Reusse column: Ego and doubt aren't part of Claeys' makeup

[BleedGopher]

per Pat:

Claeys will tell boosters of the appreciation he has gained for Minnesota, but he will do so sincerely and without the style and spin of Kill, his mentor and predecessor.

Claeys will make the same sincere pitch to recruits, while also adding for the out-of-staters, “Two things we can’t do anything about are the weather and how far you are from mom and dad. If those are going to be big issues, you probably shouldn’t come to Minnesota.”

People close to him say Claeys is the coach who truly means it when he says, “I only want players at Minnesota who fully want to be here.”

You’re not going to get the hard sell from Claeys. You’re not going to get self-promotion. You’re not likely to detect doubt. And if you criticize, chances are good that he won’t even have noticed.

http://www.startribune.com/ego-and-doubt-aren-t-part-of-gophers-coach-tracy-claeys-makeup/370739861/

Go Gophers!!

 

[HoustonTXGopher]

Every time I read an article from Reusse I get a few different feelings: 1. This guy is the vanilla of sports writers. 2. His stories often have no point or get summized in the last paragraph after reading mostly dribble. 3. I rarely learn anything new from his writings. 4. I wonder every time why I continue to spend the 2 minutes it takes to read his articles, but shame on me, I do.

 

[MNGoldenGophers1]

“Two things we can’t do anything about are the weather and how far you are from mom and dad. If those are going to be big issues, you probably shouldn’t come to Minnesota.”

Amen!

 

[Spoofin]

I have wild swings of being confident in TC to being scared he will be a disaster.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Reusse rips the Gophers = Gopher hole posters complain

Reusse writes a very favorable profile of Tracy Claeys = Gopher hole posters complain.

If you took the time to actually read the article, you would find Reusse praising Claeys for his honesty and his intelligence. This may be the most favorable column Reusse has ever written about a Gopher FB coach.

 

[Iceland12]

Reusse rips the Gophers = Gopher hole posters complain

Reusse writes a very favorable profile of Tracy Claeys = Gopher hole posters complain.

If you took the time to actually read the article, you would find Reusse praising Claeys for his honesty and his intelligence. This may be the most favorable column Reusse has ever written about a Gopher FB coach.

Yes, it was a good column and pretty straightly written too.

 

[UpnorthGo4]

Reusse did a lengthy interview with Tracy Claeys on his radio program last week. It is obvious Reusse really likes Tracy because he has proven he can coach defense in the Big 10 and he doesn't try to BS anyone about himself or his team.

 

[WanderingGopher]

per Pat: Claeys will tell boosters of the appreciation he has gained for Minnesota, but he will do so sincerely and without the style and spin of Kill, his mentor and predecessor. Claeys will make the same sincere pitch to recruits, while also adding for the out-of-staters, “Two things we can’t do anything about are the weather and how far you are from mom and dad. If those are going to be big issues, you probably shouldn’t come to Minnesota.” People close to him say Claeys is the coach who truly means it when he says, “I only want players at Minnesota who fully want to be here.” You’re not going to get the hard sell from Claeys. You’re not going to get self-promotion. You’re not likely to detect doubt. And if you criticize, chances are good that he won’t even have noticed. http://www.startribune.com/ego-and-doubt-aren-t-part-of-gophers-coach-tracy-claeys-makeup/370739861/ Go Gophers!!

I think you pretty much have to have some "salesman" in you to be an elite college head coach, though. You can't just say "I only want kids who want to be here." You have to do some persuading.

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

Reusse rips the Gophers = Gopher hole posters complain

Reusse writes a very favorable profile of Tracy Claeys = Gopher hole posters complain.

If you took the time to actually read the article, you would find Reusse praising Claeys for his honesty and his intelligence. This may be the most favorable column Reusse has ever written about a Gopher FB coach.

Reusse gets ripped a lot for ripping Gopher football and basketball. But over the last decade+, those programs have deserved a lot of ripping. They have both had a lot of bad years, a few horrendous ones, and nothing better than a solid to slightly above average season.

 

[Spoofin]

Reusse rips the Gophers = Gopher hole posters complain

Reusse writes a very favorable profile of Tracy Claeys = Gopher hole posters complain.

If you took the time to actually read the article, you would find Reusse praising Claeys for his honesty and his intelligence. This may be the most favorable column Reusse has ever written about a Gopher FB coach.

Your post is one of only 2 in this thread where anyone complained.

 

[Ewert86PC]

Reusse rips the Gophers = Gopher hole posters complain

Reusse writes a very favorable profile of Tracy Claeys = Gopher hole posters complain.

If you took the time to actually read the article, you would find Reusse praising Claeys for his honesty and his intelligence. This may be the most favorable column Reusse has ever written about a Gopher FB coach.

+1 for da short ornery norske!

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[50PoundHead]

Good story. Can't understand who would gripe and what they would gripe about.

 

[bemidjigopher]

Reusse rips the Gophers = Gopher hole posters complain

Reusse writes a very favorable profile of Tracy Claeys = Gopher hole posters complain.

If you took the time to actually read the article, you would find Reusse praising Claeys for his honesty and his intelligence. This may be the most favorable column Reusse has ever written about a Gopher FB coach.

This is classic reuse he always butters up to teams and coaches before ripping them a new one, so he can say he was partial. it's an old Schick. He did this brew, kill, Pitino etc

 

[Old Goph]

I have wild swings of being confident in TC to being scared he will be a disaster.

I believe he will be wildly successful or a disaster or something in between.

 

[MNVCGUY]

I have wild swings of being confident in TC to being scared he will be a disaster.

I'm with you on that one as I really do think it could go either way with him as well. I have a tough time picturing him on the recruiting trail because he is so straight forward and matter of fact. He doesn't seem to have that salesman gene that nearly every head coach has. I could see that really appealing to some recruits but also being a major turn off to some as well.

It will be interesting to watch how he handles things this year now that it is truly his show and Kill is not lingering in the background. Even after Jerry retired last year he wasn't totally out of the thought process of most fans.

 

[citywok]

This is classic reuse he always butters up to teams and coaches before ripping them a new one, so he can say he was partial. it's an old Schick. He did this brew, kill, Pitino etc

I like how you just make up whatever you want to believe! Reusse was the only one to rip Brewster apart after his introductory "Rose Bowl" press conference and he took a ton of flack for it but stayed consistent the whole time. And I have never seen him say one "buttery" thing about Pitino. He probably said a few nice things about Kill because Kill deserved it. Say whatever you want though, as long as it suits your narrative and makes you feel good.

 

[50PoundHead]

I like how you just make up whatever you want to believe! Reusse was the only one to rip Brewster apart after his introductory "Rose Bowl" press conference and he took a ton of flack for it but stayed consistent the whole time. And I have never seen him say one "buttery" thing about Pitino. He probably said a few nice things about Kill because Kill deserved it. Say whatever you want though, as long as it suits your narrative and makes you feel good.

My recollection as well. Reusse can be crotchety, but he's got the best BS detector in town. He ripped the crap out of Brewster from the get-go. I think he liked Kill, but he also didn't like Kill's "poor me" schtick whenever anything went wrong.

 

[Lakeville Goldy]

I'm with you on that one as I really do think it could go either way with him as well. I have a tough time picturing him on the recruiting trail because he is so straight forward and matter of fact. He doesn't seem to have that salesman gene that nearly every head coach has. I could see that really appealing to some recruits but also being a major turn off to some as well.

It will be interesting to watch how he handles things this year now that it is truly his show and Kill is not lingering in the background. Even after Jerry retired last year he wasn't totally out of the thought process of most fans.

My concern is that nobody inherently wants to come to Minnesota, except maybe a handful of MN or surrounding state kids. Why would you randomly want to come here if you're a kid from FL, TX, OH, etc.? You have to sell them. You have to convince them it's the only place they might want to be. And that is the part I'm nervous he can't do. I think Coach Kill was good at that.

The statement about only wanting kids that want to be here only makes sense if we're getting kids that only get one D1 offer and begrudgingly accept coming here. If that is happening I'd have to question our recruiting process anyway. Otherwise I'd have to assuming kids are choosing between multiple schools to come to MN, not being forced to...

 

[corcoran1]

Correct, and Reusse is right. TC is personally incapable of blowing smoke or getting overly enthusiastic about anything until he believes it is real. When JK said Richardson was playing like an All-American DT after the CSU game. Claeys said" I'd like to see it for 4 games before we talk about All-Americans".
His real calling may have been as an actuary, but he won't make dumb impulsive decisions, he is a great judge of talent, and he will act when something is not working, like the oline recruitment and development process.

 

[corcoran1]

I think you pretty much have to have some "salesman" in you to be an elite college head coach, though. You can't just say "I only want kids who want to be here." You have to do some persuading.

Of course, they spend a lot of time and money recruiting kids and it is a lot of selling. But getting kids who will not be happy here is a complete waste.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

“I only want players at Minnesota who fully want to be here.”

I guess I have a slightly different read on what Claeys means by this statement. I take it to mean that they want kids who are 100% sold on the U of M and will be fully committed to the Gopher program. Of course, the Coaches have to "sell" recruits on the program - you can't just sit back and wait for kids to show up. But, once that kid signs a LOI, Claeys wants them to buy in to everything the coaches are teaching - follow all the rules - work hard - support their teammates, etc. If you're not sure the U is right for you, it probably isn't. And, from a coaching standpoint, if you have a kid on the team who isn't 100% committed to the program, that kid has the potential to cause problems on or off the field. It's more trouble than it's worth - no matter how talented that kid may be.

it's just like life - if you are interviewing for a job, and you're not sure it's the right job for you, don't take it. I've seen too many people take jobs they weren't sure about, and they wound up miserable.

 

[STPGopher]

Every time I read an article from Reusse I get a few different feelings: 1. This guy is the vanilla of sports writers. 2. His stories often have no point or get summized in the last paragraph after reading mostly dribble. 3. I rarely learn anything new from his writings. 4. I wonder every time why I continue to spend the 2 minutes it takes to read his articles, but shame on me, I do.

+1 Was just thinking the same thing.

 

[bemidjigopher]

I like how you just make up whatever you want to believe! Reusse was the only one to rip Brewster apart after his introductory "Rose Bowl" press conference and he took a ton of flack for it but stayed consistent the whole time. And I have never seen him say one "buttery" thing about Pitino. He probably said a few nice things about Kill because Kill deserved it. Say whatever you want though, as long as it suits your narrative and makes you feel good.

Try again he endorsed Brewster right before we hired him, sure he changed his mind at the press conference. There's a blog entry he did where he admits Minnesota may have finally gotten right with Kill and Pitino, it was in Pitino's first year after either the OSU and Wisconsin. He also did a pretty favorable piece on Pitino before the start conference last year. I have a long citywok, and I can promise you the first time **** hits the fan with Claeys Pat will be right there to pile on. BTW what's my narrative, I just call it how I see it, Reusse a hypocrite like all other columnist well except for Sib but he can barely, let alone write his own column, but believe whatever your narrative is citywok, you're free to read whoever you want I am just calling a spade a spade

 

[howeda7]

I have wild swings of being confident in TC to being scared he will be a disaster.

This is Gopher football. How many real disasters are there? His floor will still be well above the worst we have seen.

 

[Mulligan]

My recollection as well. Reusse can be crotchety, but he's got the best BS detector in town. He ripped the crap out of Brewster from the get-go. I think he liked Kill, but he also didn't like Kill's "poor me" schtick whenever anything went wrong.

Because he's one of the best BS'ers in town. Nobody puts out a spin on being an alcoholic like he does. Talk about a schtick--it was just one, fun-filled night of boozing it up after another. Bet his young boys and their mother didn't find life that much fun during that time.

 

[Vandy]

Reuse had Coach Claeys on 1500 one afternoon last week for an hour and I thought Claeys was excellent, comes off as very intelligent, and I think that Reusse really likes him.

 

[MNfootballfan]

Try again he endorsed Brewster right before we hired him, sure he changed his mind at the press conference. There's a blog entry he did where he admits Minnesota may have finally gotten right with Kill and Pitino, it was in Pitino's first year after either the OSU and Wisconsin. He also did a pretty favorable piece on Pitino before the start conference last year. I have a long citywok, and I can promise you the first time **** hits the fan with Claeys Pat will be right there to pile on. BTW what's my narrative, I just call it how I see it, Reusse a hypocrite like all other columnist well except for Sib but he can barely, let alone write his own column, but believe whatever your narrative is citywok, you're free to read whoever you want I am just calling a spade a spade

I don't know if I agree with you 100%. On the Pitino example, I thought we were maybe on to something after he led us to the NIT championship his first year but after three or four years I am not sure on him. The team has regressed, most of his key recruits have been suspended or thrown off the team, and the overall program has been a joke for the majority of the year. Reusse has the right to change his mind just like the rest of us. I don't think it makes him a hypocrite, but just judging the full body of work.

Reusse writes a very favorable piece on Claeys and it still isn't good enough for some of you.

 

[Spoofin]

I don't know if I agree with you 100%. On the Pitino example, I thought we were maybe on to something after he led us to the NIT championship his first year but after three or four years I am not sure on him. The team has regressed, most of his key recruits have been suspended or thrown off the team, and the overall program has been a joke for the majority of the year. <b>Reusse has the right to change his mind just like the rest of us. </b>I don't think it makes him a hypocrite, but just judging the full body of work.

<b>Reusse writes a very favorable piece on Claeys and it still isn't good enough for some of you.</b>

And folks aren't required to change their mind either. If they don't like Pat because he typically takes shots at the Gophers, they aren't required to say "all is forgiven" if he writes a complimentary one. I will never like Souhan - even if he writes an article about how great my posts on GH are.

 

[1983]

I'm with you on that one as I really do think it could go either way with him as well. I have a tough time picturing him on the recruiting trail because he is so straight forward and matter of fact. He doesn't seem to have that salesman gene that nearly every head coach has. I could see that really appealing to some recruits but also being a major turn off to some as well.

It will be interesting to watch how he handles things this year now that it is truly his show and Kill is not lingering in the background. Even after Jerry retired last year he wasn't totally out of the thought process of most fans.

I think Claeys will have a successful run here. I think no bull**** trumps phony salesmanship. In the end the no bull**** guy usually gets the sale and many referrals.