Mark Coyle was brought in to make tough decisions and help raise money. Good leaders are not always going to make everyone happy. They have to act in the best interests of the University and the athletic department as a whole.
He could have handled the situation much better as could have Tracy Claeys but at the end of the day, Claeys was essentially a lame duck coach from the get-go and was handed the job by default when Kill abruptly resigned in October 2015. Goetz had no other real option other than to name Claeys head coach and give him a new deal. There is a reason there was such a low buyout in his deal knowing very well a new AD may come in and want to choose his own head football coach.
This is big-time business known as Division I college athletics and it's obvious that Coyle had a plan in place since day one. He had a candidate (or two) in mind, he zeroed in on him and made him an offer. No search firm needed whatsoever. Let's be honest, Tracy Claeys was not going to be the face of the football program long-term.
And for everyone wanting Kaler and Coyle fired, the University will NEVER sustain long-term success if you are constantly having administration and coaching turnover. Just look at other administrations like Ohio State, Iowa, and Wisconsin. They invest in athletics and they generally have low turnover.
Hindsight is always 20-20, but Coyle should have just let Claeys go after the Wisconsin loss and simply said we are going to go in a new direction. That is difficult to do following an 8-4 season (before the bowl win) however, Coyle has the right to bring in his own guy as the new AD. Claeys knew from day one his job could be in jeopardy when the new AD came in.
We also need to remember this is about a cultural change, not so much about performance on the field. Kill and Claeys rebuilt this program and have a established a very solid foundation. it will be in very good hands going forward with Fleck. This program is in a very good position right now with the new facilities and modern stadium on campus.
We need an AD and head football coach on the same page and I think we finally got that with Coyle and Fleck. We didn't have that with Kill-Teague or Claeys-Coyle. Coyle did what he was brought in to do and that is to help change the image and culture of U of M athletics. I will be curious how the fundraising efforts will be impacted moving forward through 2017.
