Fire Mark Coyle

[John Galt]

The fact that we are even having a discussion around whether Claeys should be retained is one of the stupidest things I've seen in sports. Claeys hasn't lied, covered anything up, or had any kind of "systemic" issues with the program. There was one incident that happened under his watch. It was reported and the legal process was followed to the letter of the law. If Coyle and Kaler would have communicated to Claeys and the team that there was an on-going EOAA investigation and "leaked" portions of it to the team only, the entire boycott could have been avoided. Instead, the boycott and the tweet happened due to the unbelievably poor communication from Kaler and Coyle.

Coyle then lied about Claeys involvement with the suspensions. Seriously, if anyone deserves to be fired for not being truthful, it's Coyle. As for the tweet, it's bleeping twitter for crying out loud! It's not a legal statement that mentions every contingency and is reviewed to make sure that every advocate group fully supports it. Claeys supported his team, and should be commended for it.

As for football, check out the records of our every coach we have had since 1950. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Golden_Gophers_football

If you don't want to click on the link, here is the key point: we've had 3 coaches with winning records since 1950: Murray Warmath (87-78-7), Glen Mason (64-57), and Claeys (10-8). So now what are the brain trusts thinking up??? Let's fire the coach who just went 9-4. All so we can hire the flavor of the month in the MAC. The MAC is littered with coaches that fell on their faces when they moved up to P5 conference. Fleck will be a multi-year rebuilding project, which makes me throw up in my mouth.

Kaler and Coyle need to be replaced. Not only are they not "big-time," they are in completely over their heads. Their lack of leadership and overall incompetence is not acceptable for people in their positions. BOR, please, make a change at the top. I've about had it with my University.

 

[bizzle22]

No. Just no. I always thought there were a few nutjobs around here, but I'm surprised there are any with this little common sense. Coyle isn't going anywhere

 

[touchdownvikings]

Amen.

 

[kellyleeks]

Let's get a move on.org petition started.

 

[gopherhoopsguy]

Coyle needs to be fired yesterday!

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Look, I'm trying to be fair here. Coyle may have a lot of good qualities. The fact that he has been hired at a series of more prestigious jobs suggests the guy has got to have something going for him. I just haven't seen them.

It may be that Coyle is not, to borrow a phrase from "The Godfather," a wartime consigliere. Some people deal better with a crisis - some people shrink from a crisis.

I would personally prefer an AD who shows more leadership, and looks out for the best interest of ALL the athletes.

But- bottom line - as long as Coyle is in good with Kaler, he keeps his job. Unless something really nasty comes out that we don't know. Or the Board of Regents gives Kaler the boot and Coyle loses his patron.

 

[bigticket1]

No. Just no. I always thought there were a few nutjobs around here, but I'm surprised there are any with this little common sense. Coyle isn't going anywhere

We would have to find him first to know if he is going anywhere.

 

[50PoundHead]

The fact that we are even having a discussion around whether Claeys should be retained is one of the stupidest things I've seen in sports. Claeys hasn't lied, covered anything up, or had any kind of "systemic" issues with the program. There was one incident that happened under his watch. It was reported and the legal process was followed to the letter of the law. If Coyle and Kaler would have communicated to Claeys and the team that there was an on-going EOAA investigation and "leaked" portions of it to the team only, the entire boycott could have been avoided. Instead, the boycott and the tweet happened due to the unbelievably poor communication from Kaler and Coyle.

Coyle then lied about Claeys involvement with the suspensions. Seriously, if anyone deserves to be fired for not being truthful, it's Coyle. As for the tweet, it's bleeping twitter for crying out loud! It's not a legal statement that mentions every contingency and is reviewed to make sure that every advocate group fully supports it. Claeys supported his team, and should be commended for it.

As for football, check out the records of our every coach we have had since 1950. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Golden_Gophers_football

If you don't want to click on the link, here is the key point: we've had 3 coaches with winning records since 1950: Murray Warmath (87-78-7), Glen Mason (64-57), and Claeys (10-8). So now what are the brain trusts thinking up??? Let's fire the coach who just went 9-4. All so we can hire the flavor of the month in the MAC. The MAC is littered with coaches that fell on their faces when they moved up to P5 conference. Fleck will be a multi-year rebuilding project, which makes me throw up in my mouth.

Kaler and Coyle need to be replaced. Not only are they not "big-time," they are in completely over their heads. Their lack of leadership and overall incompetence is not acceptable for people in their positions. BOR, please, make a change at the top. I've about had it with my University.

But if Claeys had suspended Djam for getting the recruit drunk and involving him in the whole mess in the first place, we probably wouldn't be having any of these discussions right now. Claeys isn't blameless in this whole affair. The whole thing has been leader-less.

 

[GopherBulldog]

Will he get fired? No. Is what Galt has said about him accurate? Absolutely. The fact he has not shown any support for TC and let this entire issue spin out of control is inexcusable. If TC takes the fall for his incompetence or EK's arrogance, it would be sickening.

 

[John Galt]

Our staff has worked their a$$es off. They deserve to be commended and respected by our administration for what they've accomplished. Instead they are allowed to flounder in the wind.

 

[BarnBurner]

Our staff has worked their a$$es off. They deserve to be commended and respected by our administration for what they've accomplished. Instead they are allowed to flounder in the wind.

I agree with you on the op and the post above galt. Amazing that folks are not willing to admit the lack of leadership.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

But if Claeys had suspended Djam for getting the recruit drunk and involving him in the whole mess in the first place, we probably wouldn't be having any of these discussions right now. Claeys isn't blameless in this whole affair. The whole thing has been leader-less.

I hope your assumption is right. If Claeys is let go and they say it is because of the recruit, that feels like BS to me.

I guess I'm not sure what Claeys did wrong. I am not defending his actions, but I think recruits partying with the players is status quo at every school around the country.

I think you could make a great argument for the NCAA mandating certain changes to recruit visits (curfew, upperclassmen, etc.), however, it feels incredibly disingenuous to blame Claeys for things that we all accepted as being normal 6 months ago.

 

[Deleted_User]

One over reaction after another. When will it end?

 

[50PoundHead]

I hope your assumption is right. If Claeys is let go and they say it is because of the recruit, that feels like BS to me.

I guess I'm not sure what Claeys did wrong. I am not defending his actions, but I think recruits partying with the players is status quo at every school around the country.

I think you could make a great argument for the NCAA mandating certain changes to recruit visits (curfew, upperclassmen, etc.), however, it feels incredibly disingenuous to blame Claeys for things that we all accepted as being normal 6 months ago.

Oh, I think the whole thing is BS top-to-bottom, but I have always had doubts about Claeys' ability to run the program. He's a great X and O guy, but that's the easy part of being a P5 head coach and I think he's a bit out of his depth in the player discipline department.

I'm not expecting him to be Kill. That's not his personality. And maybe Claeys did clearly lay out his expectations for player behavior, but I really don't think I'm being disingenuous. Recruits are shown a good time and I've never been under the impression that everything that transpires on those visits is on the up-and-up. But in this instance, if Claeys had any sense of what could happen down the road, he should have acted more forcefully.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Oh, I think the whole thing is BS top-to-bottom, but I have always had doubts about Claeys' ability to run the program. He's a great X and O guy, but that's the easy part of being a P5 head coach and I think he's a bit out of his depth in the player discipline department.

I'm not expecting him to be Kill. That's not his personality. And maybe Claeys did clearly lay out his expectations for player behavior, but I really don't think I'm being disingenuous. Recruits are shown a good time and I've never been under the impression that everything that transpires on those visits is on the up-and-up. But in this instance, if Claeys had any sense of what could happen down the road, he should have acted more forcefully.

I hear what you're saying. I also didn't mean to make it sound like I was saying you were being disingenuous. I meant that the U would be disingenuous if they fired Claeys and used the recruit staff as the scapegoat. I don't think any of us would think that was the real reason.

 

[HoustonTXGopher]

I don't know about the facts around Coyle, so I am not sure he should be fired. What I do know is that Claeys should absolutely NOT be fired. If both are retained I am sure they will have a strained relationship going forward.

I can only hope that Claeys and staff are retained and we can get back to arguing over recruiting, offense and a stale game day environment.

 

[caliGopher]

No. Just no. I always thought there were a few nutjobs around here, but I'm surprised there are any with this little common sense. Coyle isn't going anywhere

The only way Coyle keeps his job at this point is that he's been absent publicly. The way he and Kaler have handled this have made a bad situation worse. There's a good chance he's gone in 12 months regardless of what he does tomorrow. His failure of leadership has spoken volumes in the past three weeks.

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

Coyle then lied about Claeys involvement with the suspensions. Seriously, if anyone deserves to be fired for not being truthful, it's Coyle. As for the tweet, it's bleeping twitter for crying out loud! It's not a legal statement that mentions every contingency and is reviewed to make sure that every advocate group fully supports it. Claeys supported his team, and should be commended for it.

Except this is completely false. Neither Coyle nor Claeys had a say in the suspensions. Coyle consulted Claeys just like Kaler consulted Coyle. They were told by Kaler the players have been expelled/suspended from school and they couldn't play.

 

[John Galt]

Except this is completely false. Neither Coyle nor Claeys had a say in the suspensions. Coyle consulted Claeys just like Kaler consulted Coyle. They were told by Kaler the players have been expelled/suspended from school and they couldn't play.

Coyle said he "consulted" with Claeys in order to create the perception that Tracy agreed with the immediate suspensions of all 10. That obviously wasn't true.

 

[MennoSota]

Oh, I think the whole thing is BS top-to-bottom, but I have always had doubts about Claeys' ability to run the program. He's a great X and O guy, but that's the easy part of being a P5 head coach and I think he's a bit out of his depth in the player discipline department.

I'm not expecting him to be Kill. That's not his personality. And maybe Claeys did clearly lay out his expectations for player behavior, but I really don't think I'm being disingenuous. Recruits are shown a good time and I've never been under the impression that everything that transpires on those visits is on the up-and-up. But in this instance, if Claeys had any sense of what could happen down the road, he should have acted more forcefully.

One night in early September and a handful of players on a team of 140. That's it. Otherwise you have a coach who is graduating players at the highest rate ever and bringing the team GPA to heights it has never seen.
I find the desire to castigate Tracy Claeys as an undisciplined coach laughable. He's been nothing short of excellent, yet people are painting him as sloppy and lazy.
It's interesting how many people judge a person by his outward dress and looks and then suppose he's the same inwardly. The prejudice against Tracy Claeys is just sad.

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

Coyle said he "consulted" with Claeys in order to create the perception that Tracy agreed with the immediate suspensions of all 10. That obviously wasn't true.

So you think Coyle was going to publicly speak out against the suspensions and his boss and make it appear like there's a giant rift in a decision related to a gang bang? Or say Kaler told me these guys were suspended and I agree they should be but Tracy thinks they shouldn't be and make Tracy look like he's on an island by himself?

Not a chance.

 

[Vandy]

One night in early September and a handful of players on a team of 140. That's it. Otherwise you have a coach who is graduating players at the highest rate ever and bringing the team GPA to heights it has never seen.
I find the desire to castigate Tracy Claeys as an undisciplined coach laughable. He's been nothing short of excellent, yet people are painting him as sloppy and lazy.
It's interesting how many people judge a person by his outward dress and looks and then suppose he's the same inwardly. The prejudice against Tracy Claeys is just sad.

+1

 

[bizzle22]

Coyle said he "consulted" with Claeys in order to create the perception that Tracy agreed with the immediate suspensions of all 10. That obviously wasn't true.

This is my opinion so take it for what it's worth, but my take is that Coyle told Claeys the players were being suspended by the higher-ups and there was nothing that could be done about it. Maybe it's because I work in corporate America, but if I have a meeting like that with my boss it's basically him telling me to fall in line whether I like it or not. He may not actually say that, but that's what it means. I think that Coyle understood this when Kaler told him the players were suspended, but Claeys did not. The whole "consulted with" thing was BS from the beginning, and anyone who has looked at the situation knows that. Coyle simply assumed Claeys knew he was supposed to fall in line. It was absolutely poor communication on Coyle's part (his biggest blunder in all of this), but hardly a fireable offense. I don't believe Coyle was lying when he said he "consulted with" Claeys. He was under the assumption Claeys knew to fall in line, but since he did a poor job communicating that was not the case.

 

[Tucker32]

One night in early September and a handful of players on a team of 140. That's it. Otherwise you have a coach who is graduating players at the highest rate ever and bringing the team GPA to heights it has never seen.
I find the desire to castigate Tracy Claeys as an undisciplined coach laughable. He's been nothing short of excellent, yet people are painting him as sloppy and lazy.
It's interesting how many people judge a person by his outward dress and looks and then suppose he's the same inwardly. The prejudice against Tracy Claeys is just sad.

+++++


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Great Plains Gopher]

The fact that we are even having a discussion around whether Claeys should be retained is one of the stupidest things I've seen in sports. Claeys hasn't lied, covered anything up, or had any kind of "systemic" issues with the program. There was one incident that happened under his watch. It was reported and the legal process was followed to the letter of the law. If Coyle and Kaler would have communicated to Claeys and the team that there was an on-going EOAA investigation and "leaked" portions of it to the team only, the entire boycott could have been avoided. Instead, the boycott and the tweet happened due to the unbelievably poor communication from Kaler and Coyle.

Coyle then lied about Claeys involvement with the suspensions. Seriously, if anyone deserves to be fired for not being truthful, it's Coyle. As for the tweet, it's bleeping twitter for crying out loud! It's not a legal statement that mentions every contingency and is reviewed to make sure that every advocate group fully supports it. Claeys supported his team, and should be commended for it.

As for football, check out the records of our every coach we have had since 1950. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Golden_Gophers_football

If you don't want to click on the link, here is the key point: we've had 3 coaches with winning records since 1950: Murray Warmath (87-78-7), Glen Mason (64-57), and Claeys (10-8). So now what are the brain trusts thinking up??? Let's fire the coach who just went 9-4. All so we can hire the flavor of the month in the MAC. The MAC is littered with coaches that fell on their faces when they moved up to P5 conference. Fleck will be a multi-year rebuilding project, which makes me throw up in my mouth.

Kaler and Coyle need to be replaced. Not only are they not "big-time," they are in completely over their heads. Their lack of leadership and overall incompetence is not acceptable for people in their positions. BOR, please, make a change at the top. I've about had it with my University.

They won't fire Coyle, but your points about Claeys and where he stands in coaching records is spot on.

 

[Pompous Elitist]

This is my opinion so take it for what it's worth, but my take is that Coyle told Claeys the players were being suspended by the higher-ups and there was nothing that could be done about it. Maybe it's because I work in corporate America, but if I have a meeting like that with my boss it's basically him telling me to fall in line whether I like it or not. He may not actually say that, but that's what it means. I think that Coyle understood this when Kaler told him the players were suspended, but Claeys did not. The whole "consulted with" thing was BS from the beginning, and anyone who has looked at the situation knows that. Coyle simply assumed Claeys knew he was supposed to fall in line. It was absolutely poor communication on Coyle's part (his biggest blunder in all of this), but hardly a fireable offense. I don't believe Coyle was lying when he said he "consulted with" Claeys. He was under the assumption Claeys knew to fall in line, but since he did a poor job communicating that was not the case.

To refresh memories here are the actual words from Coyle and Kaler. Where did Kaler get the idea Claeys made the decision? Was he being disingenuous or was he misinformed by Coyle?

“Before I begin, please understand that student privacy laws prevent me from talking about specific students or situations. From my first day, I’ve talked about our students achieving at the highest levels, academically, athletically and socially. That will always be our goal. As we work toward that goal, our department will never lose sight of our responsibility to uphold the university’s values and to provide a great experience for all university students. When we make decisions, including difficult decisions like I made in consultation with Coach Claeys recently, it will always be with those values in mind. Please know I am in constant communication with our campus to ensure our mutual commitment to treating all students fairly, respecting all students’ rights and upholding all university values.”

Before Coyle spoke, Kaler’s written statement said:

“The need to take actions like this is incredibly disappointing. Unfortunately, these types of situations are difficult for the University because we are limited in what we can say. While we strive to be transparent in all that we do, the fact is that, under the law, our students have privacy rights that we value and respect.

Rest assured, the decision by Coach Tracy Claeys, which was made in consultation with our Athletics Director Mark Coyle and which I support, is based on facts and on our University’s values. Our leaders make these decisions with the interests of our entire community in mind, regardless of timing or competitive considerations. The Gopher football team is more than the contributions of any single individual. We hope we can continue to count on you for your support on December 27 and beyond.”

Hutton said that Claeys disagreed with the decision to suspend the players. “He in no way authorized the suspension of these players,” Hutton said.

Coyle later added, “I met with Coach Claeys, and in consultation, we made that decision.”

 

[bizzle22]

To refresh memories here are the actual words from Coyle and Kaler. Where did Kaler get the idea Claeys made the decision? Was he being disingenuous or was he misinformed by Coyle?

“Before I begin, please understand that student privacy laws prevent me from talking about specific students or situations. From my first day, I’ve talked about our students achieving at the highest levels, academically, athletically and socially. That will always be our goal. As we work toward that goal, our department will never lose sight of our responsibility to uphold the university’s values and to provide a great experience for all university students. When we make decisions, including difficult decisions like I made in consultation with Coach Claeys recently, it will always be with those values in mind. Please know I am in constant communication with our campus to ensure our mutual commitment to treating all students fairly, respecting all students’ rights and upholding all university values.”

Before Coyle spoke, Kaler’s written statement said:

“The need to take actions like this is incredibly disappointing. Unfortunately, these types of situations are difficult for the University because we are limited in what we can say. While we strive to be transparent in all that we do, the fact is that, under the law, our students have privacy rights that we value and respect.

Rest assured, the decision by Coach Tracy Claeys, which was made in consultation with our Athletics Director Mark Coyle and which I support, is based on facts and on our University’s values. Our leaders make these decisions with the interests of our entire community in mind, regardless of timing or competitive considerations. The Gopher football team is more than the contributions of any single individual. We hope we can continue to count on you for your support on December 27 and beyond.”

Hutton said that Claeys disagreed with the decision to suspend the players. “He in no way authorized the suspension of these players,” Hutton said.

Coyle later added, “I met with Coach Claeys, and in consultation, we made that decision.”

Like I said, it's just my opinion. I'm not taking Hutton's word over anyone else's as he was the one who identified his own clients as potential sex offenders and also touted that he got the accuser to plead the 5th when in reality she took the 5th on only her interaction with the recruit because Hutton attempted to say she was in a position of power over him. (Which is a stretch at best.) Remember, he has a dog in this fight as well. I've said all along that Kaler is the one who I would single out as handling this poorly. His written statement would support that notion. He doesn't have his house in order.

 

[50PoundHead]

One night in early September and a handful of players on a team of 140. That's it. Otherwise you have a coach who is graduating players at the highest rate ever and bringing the team GPA to heights it has never seen.
I find the desire to castigate Tracy Claeys as an undisciplined coach laughable. He's been nothing short of excellent, yet people are painting him as sloppy and lazy.
It's interesting how many people judge a person by his outward dress and looks and then suppose he's the same inwardly. The prejudice against Tracy Claeys is just sad.

Where in my post do I say he is fat and lazy? I'm just saying he should have suspended Djam (if he was the recruit's host) immediately and taken control of the situation to protect both himself and the rest of the team.

 

[WorkingMyTailOff]

To refresh memories here are the actual words from Coyle and Kaler. Where did Kaler get the idea Claeys made the decision? Was he being disingenuous or was he misinformed by Coyle?

“Before I begin, please understand that student privacy laws prevent me from talking about specific students or situations. From my first day, I’ve talked about our students achieving at the highest levels, academically, athletically and socially. That will always be our goal. As we work toward that goal, our department will never lose sight of our responsibility to uphold the university’s values and to provide a great experience for all university students. When we make decisions, including difficult decisions like I made in consultation with Coach Claeys recently, it will always be with those values in mind. Please know I am in constant communication with our campus to ensure our mutual commitment to treating all students fairly, respecting all students’ rights and upholding all university values.”

Before Coyle spoke, Kaler’s written statement said:

“The need to take actions like this is incredibly disappointing. Unfortunately, these types of situations are difficult for the University because we are limited in what we can say. While we strive to be transparent in all that we do, the fact is that, under the law, our students have privacy rights that we value and respect.

Rest assured, the decision by Coach Tracy Claeys, which was made in consultation with our Athletics Director Mark Coyle and which I support, is based on facts and on our University’s values. Our leaders make these decisions with the interests of our entire community in mind, regardless of timing or competitive considerations. The Gopher football team is more than the contributions of any single individual. We hope we can continue to count on you for your support on December 27 and beyond.”

Hutton said that Claeys disagreed with the decision to suspend the players. “He in no way authorized the suspension of these players,” Hutton said.

Coyle later added, “I met with Coach Claeys, and in consultation, we made that decision.”

Thanks for putting it all together in one post. I seem to be in the minority here and I don't want to see Claeys fired if he and Coyle can get on the same page aka Claeys needs to get with the program.

I would have expected Claeys to back Coyle even though Coyle put words into Claeys mouth. Why? Because it was the right message to get behind. The leadership at the U knew this story was going to play very poorly even without the report being leaked. Coyle and Kaler needed Claeys and the staff to "toe the company line" and they didn't and it because of that it blew up.

If Claeys sees that now and can polish up his outside communications he can be a great long term fit. If he still doesn't see a problem with how he handled this situation I would start planning for the next coach.

 

[MennoSota]

Where in my post do I say he is fat and lazy? I'm just saying he should have suspended Djam (if he was the recruit's host) immediately and taken control of the situation to protect both himself and the rest of the team.

You mean like the immediate suspensions that came directly after the incident, until the police declared they would not prosecute?