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

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Great Plains Gopher said:
Limey was coming into his own after the coaching change, opening things up. I'm surprised, after all the years they've been together, that TC would drop him - although we don't know the dynamics involved. The single worst offensive call was made by TC himself - the QB sneak against Michigan, which the Wolves' DC siganalled he expected.
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The bolded is probably the key. A lot of people have characterized the offensive game planning and play calling as "stubborn," and it wouldn't surprise me if that reflects the personality of the OC. It may be that Limegrover is just a difficult person to manage. Kill chose to make the best of it; Claeys is not.
 

3399 said:
Look for him to promote someone already on the staff.
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Extremely doubtful. No one currently on staff is qualified to be an OC, and he wouldn't fire Limegrover just to promote someone who's already worked for Limegrover for years in the same offensive philosophy. The whole point is to shake things up and get better, not get the same thing but worse.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
How do you feel about Claeys move, Dpo?
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I'm surprised that he actually did it, given the track record between the two (Zebrowski hasn't been with them that long, and wasn't good anyway) and the fact that he's basically coaching for his life every game from here on out, but I applaud him for having the conviction to do so. As with any job change, I want to see who he hires as Limegrover's replacement before I can properly assess the move. If he did it just to do it, it's beyond stupid. If he has someone (good and qualified) lined up, I'm fully on board.
 

Maybe some folks have an inside track on this, but I'm not sure why people are surprised by this and cite the "loyalty between Claeys and Limegrover." Loyalty between Kill and Claeys, yes. Loyalty between Kill and Limegrover, yes. But for all we know, Claeys may have been wishing for three years Limegrover was outta here. Claeys has put together some pretty stout and competitive defenses while he was here. It had to be frustrating to do your part on your side of the ball and then watch the offense piddle it all down their leg. Why do we think there was this super strong loyalty between the two coordinators? If I was Claeys, I'd be itching for the chance to put together a better offense.
 


Section209 said:
Maybe some folks have an inside track on this, but I'm not sure why people are surprised by this and cite the "loyalty between Claeys and Limegrover." Loyalty between Kill and Claeys, yes. Loyalty between Kill and Limegrover, yes. But for all we know, Claeys may have been wishing for three years Limegrover was outta here. Claeys has put together some pretty stout and competitive defenses while he was here. It had to be frustrating to do your part on your side of the ball and then watch the offense piddle it all down their leg. Why do we think there was this super strong loyalty between the two coordinators? If I was Claeys, I'd be itching for the chance to put together a better offense.
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RolGnav said:
For those who wonder what Kill is feeling after this, remember that Kill has always prefered Claeys over Limegrover. So I am sure Claeys already told Kill of his intentions, I am also sure Kill said that it was his team and up to him.

Now about what Claeys did... We all knew it had to happen, we just didn't know if it could happen because of their loyalty to each other. As I said in the past, Kill's loyalty would be his undoing, and I am sure that if Kill was still head coach, that Limegrover would still be here. I am glad Claeys can see what issues they have on offense. As it's been stated many times, the plays were probably not designed by Limegrover, nor was he very comfortable being the play caller (as he stated in his interview). We all could see that he was not very imaginative. Add that to OL philosophy and also not being able to utilize the athletes we have on offense... it had to have been very hard for Claeys to do this to Limegrover, but this is something he had to do.

I know Limegrover is a good guy, and I know he worked as hard as he could, but he just wasn't cut out to be an OC. I'm sure Kill pushed him into that role, and of course he isn't going to say no to a 500k salary. It's always seemed like he was over matched against other B10 coaches. Even in practice, the Defense usually had the advantage over the Offense. You also have to wonder about why we seem to get good OL recruits and they just don't seem to pan out. I do hope Limegrover finds a good job somewhere.

In Claeys we trust... for a few more years.
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I think changes with Limegrover were going to happen even if Kill was the coach. The offense was going to cost Kill his job and I bet he had already made arrangements for Limegrover to move down to O-line coach (his real love). Going along those lines, Kill, Mason and TC could already have a replacement lined up. With TC as the head coach there is less of an obligation to keep Limegrover on staff and it is best to allow the new OC to pick his own O-line coach.


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My guess is Kill and Claeys had this conversation in Oct. Both agreed to take this next step. tap the OC from Mizzou...those guys are swingin in da breeze.
 




GopherWeatherGuy said:
Right. So we should just be happy with being mediocre or bad? Iowa went 12
8>5, 5>2 nothing backwards about that. I agree that we should have a team that's better than 5-4. There's no one on the schedule next year where I say to myself we have no shot, 6-3 and 7-2 are certainly do able, but 5-4 in conference will not get Claeys fired. 3-6 or worst and that will be a legitimate conversation, but not a coach who has winning record in conference.
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GopherWeatherGuy said:
I was optimistic coming into the season. I expected the Gophers to compete for and possibly win the west. In Gopher fashion they went 5-7, and have rarely been competitive my entire life. All I want is for the Gophers to approach an Iowa or Wisconsin level. I'm not asking a lot. As I mentioned Iowa just went 12-0, with a similar schedule to what the Gophers will play next year. So I'm supposed to be happy with 8-4 next year?
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The question isn't what you should or would be happy with. That's entirely up to you.

You said that Claeys would be in hot water if he went 8-4 next season. He absolutely won't be in hot water if he goes 8-4 next year.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
The question isn't what you should or would be happy with. That's entirely up to you.

You said that Claeys would be in hot water if he went 8-4 next season. He absolutely won't be in hot water if he goes 8-4 next year.
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You're right. Gees, not after they went 5-7 this year. Besides, that would mean they would have earned a good Bowl Game and a shot at going 9-4. How could that possibly be a "fireable" season?
 

Dan O'Brien named Assistant Coach

Think this was hinted at elsewhere. Guess Sid doesn't get his hand-picked A.D.

http://www.startribune.com/o-brien-...-for-defensive-backs-special-teams/358801651/

Tracy Claeys filled a defensive coach opening Monday by getting longtime Gophers athletics administrator Dan O’Brien to return to his roots.

O’Brien, whom many considered a candidate for the school’s athletics director job, is still a coach at heart. Claeys tabbed him to be assistant defensive backs coach, where he will work alongside Jay Sawvel, who is the leading candidate to become defensive coordinator...

O’Brien will be filling the defensive opening created when Claeys got promoted from defensive coordinator to head coach after Jerry Kill’s retirement. He also will also work with special teams and serve as assistant to the head coach.

“I tried to get Dan to join the coaching staff the last time we had an opening, but the timing was not right for him and his family,” Claeys said in a press release. “Dan has been a head coach, a coordinator and an assistant coach at the collegiate and high school level and nobody knows our state and Minnesota football better than him.
 

If Claeys goes 8-4 next year he will get an extension.
 

Iceland12 said:
You're right. Gees, not after they went 5-7 this year. Besides, that would mean they would have earned a good Bowl Game and a shot at going 9-4. How could that possibly be a "fireable" season?
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Yeah don't think it's a fireable season, but you could argue this year's team goes 8-4 with next year's schedule, meaning an 8-4 season next year may not necessarily mean progress. I'd be happy with it, but I could see that argument being made.
 

Tubby Smith with 21-13 and made it to the 3rd round of the NCAA and was fired. 8-4 is definitely a fireable season if its headed the wrong direction, especially in this town.
 

Iceland12 said:
Think this was hinted at elsewhere. Guess Sid doesn't get his hand-picked A.D.

http://www.startribune.com/o-brien-...-for-defensive-backs-special-teams/358801651/

Tracy Claeys filled a defensive coach opening Monday by getting longtime Gophers athletics administrator Dan O’Brien to return to his roots.

O’Brien, whom many considered a candidate for the school’s athletics director job, is still a coach at heart. Claeys tabbed him to be assistant defensive backs coach, where he will work alongside Jay Sawvel, who is the leading candidate to become defensive coordinator...

O’Brien will be filling the defensive opening created when Claeys got promoted from defensive coordinator to head coach after Jerry Kill’s retirement. He also will also work with special teams and serve as assistant to the head coach.

“I tried to get Dan to join the coaching staff the last time we had an opening, but the timing was not right for him and his family,” Claeys said in a press release. “Dan has been a head coach, a coordinator and an assistant coach at the collegiate and high school level and nobody knows our state and Minnesota football better than him.
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Dwight Schrute would be so proud.
 

So we had a OC that wanted to be a OL coach and a QB coach that wants to be HC at any level. When interviewed QB Coach says that he can't imagine a major change to the offense and the OC says that he doesn't think the Gophers can play the same offense as the likes of WI and IA.

Thank you Coach Claeys for fixing the problem going forward.
 

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Winasota Gopher said:
Tubby Smith with 21-13 and made it to the 3rd round of the NCAA and was fired. 8-4 is definitely a fireable season if its headed the wrong direction, especially in this town.
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Tubby Smith in year six vs. Tracy Claeys in year one plus and at minimum 5-4 BT record next year. Yep, not the same.

New AD could certainly blow it up next year, but it wouldn't be justified...unlike the Tubby situation.
 

Winasota Gopher said:
Tubby Smith with 21-13 and made it to the 3rd round of the NCAA and was fired. 8-4 is definitely a fireable season if its headed the wrong direction, especially in this town.
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Please don't call the round of 32 the third round. Even the NCAA realized what a farce that was.*

*Not making a comment on Tubby either way.
 

Winasota Gopher said:
Tubby Smith with 21-13 and made it to the 3rd round of the NCAA and was fired. 8-4 is definitely a fireable season if its headed the wrong direction, especially in this town.
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Going 8-4 (5-4 in the Big 10) is a better season than Tubby's 21-13 season. That year we were 8-10 in the Big 10. Tubby never went over .500 in the Big 10, it's a big difference.

If Claeys goes 8-4 next season, he gets an extension, not fired.
 

Winasota Gopher said:
Tubby Smith with 21-13 and made it to the 3rd round of the NCAA and was fired. 8-4 is definitely a fireable season if its headed the wrong direction, especially in this town.
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Ya, perfect analogy. Tubby didn't exactly complete his first season. And, by the way, how in the heck would 8-4 be headed in the wrong direction after this season?
 

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_29183499/gophers-coach-tracy-claeys-says-he-wont-blow

"Had it been structured one guy in charge and doing all that, I could've lived with it, I really could have," Claeys said.

Dual play callers suited retired coach Jerry Kill, who spent all of his time with the offense before retiring Oct. 28 to address his epilepsy. Claeys, the former defensive coordinator, will split his time with the offense and defense.

"That was structured where coach (Kill) was the buffer in between the two play-callers," Claeys said. "I don't want to be on the offensive side of the ball all the time."

Claeys, who pondered the staff shakeup for about two weeks, wants the next offensive coordinator to be open to his suggestions but run the offense during games.

"We just need one boss on the offensive side of the ball," Claeys said...

Claeys, now leaving Dinkytown this week for the recruiting trail, said he will meet with offensive coordinator candidates in person. Those meetings could take place at the American Football Coaches Association convention in San Antonio, Texas, Jan.
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10-13.

"We're not going to make a mistake and do it too quick," Clayes said. The convention, he added, is "the best time to actually get a visit with people and get some face-to-face and do some things. It could be sooner than that, I guess, but if we're going to err, we're going to err on the side of being a little slow and make sure we have the right person."

Big Ten peers Maryland and Rutgers are looking for new head coaches, and Penn State and Purdue have offensive coordinator openings.

Claeys said he'd like his offensive coordinator to be the quarterbacks coach but is open to his coaching another position group outside of offensive line. That job will be held by one person with no extra responsibilities.

"In today's football, with the slanting and blitzing and the different fronts you see, I think it's too hard to be the offensive coordinator and coach the offensive line," Claeys said. "I think the offensive line coach should be in the trenches with those guys during the game and ... not worry about calling the plays." ...

Claeys said he is comfortable with 75 to 80 percent of the offensive playbook but isn't ready to divulge what will change.

"I'm not going to do that," he said. "One of the reasons is we've had enough tough luck with opening ballgames playing (against) new coordinators. (Now) we finally get to play in a ballgame and have a little bit of mystery there."

Claeys said he will be looking for hires who fit in with a connected staff. The Gophers were one of the most cohesive staffs in the country before Kill, Limegrover and Zebrowski left.

"We've always been close and been friends," Claeys said. "We're going to pick somebody who fits in and is part of the family. It's just not going to be based on Xs and Os."
 


Winasota Gopher said:
Tubby Smith with 21
It was the 8-10 mark in conference play that got him canned. Tubby wins a game or two more in conference that year he would've been back the following season. Not to mention we would have to win at least five big ten games next year, guaranteeing a winning in conference record there's no way he gets canned.
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