well together"

This is not good. If the whole reason of keeping Claeys was continuity because "the staff works so well together" then why not do a national search?

Claeys is no Mark Dantonio.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom