Could Claeys and Sawvel switch game day positions

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This won't help the O, but I wonder if it might be feasible for Tracey to be in the press box and Sawvel as the on-field coach. Tracey does not look comfortable on the sidelines and his true value may be strategic rather than motivational. It may be worth it for him to remaining scheming D's and let Sawvel do the rah-rah and yelling at the referees.

I realize this is unorthodox but might be worth thinking about. Fire away as to why this is a stupid idea. Other than the optics of weakening Claeys image, it seems to work for me. I am fully behind extending Claeys but will note I have never seen a head coach look more uncomfortable on the sidelines.
 


Winnipegopher said:
This won't help the O, but I wonder if it might be feasible for Tracey to be in the press box and Sawvel as the on-field coach. Tracey does not look comfortable on the sidelines and his true value may be strategic rather than motivational. It may be worth it for him to remaining scheming D's and let Sawvel do the rah-rah and yelling at the referees.

I realize this is unorthodox but might be worth thinking about. Fire away as to why this is a stupid idea. Other than the optics of weakening Claeys image, it seems to work for me. I am fully behind extending Claeys but will note I have never seen a head coach look more uncomfortable on the sidelines.
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I was really noting on Saturday how few times Claeys had his headset on during the game when they showed him on the sidelines. Even in key situations he seems to not want to know what was being discussed by the coaches which just strikes me as a little odd. I am all for trusting your coaches but most head coaches seem to at the very least want to be in the loop even if they aren't interjecting much.

Try to think of another broadcast you have watched where the head coach wasn't wearing his headset nearly all the time, I know I can't really think of any. It isn't really a shot at Claeys it just strikes me as a little odd.

I have no doubt Claeys would probably rather be up in the booth but it would be unprecedented for a head coach to do it for anything other than medical reasons.

I could be totally wrong with this prediction but my guess is that whenever his head coaching time ends in Minnesota, Claeys will slide back into a DC role and be very content to remain there. He just doesn't strike me as someone who wants the spotlight associated with being a head coach, he just wants to coach football.
 

You know what - If Coyle wants to make a change, I think I could live with Sawvel as the Head Coach. Let the entire team take on his personality. The defensive players play their butts off for him. It would be interesting to see what changes he might be able to bring to the offense - maybe take on a more "attacking" attitude.

I am NOT saying Sawvel would be my #1 choice - but I would take Sawvel if the only other choice was keeping Claeys.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Try to think of another broadcast you have watched where the head coach wasn't wearing his headset nearly all the time, I know I can't really think of any. It isn't really a shot at Claeys it just strikes me as a little odd.
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Joe Paterno, Bobby Bowden, Brady Hoke are only ones I can think of. None of which are real recent though.
 



ruppertflywheel said:
Interesting to note that Sawvel. and Sheralls make the pre-game pep talks.
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Makes sense to me. If Claeys would give the pre-game pep talk, my guess is half the team would still be asleep at the end of the first quarter.
 

We've had a good to great defense around here for several years. Tracy Claeys was in charge for most of those. The D had no problem playing hard for him. They flew around, hit hard, got turnovers, celebrated big plays, etc. And the whole time, Claeys sat quietly in the booth calling plays.

I'd say the biggest difference between our O and D has been the number of good players on each side. Claeys and his defensive staff (led by Sherels and Sawvel) recruited and coached up some very good players. The offensive staff did not. Thus the reason that two key cogs in that offensive staff are no longer at MN. Claeys knows what he's doing. Whether or not he can accomplish it is another story. Time will tell.
 

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