Tracy Claeys once again talked about recruiting, bowl preparations, players getting healthy for their bowl game against Central Michigan, and coaching positions/changes.
1) Sid’s first question, “How’s recruiting going?”
“It’s going good . . . (busy) two weeks recruiting . . . I’m excited about the kids coming in . . . Signing date - make sure it makes us better,” Claeys answered.
The coaches are now focusing on bowl preparations. The past two weeks the coaches have been on the road recruiting and meeting with their verbal commitments. On-road recruiting (personal contacts) is prohibited until later this month and in January.
Claeys said they have a number of recruits visiting this weekend and half of the recruits on campus have already committed to the Golden Gophers. Claeys said the commitments are helping with the recruiting (visiting with potential recruits and parents who are visiting Minnesota this weekend). The recruits visiting will be on campus until approximately 2:00 p.m. today. Tracy also said this weekend was good for the recruits and the coaching staff. The visitors were able to attend team meetings and a bowl practice. They had their first bowl practice yesterday and will resume their preparations this afternoon at two o’clock.
Claeys' concluding comment: “getting ready for Central.”
2) Sid asked about injured players being able and ready to play in their bowl game:
Tracy was unsure as to the status of some of the injured players. He was enthused, however, when he said he expects defensive back Jalen Myrick and defensive tackle Steve Richardson to be ready to go in the late December game. “Good to see Jalen running in practice . . . We won’t get them all back . . . Tuesday I’ll have a better idea (who’ll be able practice and be ready for Central Michigan),” Claeys said.
If the injured players are not ready to practice by Friday, in all likelihood they’ll not be available for the post-season game, according to Claeys.
3) Dave Mona asked Claeys to explain what and who determines whether or not a player is granted a medical redshirt:
First, the request for a medical redshirt is forwarded to the Big 10 Conference. When the player was injured and how much did the player play during the season are determining factors. According to Claeys, less than 30% of the season is a plus for the request, especially if the injury occurs in the first half of the season. Of course there are no guarantees when the request is submitted. If the Big 10 rejects the request, there is an appeal process to the NCAA.
4) Sid asked about the team’s next opponent, Central Michigan:
Claeys said the Central Michigan quarterback passed for over 3,700 this season, five receivers had five-hundred yards in receptions, “offensively they get the ball to receivers in space . . . short passing game.”
“Defensively, (they) play hard and fundamentally sound,” Claeys said.
He also said Central Michigan “played well against power five teams – Oklahoma State, Michigan State and Syracuse . . . They play with a chip on their shoulders.”
5) Dave Mona asked about coaching changes for the bowl game:
Claeys answered, “Not a lot of changes (offensively)” for the bowl game. Changes in a new direction will occur next spring after they have added new hires to the coaching staff.
In the meantime, “Rob Reeves takes over calling the plays.” Reeves performed the same duties at Northern Illinois in their bowl game when Tracy Claeys and Matt Limegrover followed Jerry Kill to Minnesota in December, prior to the Huskies post season tilt.
Nate Griffin - offensive quality control – will coach the tight ends.
Trevor Olson – Minnesota native and former Northern Illinois offensive lineman – will coach the offensive line.
“It’s important to play hard and fast,” Claeys said in his final comment to Dave’s query. Therefore they’re not going introduce any major changes for the bowl game.
6) Sid once again asked about redshirts in bowl game preparations;
Claeys acknowledged the bowl game practices are important to the redshirts and getting them ready for spring drills. Most of the first few days of their post-season preparations are spent with the redshirts: “young guys against each other.”
7) Dave Mona asked the final two-part question. He wanted to know about the hiring timetable for new coaches replacing Matt Limegrover and former quarterback coach Jim Zebrowski and recruiting defensive linemen:
Tracy Claeys said he won’t be hiring replacement coaches until after the National Coaches Convention – January 9-12, 2016. Criteria for the new coaches: best coaches available and being a “good fit” with the staff.
Claeys did not answer Mona’s question about recruiting defensive linemen for the 2016 class. He might have misunderstood Mona’s query, because he talked briefly about the offensive line instead of the defensive line in recruiting.
Go Gophers!!
1) Sid’s first question, “How’s recruiting going?”
“It’s going good . . . (busy) two weeks recruiting . . . I’m excited about the kids coming in . . . Signing date - make sure it makes us better,” Claeys answered.
The coaches are now focusing on bowl preparations. The past two weeks the coaches have been on the road recruiting and meeting with their verbal commitments. On-road recruiting (personal contacts) is prohibited until later this month and in January.
Claeys said they have a number of recruits visiting this weekend and half of the recruits on campus have already committed to the Golden Gophers. Claeys said the commitments are helping with the recruiting (visiting with potential recruits and parents who are visiting Minnesota this weekend). The recruits visiting will be on campus until approximately 2:00 p.m. today. Tracy also said this weekend was good for the recruits and the coaching staff. The visitors were able to attend team meetings and a bowl practice. They had their first bowl practice yesterday and will resume their preparations this afternoon at two o’clock.
Claeys' concluding comment: “getting ready for Central.”
2) Sid asked about injured players being able and ready to play in their bowl game:
Tracy was unsure as to the status of some of the injured players. He was enthused, however, when he said he expects defensive back Jalen Myrick and defensive tackle Steve Richardson to be ready to go in the late December game. “Good to see Jalen running in practice . . . We won’t get them all back . . . Tuesday I’ll have a better idea (who’ll be able practice and be ready for Central Michigan),” Claeys said.
If the injured players are not ready to practice by Friday, in all likelihood they’ll not be available for the post-season game, according to Claeys.
3) Dave Mona asked Claeys to explain what and who determines whether or not a player is granted a medical redshirt:
First, the request for a medical redshirt is forwarded to the Big 10 Conference. When the player was injured and how much did the player play during the season are determining factors. According to Claeys, less than 30% of the season is a plus for the request, especially if the injury occurs in the first half of the season. Of course there are no guarantees when the request is submitted. If the Big 10 rejects the request, there is an appeal process to the NCAA.
4) Sid asked about the team’s next opponent, Central Michigan:
Claeys said the Central Michigan quarterback passed for over 3,700 this season, five receivers had five-hundred yards in receptions, “offensively they get the ball to receivers in space . . . short passing game.”
“Defensively, (they) play hard and fundamentally sound,” Claeys said.
He also said Central Michigan “played well against power five teams – Oklahoma State, Michigan State and Syracuse . . . They play with a chip on their shoulders.”
5) Dave Mona asked about coaching changes for the bowl game:
Claeys answered, “Not a lot of changes (offensively)” for the bowl game. Changes in a new direction will occur next spring after they have added new hires to the coaching staff.
In the meantime, “Rob Reeves takes over calling the plays.” Reeves performed the same duties at Northern Illinois in their bowl game when Tracy Claeys and Matt Limegrover followed Jerry Kill to Minnesota in December, prior to the Huskies post season tilt.
Nate Griffin - offensive quality control – will coach the tight ends.
Trevor Olson – Minnesota native and former Northern Illinois offensive lineman – will coach the offensive line.
“It’s important to play hard and fast,” Claeys said in his final comment to Dave’s query. Therefore they’re not going introduce any major changes for the bowl game.
6) Sid once again asked about redshirts in bowl game preparations;
Claeys acknowledged the bowl game practices are important to the redshirts and getting them ready for spring drills. Most of the first few days of their post-season preparations are spent with the redshirts: “young guys against each other.”
7) Dave Mona asked the final two-part question. He wanted to know about the hiring timetable for new coaches replacing Matt Limegrover and former quarterback coach Jim Zebrowski and recruiting defensive linemen:
Tracy Claeys said he won’t be hiring replacement coaches until after the National Coaches Convention – January 9-12, 2016. Criteria for the new coaches: best coaches available and being a “good fit” with the staff.
Claeys did not answer Mona’s question about recruiting defensive linemen for the 2016 class. He might have misunderstood Mona’s query, because he talked briefly about the offensive line instead of the defensive line in recruiting.
Go Gophers!!
