We live in a world of immediate gratification and immediate reaction and predictably, a lot of what we are seeing right now is that the sky is falling and Gopher Football is ready to take a major step back. I'm not sure I believe in all this. Whether you agree with TC being fired or not, the real assessment of the situation is much harder to make right now since we don't know what we are getting in TC's place. Lots of emotion based off limited information. The view may look a lot different when the new coach is hired. That will lead to more takes about whether the U of M succeeded or failed in replacing TC. But know this - as polarizing as Coyle has been to date, this decision will be THEE decision of his tenure. His honeymoon has already ended and by firing a coach with the 3rd most wins of all time for a season and good APR, the pressure is squarely on Coyle to earn the money he is commanding.
I'm not going to get emotional about the decision. I'm going to remember the quotes and the talking points about bringing someone "to raise the athletic, academic and social status of the program". The Claeys bar for Minnesota standards has been set and whoever comes in next shouldn't get a "rebuild" so to speak. Had Coyle stood behind Claeys, the ship likely steadies itself. The firing causes the flux in recruiting, holding onto current players and any momentum from the bowl win. The firing came from Coyle himself. His words. So he is the one who threw those things into flux. It then becomes his job to right the ship and get a guy who can steady those things and in short fashion. Whoever gets the job shouldn't get to use the old "I need to time to change the culture" line or the common "the cupboard is bare" phrase. I think we all know that an isolated incident doesn’t mean you have to throw the baby out with the bath water and a coach taking this job isn’t building off a Brewster regime.
You are coming off a 9-win season and arguably the best bowl win of all time for the team. You had some momentum and you willingly cut off the supply. I don't have a problem with any of this if you can hire a guy who does indeed "take the program to the next level". But that will be a taller task than what I think key admins think it will be.
So remember the words and the talking points of today and monitor if the 800k man can make good on them. If he can, then good for him and good for all Gopher fans. If he can't, then his master plan should seal his own fate. Coyle unceremonioulsy ended Claeys' clock today. But his clock offically started.
I'm not going to get emotional about the decision. I'm going to remember the quotes and the talking points about bringing someone "to raise the athletic, academic and social status of the program". The Claeys bar for Minnesota standards has been set and whoever comes in next shouldn't get a "rebuild" so to speak. Had Coyle stood behind Claeys, the ship likely steadies itself. The firing causes the flux in recruiting, holding onto current players and any momentum from the bowl win. The firing came from Coyle himself. His words. So he is the one who threw those things into flux. It then becomes his job to right the ship and get a guy who can steady those things and in short fashion. Whoever gets the job shouldn't get to use the old "I need to time to change the culture" line or the common "the cupboard is bare" phrase. I think we all know that an isolated incident doesn’t mean you have to throw the baby out with the bath water and a coach taking this job isn’t building off a Brewster regime.
You are coming off a 9-win season and arguably the best bowl win of all time for the team. You had some momentum and you willingly cut off the supply. I don't have a problem with any of this if you can hire a guy who does indeed "take the program to the next level". But that will be a taller task than what I think key admins think it will be.
So remember the words and the talking points of today and monitor if the 800k man can make good on them. If he can, then good for him and good for all Gopher fans. If he can't, then his master plan should seal his own fate. Coyle unceremonioulsy ended Claeys' clock today. But his clock offically started.
