Tracy Claeys Hired as Washington State DC

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stocker08 said:
Awesome. I already like Wazzu. I'll definitely be rooting them on next year. Although.....Washington has always been my second favorite team. Wazzu is definitely jumping up the list. Love Georgia Tech as well. The triple-option is fun to watch.

Congrats Coach Claeys. Might have been let go after the brilliant (depleted roster) gameplan in the Holiday Bowl last year.....but it undoubtedly helped land the job with Washington State.
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Same. I like Leach's off-the-wall style anyway. Just another reason to root for the Cougars.
 

Great to see Tracy get a shot at a good program in the Power 5. I’ll have more interest in Wazzu now.


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Good for Tracy, he deserves to be a DC.

The Washington St situation is similar to what Sawvel stepped into at Wake. Washington St's defense was very good this year and their defensive coordinator just left for a better job at Ohio St. It's also interesting that Washington St ran the 3-4 under Grinch.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Good for Tracy, he deserves to be a DC.

The Washington St situation is similar to what Sawvel stepped into at Wake. Washington St's defense was very good this year and their defensive coordinator just left for a better job at Ohio St. It's also interesting that Washington St ran the 3-4 under Grinch.
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If Grinch is going to tOSU to be a Defensive Coordinator he certainly is getting a better job. If, as is rumored, he's gonna be the 10th assistant at tOSU it isn't.

Most people out in Washington gave credit to Jeff Phelps for the improvement in the Defense this year. Phelps was on Claeys staff here at Minnesota if you didn't remember.

From the Spokane Spokesman-Review

This isn’t the first time Leach has gone to the 2016 Minnesota staff for help on the defensive side of the ball. Weeks after the Holiday Bowl loss to the Golden Gophers, WSU hired ex-Minnesota defensive line coach Jeff Phelps to lead the same position group in Pullman. Phelps’ first season in charge of the Cougars’ D-line was a major success. WSU finished 20th in the FBS with 2.85 sacks per game and the Cougars were tied for ninth nationally with 7.9 tackles-for-loss per game. Phelps worked under Claeys for six years at Minnesota and was Claeys’ D-line coach at Northern Illinois for two years before that..
 

Vandy said:
Good for coach Claeys. He got a raw deal from AD Coyle.

This looks awfully good on paper for Washington State. The front man Leach can orchestrate an offense, and the reserved Claeys can really build and coach a defense, and I think recruits parents like and will put their trust in him too. A great balance of personalities.

Very intriguing pairing, and looks to be a winner.
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This. Congrats to Claeys!
 


Iceland12 said:
If Grinch is going to tOSU to be a Defensive Coordinator he certainly is getting a better job. If, as is rumored, he's gonna be the 10th assistant at tOSU it isn't.

Most people out in Washington gave credit to Jeff Phelps for the improvement in the Defense this year. Phelps was on Claeys staff here at Minnesota if you didn't remember.

From the Spokane Spokesman-Review

This isn’t the first time Leach has gone to the 2016 Minnesota staff for help on the defensive side of the ball. Weeks after the Holiday Bowl loss to the Golden Gophers, WSU hired ex-Minnesota defensive line coach Jeff Phelps to lead the same position group in Pullman. Phelps’ first season in charge of the Cougars’ D-line was a major success. WSU finished 20th in the FBS with 2.85 sacks per game and the Cougars were tied for ninth nationally with 7.9 tackles-for-loss per game. Phelps worked under Claeys for six years at Minnesota and was Claeys’ D-line coach at Northern Illinois for two years before that..
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He's co-defensive coordinator at Ohio State. So whenever Schiano gets another job I'm assuming he'll be the main DC.
 

Iceland12 said:
If Grinch is going to tOSU to be a Defensive Coordinator he certainly is getting a better job. If, as is rumored, he's gonna be the 10th assistant at tOSU it isn't.

Most people out in Washington gave credit to Jeff Phelps for the improvement in the Defense this year. Phelps was on Claeys staff here at Minnesota if you didn't remember.

From the Spokane Spokesman-Review

This isn’t the first time Leach has gone to the 2016 Minnesota staff for help on the defensive side of the ball. Weeks after the Holiday Bowl loss to the Golden Gophers, WSU hired ex-Minnesota defensive line coach Jeff Phelps to lead the same position group in Pullman. Phelps’ first season in charge of the Cougars’ D-line was a major success. WSU finished 20th in the FBS with 2.85 sacks per game and the Cougars were tied for ninth nationally with 7.9 tackles-for-loss per game. Phelps worked under Claeys for six years at Minnesota and was Claeys’ D-line coach at Northern Illinois for two years before that..
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Grinch will be co-defensive coordinator with Schiano. If Schiano doesn't get a better opportunity this offseason, he very likely will next offseason, essentially making Grinch the defensive coordinator in waiting.
 

Wow- it's like these last two posters are the same person![emoji6]


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Spoofin said:
Agree on all points. I'm not surprised at all that TC landed a P5 DC position.

As to your first sentence - I keep waiting for MC to hammer Pitino for the 'culture' at Williams arena. It is almost like he wasn't honest about why TC was let go. Raw deal.


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If pitino supported a player boycott until Reggie lynch was reinstated, he would be fired and should be fired.


Do you disagree?
 



Congrats Coach.

Looking forward to what you can do. I will not be surprised by a very good result.
 

BilldGopher said:
Congrats Coach.

Looking forward to what you can do. I will not be surprised by a very good result.
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Agree. DC is a good role for him. I think he did a good job of building a defensive identity at Minnesota that no other coach had done in recent memory.
 


Some guy said:
If pitino supported a player boycott until Reggie lynch was reinstated, he would be fired and should be fired.


Do you disagree?
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Wouldn’t it be a little more accurate to say if 5 or 6 of Lynch’s teammates were suspended and nobody up to and including the AD and president could competently explain the appeals process and the team subsequently boycotted and Pitino supported his player’s right to get answers via 140 characters then he should be fired? I mean, what nuanced situation can’t be explained in 140 characters? And then, lacking common sense and already prejudiced vs the sender the peanut gallery draws their own silly conclusions while ignoring any offered clarifications. Pompous indignation ensues.

Is that what you meant to say?
 



Pompous Elitist said:
Wouldn’t it be a little more accurate to say if 5 or 6 of Lynch’s teammates were suspended and nobody up to and including the AD and president could competently explain the appeals process and the team subsequently boycotted and Pitino supported his player’s right to get answers via 140 characters then he should be fired? I mean, what nuanced situation can’t be explained in 140 characters? And then, lacking common sense and already prejudiced vs the sender the peanut gallery draws their own silly conclusions while ignoring any offered clarifications. Pompous indignation ensues.

Is that what you meant to say?
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Yes, and then maybe if 4 or 5 more guys were added last minute who were not even there...now it gets even closer to what you probably meant to say?
 

Congratulations Coach Claeys. This seems like it could be a good fit.

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HoustonTXGopher said:
Exactly! I think Coyle needed to be up front with the real reason he let Claeys go, it would have been the right thing to do for Claeys and Gopher fans. I can't stand dishonesty and Coyle reeks of it.
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Spot on.
 


HoustonTXGopher said:
Exactly! I think Coyle needed to be up front with the real reason he let Claeys go, it would have been the right thing to do for Claeys and Gopher fans. I can't stand dishonesty and Coyle reeks of it.
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"I made a difficult decision today on behalf of the University of Minnesota. With the support of Board of Regents’ leadership and President Eric Kaler, I have decided to take the Gophers football team in a different direction with new coaching leadership. I determined that the football program must move in a new direction to address challenges in recruiting, ticket sales and the culture of the program. We need strong leadership to take Gopher football to the next level and address these challenges."

This was Coyle's opening statement. What more should he have said to "be up front"?

Also, very happy for Claeys. This is a perfect situation for him at WSU.
 

goldy93 said:
"I made a difficult decision today on behalf of the University of Minnesota. With the support of Board of Regents’ leadership and President Eric Kaler, I have decided to take the Gophers football team in a different direction with new coaching leadership. I determined that the football program must move in a new direction to address challenges in recruiting, ticket sales and the culture of the program. We need strong leadership to take Gopher football to the next level and address these challenges."

This was Coyle's opening statement. What more should he have said to "be up front"?

Also, very happy for Claeys. This is a perfect situation for him at WSU.
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He said it all here and unfortunately Claeys and Kill and some others only heard the word culture and got their feelings hurt.

I supported the decision then and now. Hopefully everyone can move on.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
He said it all here and unfortunately Claeys and Kill and some others only heard the word culture and got their feelings hurt.

I supported the decision then and now. Hopefully everyone can move on.
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Agree 100% with this.

Also, congrats to Tracy Claeys. He can definitely coach defense and I wish him nothing but success. Just never against the Gophers. :cool: This could definitely help Wazzu improve their D. It will still be a challenge to get kids to commit to Pullman, WA though as it always has been. Best of luck to him!
 

goldy93 said:
"I made a difficult decision today on behalf of the University of Minnesota. With the support of Board of Regents’ leadership and President Eric Kaler, I have decided to take the Gophers football team in a different direction with new coaching leadership. I determined that the football program must move in a new direction to address challenges in recruiting, ticket sales and the culture of the program. We need strong leadership to take Gopher football to the next level and address these challenges."

This was Coyle's opening statement. What more should he have said to "be up front"?

Also, very happy for Claeys. This is a perfect situation for him at WSU.
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Glad to see that TC has found a new place to coach at WSU. Happy for him and hope he does well there.

As to the Coyle statement: challenges in recruiting - Only class signed by Claeys was one of the best we had ever had. The class he was working on wasn't highly rated at the time but the recruiting season wasn't finished. Also, the recruiting philosophy of JK/TC was different and it worked for them. The only challenges were in the minds of those who wanted to win a mythical top __ recruiting ranking and not actually win on the field.
Ticket Sales - Winning games sells tickets and as has been discussed on here quite a bit, the donation amounts were the reason for the ticket sales problem, not the product on the field. If the HC was the reason for the ticket sales decline, then why didn't those sales skyrocket this past season?
As the AD, he is just as responsible for the culture of the program, as he sets the tone for the entire athletic department. A great AD would have helped a first time head coach get through the incident from way back in Sept. and all the way through the entire process. Don't really feel that he did that.

Had his statement been "I made a difficult decision today on behalf of the University of Minnesota. With the support of Board of Regents’ leadership and President Eric Kaler, I have decided to take the Gophers football team in a different direction with new coaching leadership. I want to thank Coach Claeys for his years of service as an assistant coach and as the head coach this past year. The foundation that Coach Kill and Cleays built in their time here is solid. With the addition of the new practice facilites, Gopher Football is positioned well to take that next step within the BIG and nationally and feel a new coach will be able to get us there. Again I want to thank coach Claeys for all he has done for the U of M and wish him well in his next endeavor.
We wouldn't still be having discussions over it. He left himself open for much criticism for the way he handled the whole thing.
 

One year later and people still can't move on. Unreal
 

GFBfan said:
Glad to see that TC has found a new place to coach at WSU. Happy for him and hope he does well there.

As to the Coyle statement: challenges in recruiting - Only class signed by Claeys was one of the best we had ever had. The class he was working on wasn't highly rated at the time but the recruiting season wasn't finished. Also, the recruiting philosophy of JK/TC was different and it worked for them. The only challenges were in the minds of those who wanted to win a mythical top __ recruiting ranking and not actually win on the field.
Ticket Sales - Winning games sells tickets and as has been discussed on here quite a bit, the donation amounts were the reason for the ticket sales problem, not the product on the field. If the HC was the reason for the ticket sales decline, then why didn't those sales skyrocket this past season?
As the AD, he is just as responsible for the culture of the program, as he sets the tone for the entire athletic department. A great AD would have helped a first time head coach get through the incident from way back in Sept. and all the way through the entire process. Don't really feel that he did that.

Had his statement been "I made a difficult decision today on behalf of the University of Minnesota. With the support of Board of Regents’ leadership and President Eric Kaler, I have decided to take the Gophers football team in a different direction with new coaching leadership. I want to thank Coach Claeys for his years of service as an assistant coach and as the head coach this past year. The foundation that Coach Kill and Cleays built in their time here is solid. With the addition of the new practice facilites, Gopher Football is positioned well to take that next step within the BIG and nationally and feel a new coach will be able to get us there. Again I want to thank coach Claeys for all he has done for the U of M and wish him well in his next endeavor.
We wouldn't still be having discussions over it. He left himself open for much criticism for the way he handled the whole thing.
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YES to all of this.
 

Great news! All good wishes to Coach Claeys, the winningest coach, percentage-wise, at Minnesota since Bernie Bierman (11-8, and all eight ranked either at time played or at end of season). Should be good for WSU, which already has a great offense.
 



60's Guy said:
Yes, and then maybe if 4 or 5 more guys were added last minute who were not even there...now it gets even closer to what you probably meant to say?
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Get your facts right. Nine of the ten players were there. Four of them where accused of sexual assault, sexual harassment, lying, and obstructing the investigation. The other five players were accused of sexual harassment, lying, and obstructing the investigation. The only player who wasn't there was accused of lying and obstructing the investigation.
 

DC is a better spot for him than a head coaching job. Hopefully he learned from his experience here how to better handle himself in the public aspects of the job. Best of luck to him.
 

Ski U Master said:
DC is a better spot for him than a head coaching job. Hopefully he learned from his experience here how to better handle himself in the public aspects of the job. Best of luck to him.
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Yep, not surprised to see him go this route and also not surprised he was able to land a power 5 DC job either. Claeys is a very good coach he just isn't cut out to be a head coach. High level DC is a perfect fit for him.
 

Johnnyboy18 said:
One year later and people still can't move on. Unreal
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Yep, even brought back a poster who only posts about the subject and on a couple of boards at that. Along with the disgruntled, a few passive/aggressive haters and just plain haters too.

Just be glad that all the "Claeys will never get a big time job again" guys have stayed out of it. Not surprised that the the ones who did post haven't offered any "Mea Culpas".
 

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