Lack of National Search Disappointing. 39th Recruiting class is not enough

Donate To GopherHole
I'm still amazed at the delusion some folks have when looking back on the Mason years like they were Glory Days.
 

They see me trolling.

Stop living in the Mason past, he gone.. Nice thing about living in the present and future is you don't know how it will end. Everyone knows how the past ended. Just saying.
 

Vegasgopher said:
They see me trolling.

Stop living in the Mason past, he gone.. Nice thing about living in the present and future is you don't know how it will end. Everyone knows how the past ended. Just saying.
Click to expand...

Gumperism: "Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."
 

Ralphie is right, I'll bet they never even reached out to Nick Saban.
 

Ralph_Wiggum said:
Mason then went to five straight bowl games. Never should have fired Mason. Maturi compounded that Mistake by hiring Brewster. I am afraid this will be Gutekunst 2.0.
Click to expand...

Perhaps Mason shouldn't have been fired, but if you believe that, you should be supportive of the Claeys hire. That Mason went to five straight bowl games after year five is irrelevant. We're comparing year 5 of the Kill era vs. year 5 of the Mason era. You believed that Mason was on the right track in 2001 despite a 4-7 season, why is it so unreasonable that Kill could be on the right track despite a disappointing 2015? You say that Kill didn't win more than 8 games, but neither did Mason.

If you think hiring Claeys is the same as hiring Gutekunst, just because both were DC for the Gophers, then you should support hiring Curtis Johnson, the HC of Tulane, because the last time we hired a Tulane coach, we got Bernie Bierman. Oh, sure, Johnson has a record as HC of 14-32, but apparently, that difference must not matter.
 


National search? With no AD. And the best recruiting class we've had since before JR was shot? That's an ambitious proposition.
 

RodentRampage said:
Perhaps Mason shouldn't have been fired, but if you believe that, you should be supportive of the Claeys hire. That Mason went to five straight bowl games after year five is irrelevant. We're comparing year 5 of the Kill era vs. year 5 of the Mason era. You believed that Mason was on the right track in 2001 despite a 4-7 season, why is it so unreasonable that Kill could be on the right track despite a disappointing 2015? You say that Kill didn't win more than 8 games, but neither did Mason.

If you think hiring Claeys is the same as hiring Gutekunst, just because both were DC for the Gophers, then you should support hiring Curtis Johnson, the HC of Tulane, because the last time we hired a Tulane coach, we got Bernie Bierman. Oh, sure, Johnson has a record as HC of 14-32, but apparently, that difference must not matter.
Click to expand...

His arguments make zero sense. He points to this season as a reason Claeys will fail, yet wants Kiffin to be the coach even though he has already failed twice as a head coach.
 

mkAz said:
Ralphie is right, I'll bet they never even reached out to Nick Saban.
Click to expand...
Forget Saban. What about Marc Trestman? Tony Dungy? Mike Grant? Cory Sauter? Were they too lazy and stupid to neglect to give those people a call?
 

Ralph_Wiggum said:
If Claeys was the right coach then why couldn't he survive a national search? I don't understand this "we have to hire him in November or we lose a recruiting class" talk. A recruiting class ranked 39th is precious enough to save?

You do realize that Country Jer never won more than 8 games in a season? You do realize the gophers aren't going to make a bowl game this season.

Do you really believe Country Claeys is the best coach the gophers could hire?
Click to expand...

Let's cut to the chase here. Our recruiting base is weak, our fan support is below average, and we have little success to hang our hat on in the past 40 years. I think you are overestimating the quality of coaches who would be interested in our job, especially in a year in which there are going to be TONS of openings. Oh and how could I forgot, WE DO NOT HAVE AN A.D. So with that little factoid out of the way, just what big-name coaches do you think are going want to come banging on our door?

However, in order to ease your worries, here are a few more points.
1. We do have a solid foundation in place, so hiring Claeys and attempting to keep the staff together is satisfactory.
2. Yes, he could be terrible, which is why we only gave him a 3-year contract.
3. However, if he succeeds in the next year it will be extended.

Hiring Claeys is the only move we could have made right now. To chance it with a search and bring in a new staff right now would be just foolish.
 



Anyone who thinks that a national search would yield a better candidate the Tracy Claeys isn't paying attention, we have a pending Title IX investigation, a sexual harassment/climate investigation ongoing and an Interim AD. No quality candidate is going to take the job, when at the moment, it's the 5th best opening and sure to fall back as other vacancies occur.
 

Except this staff was able to make NY Day Bowl games and produce NFL caliber players out of recruiting classes in the upper 50's and 60's. So the fact that the class next year is in the 20's/30's is a big deal. This staff locked down the borders which is really vital to any major college program, regardless of state.

The national search would be nice in theory, but there are at least 5 better jobs available out there right now, who knows how many more would open up after the season. Highly unlikely the Gophers would get their 1st choice, and even then they likely don't have the resume that TC does
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
Forget Saban. What about Marc Trestman? Tony Dungy? Mike Grant? Cory Sauter? Were they too lazy and stupid to neglect to give those people a call?
Click to expand...

Tony Dungy would be amazing, but he doesn't even answer NFL calls anymore, highly unlikely he would answer the Gophers.
 

Make that a three time failure. Oakland Raiders, Tennessee Volunteers and USC Trojans make Lane Kiffin, one of the all time pieces of ****, a three time loser as head coach.
GophersInIowa said:
His arguments make zero sense. He points to this season as a reason Claeys will fail, yet wants Kiffin to be the coach even though he has already failed twice as a head coach.
Click to expand...
 




Ralph_Wiggum said:
If Claeys was the right coach then why couldn't he survive a national search? I don't understand this "we have to hire him in November or we lose a recruiting class" talk. A recruiting class ranked 39th is precious enough to save?

You do realize that Country Jer never won more than 8 games in a season? You do realize the gophers aren't going to make a bowl game this season.

Do you really believe Country Claeys is the best coach the gophers could hire?
Click to expand...

Followed up by this:

According to Rivals the gophers are ranked 39th. Let's say it is around 30 for the sake of argument. Ok. Now what has Country Jer and Claeys done to warrant getting the job? Mason got 10 wins in a season. We've gone through Brewster and Kill for this?

Yes I am part of the "never should have fired Mason" crowd, but history has proven us correct. You who couldn't wait to get rid of Mason suddenly fall in love with a coaching staff that never got more than 8 wins and will not make a bowl game this year after 8 wins last year.

How in the f' can someone contradict themselves this badly? These posts made back to back are literally some of the worst takes ever posted on GopherHole, right up there with anything ever written by Rambler or the Lunatic.

I think you make a couple of valid points in your original post, but the bottom line is that a National search isn't realistic without an A.D. in place. The candidates were weak the last time we attempted to hire a coach because we also didn't have an A.D. When Brewster was hired we had guys like Strong, Kiffin, and Pelini actually interviewing for the job we just hired the wrong guy (and Brewster turned down the job at Iowa State at one point prior to taking the Minnesota job, so he wasn't exactly a nobody in the coaching ranks as far as desirability). When Kill was hired we had less attractive guys turn down opportunities to interview. The difference? No A.D. in place. While I am certainly not excited about the Claeys hire, it was the prudent move and the "U" structured the deal in a way that it will be very easy to get out of it at this time next year. Whether the class is 39th or 28th right now is immaterial, it's highly unlikely to stay that high because a lot of the top schools (the Oklahoma types who are behind us currently) are going to land some nice recruits and finish ahead of the Gophers. It still will be a solid class, buoyed by a strong in state crop, but it's certainly not amazing for a staff's 5th class. It is a good class though and it is a sign of some progress (really need to hang on to the JUCO DE) on the recruiting front, but more importantly there is basically no way to improve on this class no matter who the "U" hired after a national search. The kids who are still out there available (for the most part) are deciding between offers from perennial top 25 teams. Essentially the top kids in this class move to schools where they built relationships with coaches still employed and the Gophers replace those kids by poaching kids from the MAC or Sun Belt under a new coach.

Of course the much bigger issue is that you are arguing for a higher bar at Minnesota in your first post which I completely agree with. It's embarrassing to me that this program is 1-7 in it's last 8 power conference teams, has never finished better than .500 against fellow power conference teams under this staff, and is also 0-4 against Wisconsin AND we have fans acting like everything is great and we have some sort of "momentum". Every time I don't think the bar can get any lower at Minnesota, somehow it does. That's not to say I don't think there are valid reasons to give the job to Claeys right now, but they are much more circumstantial than resume based. It's an acknowledgement that the "U" is in a really tough spot right now.

However you are part of the "Never should have fired Mason crowd" and "History has proven us correct? What in the f@%^? are you talking about? I am sure I am falling for some troll job here because your posts completely contradict themselves. You are asking for a higher bar for Kill/Claeys in one post then advocating for a coach who had TEN YEARS and never accomplished anything of note.

During Mason's Ten years, TWO Big Ten teams failed to finish in the top 3 of the conference (and there were only 11 teams then not 14) at least one time: one was Indiana and the other was Minnesota.

Amazingly in TEN years, Mason never defeated a team that finished in the top 3 of the conference.

Mason's career B1G record at Minnesota was 32-48...and you are arguing for higher standards now, but wanted to continue this?

Mason called the rivalry games "trinket games" and had a losing record against both Iowa and Wisconsin and blowout losses were becoming more frequent in the series.

The "10 win" vs "8 win" thing is a complete joke. In 2003, Minnesota lost to Michigan (1st place), didn't play 2nd or 3rd place, and lost to the other two teams that finished tied for 4th in MSU and Iowa in an embarrassing loss to end the season. They were very clearly the 6th best team out of 11 in the conference that year. The idea that those 10 wins in 2003 were significantly better than the 8 achieved last is a joke. The non-conference slate in 2003? Tulsa, Troy State, Ohio, and Louisiana-Lafayette. The Gophers defeated a grand total of ZERO ranked teams that year. Obviously Missouri was a much better team in 2014 than Oregon was in 2003.

After that 10 win season, Minnesota went 3-5, 4-4, 3-5 in conference play in the 8th, 9th and 10th seasons of Mason's tenure. They also went 1-5 (!) against Iowa and Wisconsin during those final 3 seasons. If you couldn't see that we had seen the ceiling of the Glen Mason era, then you are blind. The Gophers have gone 4-4 and 5-3 in years 3 and 4 under this staff. IF THE GOPHERS CURRENT STAFF DOESN'T WIN ANOTHER GAME THIS YEAR THEY WILL STILL MATCH MASON'S BIG TEN WIN TOTAL FROM HIS 8-10 YEARS IN THEIR 3-5 YEARS.

Quite simply if you are "should have never fired Mason guy", you simply can't be a "the expectations are too low"/"can't hire Claeys guy".
 

Ralph_Wiggum said:
If Claeys was the right coach then why couldn't he survive a national search? I don't understand this "we have to hire him in November or we lose a recruiting class" talk. A recruiting class ranked 39th is precious enough to save?

You do realize that Country Jer never won more than 8 games in a season? You do realize the gophers aren't going to make a bowl game this season.

Do you really believe Country Claeys is the best coach the gophers could hire?
Click to expand...

Good point. We should have hired another head coach, lose a bunch of our recruits, and have a worse recruiting class than 39th. Awesome plan dip****!
 


So, the doctor says I wouldn't get so many nosebleeds if I just kept my finger out of there.
 

Ralph_Wiggum said:
Do you really believe Country Claeys is the best coach the gophers could hire?
Click to expand...

I don't know, but I do think hiring him for the short term contract probably was the best move to make at this time.

You could be right, of course. Whether this was the right decision or not won't be known for some time.

As to the kneejerk knuckleheads calling you a "troll" and a "moron," anyone who thinks he can be certain about uncertain future results is the real moron. Most of them will be among those bitching and moaning the loudest if Claeys flops and some of them will claim that they never wanted him hired in the first place.
 

Section2 said:
It's rare that the persona of a poster so precisely mirrors their handle.
Click to expand...
c77a1659-2397-4d19-a48c-1d68f45b1825_412x232.jpg
 


cjbfbp said:
As to the kneejerk knuckleheads calling you a "troll" and a "moron," anyone who thinks he can be certain about uncertain future results is the real moron. Most of them will be among those bitching and moaning the loudest if Claeys flops and some of them will claim that they never wanted him hired in the first place.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that is not what is happening here. No one knows for sure if Claeys will be successful.

He keeps calling Kill and Claeys names, rips on them for only winning 8 games, and then says Kiffin would be a great get for the program. He also says Claeys will not succeed even thought he is just like the rest of us, we don't know what will happen.
 

Claeys and Kill have done quite a bit with bad recruiting classes and have been excellent at developing lower level recruits into potential NFL talent.

With a higher rated recruiting class, don't you think Claeys can do even better?
 

I think we should count our lucky stars that we had someone like Claeys in the wings to takeover for Kill. He has done well as the acting/interim head coach, and promoting him gives us stability as we search for a new AD and sort through the pending issues facing the athletic department. As many have cogently pointed out, it's doubtful that a national search would generate a better option in light of these conditions, and the risks of creating program instability in the process, I think, are high. Claey's three year contract gives him the opportunity to prove himself while preserving a reasonable opportunity for the new AD to make a change if he or she feels that is needed. I don't think there could be a much better solution to our current situation. And by the way, I think that an unusually high number of injuries is the primary reason we are having a disappointing season this year.
 

Every once and a while we need a good idiotic thread so 99% of us can be in agreement for once. I will be the first to say thank you Ralph Wiggum!
 

Ralph_Wiggum said:
Yes I wanted Kiffin. Given that Mason wouldn't come back I thought Kiffin was a good option. The U should have done a national search and if Claeys was good enough it would have been evident in the search and screen and interview process.

I don't see any other schools in the P5 coming for Country Claeys.
Click to expand...
May be this really is ralph Wiggum lol
 

stocker08 said:
Good point. We should have hired another head coach, lose a bunch of our recruits, and have a worse recruiting class than 39th. Awesome plan dip****!
Click to expand...

+1
Plus, this isn't Tracy Claeys recruiting class, it's Kill's. So OP is basically arguing we should have fired Kill even if he didn't retire. That's a lonely opinion in this state.
 

It's simple really. Claeys was hired because he has had a huge part in turning this program around and by all indications so far- will continue to move the program forward. The Kill regime has increased win totals every year until this year. An absolutely brutal schedule this year along with some key injuries keep me from considering this a 'backslide' year. A bowl game is not out of the question yet and the play the last few weeks has been encouraging. Claeys got the players ready when they very easily could have rolled over.

Why jeopardize the rest of this season and the commitments we currently have by not naming Claeys Head Coach and hitting the reset button for no reason?
 

I laugh at the Tony Dungy reference. He would've been a horrible recruiter. I played softball with Tony and Ron Kulus( Gopher ( WR ). Nice guy, but the personality of a damp mop. He fit perfectly in the NFL.
 


You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom