ESPN's Bennett on Claeys: Whom could the Gophers reasonably hire who would be better?

[BleedGopher]

per his Q&A:

Jeff H. emails: With fan apathy and thousands of empty seats at TCF Bank Stadium, how many games do you think Tracy Claeys needs to win to keep his job? Will Minnesota ever get serious about being in the Big 10 and go after a coach such as Les Miles, or continue to settle for 6-6 and call it a success?

Brian Bennett: Sheesh, the Golden Gophers lose one overtime game at Penn State and then this? Look, Claeys isn't on the most solid ground in the Twin Cities. Minnesota has a new athletic director, and it wouldn't cost much to buy out Claeys' contract. If things turn south on this season, that bears watching.

But ask yourself this: whom could the Gophers reasonably hire who would be better? Especially since the coaching carousel could be incredibly competitive this offseason with several high-profile openings. Don't forget what happened when the program was eager to shove aside Glen Mason. Claeys is part of a good foundation that Jerry Kill built, and I still think this year's team can do some good things. Beating Iowa would be a great start.

http://www.espn.com/blog/bigten/pos...enn-state-next-three-years-whats-up-with-iowa

Go Gophers!!

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

Don't blame me, I wanted Saban.

But seriously if for some reason they got rid of Claeys it would be like a lower level LSU situation where when they go shopping they'd be looking for a guy just like the guy they just fired.

 

[gophmeister]

If Maryland, Illinois and Rutgers can get DJ Durkin, Lovie Smith and Chris Ash we can find someone as close to as good with the right contract. Claeys is the lowest paid coach in the conference by almost a cool million. The West is so much more wide open than the east and in 2 year we'll have as good or better facilities top to bottom than most teams in the conference. There are lot of reasons to take this job now than when Kill accepted it 6 years ago. I haven't given up on Claeys yet, but if it isn't looking like it's going to work out he should go. This is the same argument we've heard time and time again and someone has always taken the job.

 

[howeda7]

If Maryland, Illinois and Rutgers can get DJ Durkin, Lovie Smith and Chris Ash we can find someone as close to as good with the right contract. Claeys is the lowest paid coach in the conference by almost a cool million. The West is so much more wide open than the east and in 2 year we'll have as good or better facilities top to bottom than most teams in the conference. There are lot of reasons to take this job now than when Kill accepted it 6 years ago. I haven't given up on Claeys yet, but if it isn't looking like it's going to work out he should go. This is the same argument we've heard time and time again and someone has always taken the job.

Lovie Smith and Chris Ash are home run hires? OK, by that standard Marc Trestman is available. I'd rather have Claeys any day.

 

[WorkingMyTailOff]

If Maryland, Illinois and Rutgers can get DJ Durkin, Lovie Smith and Chris Ash we can find someone as close to as good with the right contract. Claeys is the lowest paid coach in the conference by almost a cool million. The West is so much more wide open than the east and in 2 year we'll have as good or better facilities top to bottom than most teams in the conference. There are lot of reasons to take this job now than when Kill accepted it 6 years ago. I haven't given up on Claeys yet, but if it isn't looking like it's going to work out he should go. This is the same argument we've heard time and time again and someone has always taken the job.

I agree with some of your points, but do we know that Durkin, Smith, and Ash are going to be better than TC?

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

If Maryland, Illinois and Rutgers can get DJ Durkin, Lovie Smith and Chris Ash we can find someone as close to as good with the right contract. Claeys is the lowest paid coach in the conference by almost a cool million. The West is so much more wide open than the east and in 2 year we'll have as good or better facilities top to bottom than most teams in the conference. There are lot of reasons to take this job now than when Kill accepted it 6 years ago. I haven't given up on Claeys yet, but if it isn't looking like it's going to work out he should go. This is the same argument we've heard time and time again and someone has always taken the job.

I'm not sure those guys are necessarily better....

 

[Zeppelin Gopher]

If Maryland, Illinois and Rutgers can get DJ Durkin, Lovie Smith and Chris Ash we can find someone as close to as good with the right contract. Claeys is the lowest paid coach in the conference by almost a cool million. The West is so much more wide open than the east and in 2 year we'll have as good or better facilities top to bottom than most teams in the conference. There are lot of reasons to take this job now than when Kill accepted it 6 years ago. I haven't given up on Claeys yet, but if it isn't looking like it's going to work out he should go. This is the same argument we've heard time and time again and someone has always taken the job.

Haha, what? Those three coaches you mentioned have proven, precisely, jack ****. Bizarre post.

 

[Breakin' The Plane]

TONY DUNGY!!!!

 

[tikited]

TONY DUNGY!!!!

I never thought about him. Do you really think he's come here?

 

[gophmeister]

Guys that's the point I was trying to make. Those guys aren't home run hires but all three are recognizable names to college football fans. Lovie Smith did get Chicago to a Super Bowl and Durkin and Ash were successful DCs at helmet schools. We can at least get someone who the fans would accept and maybe even get behind in decent numbers. That's Claeys' biggest problem. A lot of fans don't believe he can do the job. That's why we're seeing questions about his job security when we're 3-1.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

Guys that's the point I was trying to make. Those guys aren't home run hires but all three are recognizable names to college football fans. Lovie Smith did get Chicago to a Super Bowl and Durkin and Ash were successful DCs at helmet schools. We can at least get someone who the fans would accept and maybe even get behind in decent numbers. That's Claeys' biggest problem. A lot of fans don't believe he can do the job. That's why we're seeing questions about his job security when we're 3-1.

If Claey's biggest problem is that some pokey fans don't support him that's really not a problem. If he wins he will get support... I'd rather not hire based on how the PR looks that day. If any of those guys start stacking up the losses nobody will care how good it looked to some nincompoops the day they hired him.

 

[BleedGopher]

If Claey's biggest problem is that some pokey fans don't support him that's really not a problem. If he wins he will get support... I'd rather not hire based on how the PR looks that day. If any of those guys start stacking up the losses nobody will care how good it looked to some nincompoops the day they hired him.

Through all the years of hearing that word used in a sentence, I never knew how it was spelled. Good to know!

Go Gophers!!

 

[dpodoll68]

Claeys is the lowest paid coach in the conference by almost a cool million.

Where are you getting your info? Based on what I can see, Claeys makes about $1.5 million and Hazell makes about $2.1 million.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

Through all the years of hearing that word used in a sentence, I never knew how it was spelled. Good to know!

Go Gophers!!

If I'm unsure how to spell nincompoop I just check my medical alert bracelet.

 

[olddoc]

It all comes down to the $ available.
Brester and Kill were relatively inexpensive. Claeys is cheap.
To get an upgrade a lot more money has to be spent.
Where is it coming from?

 

[Maximus]

It all comes down to the $ available.
Brester and Kill were relatively inexpensive. Claeys is cheap.
To get an upgrade a lot more money has to be spent.
Where is it coming from?

Seat donations?

 

[Spoofin]

Lovie Smith and Chris Ash are home run hires? OK, by that standard Marc Trestman is available. I'd rather have Claeys any day.

I agree with some of your points, but do we know that Durkin, Smith, and Ash are going to be better than TC?

I'm not sure those guys are necessarily better....

Haha, what? Those three coaches you mentioned have proven, precisely, jack ****. Bizarre post.

Guys, you only need one game to decide good or bad - it tells everything. Pick the right game and we know who is a HR hire. The Gophers are the only one on that list that didn't get one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

It all comes down to the $ available.
Brester and Kill were relatively inexpensive. Claeys is cheap.
To get an upgrade a lot more money has to be spent.
Where is it coming from?

Plenty of folks out there spending lots more money on coaches and losing games.

I'm not sure it all comes down to $.

 

[Governor Sibley]

As far as teaching the game and Xs and Os, I think Tracy is probably an okay hire.

I do have questions about some other stuff. But the fundamentals are not worse than B+.

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

I agree with some of your points, but do we know that Durkin, Smith, and Ash are going to be better than TC?

We don't, and who knows if Lovie can succeed at the college level. But based on resume's who would you rather have?

Claeys: Longtime DC under Kill at Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois, and Minnesota.
Ash: Defensive Coordinator under Bielema at Wisconsin and Arkansas, and under Meyer at Ohio St.
Durkin: DC under Muschamp at Florida, and under Harbaugh at Michigan. Was also the DE/ST coach under Harbaugh at Stanford.

Claeys finishes third on that list by a lot.

Ash and Durkin also have Maryland and Rutgers in the top 25 for recruiting in their first year.

 

[Go Gophers Rah]

For some reason it was very enlightening and shocking this weekend when Georgia Tech's Paul Johnson said the "expectations must meet commitment," when talking about college football. This is where we, as a fanbase, fall very short. The commitment to Gophers football, from every facet, is far less than the expectations in my opinion. I understand that this is a chicken-and-egg kind of a deal, but if we can't fill seats in our stadium or raise funds from alumni and fans, how can we expect the program to magically improve?

Personally, I think it will take a BIG commitment from the top (University President and Regents and maybe even the Governor and Legislature) to get us to the next place. A handful of wealthy alumni or even a single wealthy alumnus wouldn't hurt either.

There are programs out there that just made a decision that they would excel; even when there was no evidence that that be easy or even possible. One that comes to mind is Louisville. They made a commitment in the mid-80's that they were going to become relevant. They had been a feeble team up until that point. Since then, they have spent big money on big name coaches (starting with Miami University's Howard Schnellenberger). Not every choice has paid dividends for them, but they have always been swinging for the fence. In the past 10 years, they have won over 45% of their games against ranked opponents while we have won less than 10% of the time against ranked opponents. Is Louisville a better University? No. Does Kentucky have better HS players than Minnesota? Maybe - but not by leaps-and-bounds. Is UofL a richer university system than the U of M? No. It has simply been a function of the Louisville administration making an absolutely greater commitment to fielding a winning football team.

At some point in time, Claeys will leave the University of Minnesota. If we do not write out a humongous check for the next coach, that will continue to tell the story of the lack of commitment to fielding a winning football team.

 

[BarnBoy]

Where are you getting your info? Based on what I can see, Claeys makes about $1.5 million and Hazell makes about $2.1 million.

Maybe he thinks $600K is a "cool million."

 

[dpodoll68]

We don't, and who knows if Lovie can succeed at the college level. But based on resume's who would you rather have?

Claeys: Longtime assistant under Kill at Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois, and Minnesota.
Ash: Defensive Coordinator under Bielema at Wisconsin and Arkansas, and under Meyer at Ohio St.
Durkin: DC under Muschamp at Florida, and under Harbaugh at Michigan. Was also the DE/ST coach under Harbaugh at Stanford.

Claeys finishes third on that list by a lot.

Ash and Durkin also have Maryland and Rutgers in the top 25 for recruiting in their first year.

Why did you write "longtime assistant" for Claeys and Defensive Coordinator/DC for the other two?

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

Why did you write "longtime assistant" for Claeys and Defensive Coordinator/DC for the other two?

Mostly because those other coaches were position coaches before DC's and I expected most people to know Claeys had been DC for awhile under Kill.

I changed it for you.

 

[STPGopher]

Guys that's the point I was trying to make. Those guys aren't home run hires but all three are recognizable names to college football fans. Lovie Smith did get Chicago to a Super Bowl and Durkin and Ash were successful DCs at helmet schools. We can at least get someone who the fans would accept and maybe even get behind in decent numbers. That's Claeys' biggest problem. A lot of fans don't believe he can do the job. That's why we're seeing questions about his job security when we're 3-1.

For our market, I think it has to be someone a casual/ NFL fan would recognize. That is if you are going with that line of thinking.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

We don't, and who knows if Lovie can succeed at the college level. But based on resume's who would you rather have?

Claeys: Longtime DC under Kill at Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois, and Minnesota.
Ash: Defensive Coordinator under Bielema at Wisconsin and Arkansas, and under Meyer at Ohio St.
Durkin: DC under Muschamp at Florida, and under Harbaugh at Michigan. Was also the DE/ST coach under Harbaugh at Stanford.

Claeys finishes third on that list by a lot.

Ash and Durkin also have Maryland and Rutgers in the top 25 for recruiting in their first year.

I get what you're saying but not sure resume means Ws...

If they start taking losses, who cares about their resume?

That's pretty cool for the interview and that's about it.

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

I get what you're saying but not sure resume means Ws...

If they start taking losses, who cares about their resume?

That's pretty cool for the interview and that's about it.

Well how do college coaches without previous head coaching experience get hired? How to do people applying for any job get hired?

 

[GoldyMoose]

Gophers beat Iowa, win back a valuable trophy, and all is good in this world. Calm down and appreciate a quality head coach.

 

[tikited]

Gophers beat Iowa, win back a valuable trophy, and all is good in this world. Calm down and appreciate a quality head coach.

Too rational. Try harder to fit in next time please.

 

[theTurning]

A """""quality""""" head coach doesn't lose in Happy Valley.