Tracy Claeys Hired as Washington State DC

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oak_street1981 said:
I actually won't be shocked if Coyle is gone within a couple years. The fact that he can't speak publicly without quivering is not a good sign. As AD he should be the face of the athletic department and doing PR work. He rarely does, and when he does, he doesn't do it well.
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Great point, all we heard was what a great find Coyle was, a true rabbit out of the hat when we all thought we were getting Beth G. or one of other guys. Well guess what, Coyle is terrible under pressure and terrible at the podium, and generally not a good public advocate for the U of M. In retrospect, I wish we had hired Beth G.

It is ironic that his determined critics still tell us every chance they get that TC was not a good "face of the program" because he was fat, plain spoken, and did not spew silly clichés all day, yet suddenly "quivering", nasally whining, double talking, mealy mouthed Coyle is some great leader and promoter of the U of M. The guy gives no impression of being a leader and has zero charisma to boot.

I think drunken huckleberry Norwood T gave a better impression at first blush than Mark Coyle.

The guy might be great behind the scenes and might have been a brilliant #2, hidden in the back somewhere, but he turns to crap under the bright lights and pressure. Maybe that works back in Ottumwa Iowa or wherever Coyle came from , but he has failed under pressure, and exposed himself at the same time. Being a self preserving weasel as he was in his dealings with Kaler and Claeys does not look good to the average person paying attention.

I would not give Coyle too much credit for Fleck, either although he did get it done. Despite the PR, Oregon was would have been the choice for PJ and they backed out (nice way to say it) or did not buy the act at all, so this was his best bet if he wanted to get paid.[/QUOTE]

Nailed.
 

Vandy said:
I am about 5-10 years older than the parents who will have recruiters in their living rooms next year. For me, I think Claeys' "what you see, is what you get" personna would go over just fine. IMO, he comes off as down home, honest and intelligent. It is clear he can coach, and I would trust him unconditionally with my kid. Leach can provide the backing rah rah.

The fact that he supported his players when the kangaroo court named 4-5 additional players in the scandal, (who were (all?) later cleared of life changing allegations) was a positive for me. Afterthought that the support might have been more subtle, and not on a social media platform may have been in his self interest as for job preservation. But I am of the thought that the decision to fire him was in the works the moment Coyle was hired. As a parent, I'd want to know that the coach is not going to throw my kid under a bus when the s*** hits the fan. Coach Claeys won't.
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Aligns with my thinking. It’s shocking to me that in a university setting, supposedly liberal-minded we had the AD and president lining up against the players quite publicly without benefit of a hearing! All they had to go on at that time was the recommendation of a sole and clearly biased investigator at the EOAA.

Simply standing up like Claeys and holding up both hands, palms out and saying let the process play out, like Claeys and the players did would have been encouraging.

No, the administration above all else feared PR ramifications and lawsuits from accusers and interest groups more than the fear of smearing a small band of resource-poor young black men (Winfield-excepted). Coyle’s inability to explain the SSMS appeals process (or apparently virtually anything) to the team led to the boycott, precipitating Kaler to become involved early on. There was unfortunately no hope of those two competently managing the public message while protecting the accused while the appeal played out. The mob was hungry and Coyle/Kaler threw them red meat.
 


Some excellent points Vandy, Gopher Jay & Pompus Elitest. Well said!
 

imthewalrus said:
Some excellent points Vandy, Gopher Jay & Pompus Elitest. Well said!
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Thank you... And, as Frank Burns once stated on MASH.... It's nice to be nice, ... to the nice. :clap:
 


Pompous Elitist said:
Aligns with my thinking. It’s shocking to me that in a university setting, supposedly liberal-minded we had the AD and president lining up against the players quite publicly without benefit of a hearing! All they had to go on at that time was the recommendation of a sole and clearly biased investigator at the EOAA.

Simply standing up like Claeys and holding up both hands, palms out and saying let the process play out, like Claeys and the players did would have been encouraging.

No, the administration above all else feared PR ramifications and lawsuits from accusers and interest groups more than the fear of smearing a small band of resource-poor young black men (Winfield-excepted). Coyle’s inability to explain the SSMS appeals process (or apparently virtually anything) to the team led to the boycott, precipitating Kaler to become involved early on. There was unfortunately no hope of those two competently managing the public message while protecting the accused while the appeal played out. The mob was hungry and Coyle/Kaler threw them red meat.
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To add to this, it is well documented that Coyle and Kaler's attempt to diffuse the situation when meeting with the FB team actually made things worse. It was two BoR members who took the time to hear out the players. That is what moved things forward.
 



GopherWeatherGuy said:
Based on what? Reality? Claeys would have never became a head coach beyond the interim period in 2015 had the Gophers had an AD in place. He's a lifelong assistant and a good one.
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Never? I bet he could have at a minimum coached at a directional school. It could still happen although it would probably need to be in the next 5 years. If he does well at WSU there may be offers.
 



GopherWeatherGuy said:
Based on what? Reality? Claeys would have never became a head coach beyond the interim period in 2015 had the Gophers had an AD in place. He's a lifelong assistant and a good one.
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Based on the fact that you have no idea if he will ever get hired as a head coach in the future. He just turned 49 years, he is a good coach. Regardless as to whether he is ever a head coach again, it certainly isn't up to you. So for you to say he will never be a head coach again is based on absolutely nothing.
 

HoustonTXGopher said:
Based on the fact that you have no idea if he will ever get hired as a head coach in the future. He just turned 49 years, he is a good coach. Regardless as to whether he is ever a head coach again, it certainly isn't up to you. So for you to say he will never be a head coach again is based on absolutely nothing.
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You're right it's not up to me. But it's pretty easy to draw conclusions based on his history. Most coaches who want to become head coaches don't work under the same coach for 20 years. They try to advance at a young age. His one year opportunity showed moderate success on the field but was a complete failure off of it. I'm sorry, but he will not be a head coach ever again. He'll make a really good living being a defensive coordinator at a P5 school, and I'm sure he's fine with that.
 

gopherjay said:
[/B]

Great point, all we heard was what a great find Coyle was, a true rabbit out of the hat when we all thought we were getting Beth G. or one of other guys. Well guess what, Coyle is terrible under pressure and terrible at the podium, and generally not a good public advocate for the U of M. In retrospect, I wish we had hired Beth G.

It is ironic that his determined critics still tell us every chance they get that TC was not a good "face of the program" because he was fat, plain spoken, and did not spew silly clichés all day, yet suddenly "quivering", nasally whining, double talking, mealy mouthed Coyle is some great leader and promoter of the U of M. The guy gives no impression of being a leader and has zero charisma to boot.

I think drunken huckleberry Norwood T gave a better impression at first blush than Mark Coyle.

The guy might be great behind the scenes and might have been a brilliant #2, hidden in the back somewhere, but he turns to crap under the bright lights and pressure. Maybe that works back in Ottumwa Iowa or wherever Coyle came from , but he has failed under pressure, and exposed himself at the same time. Being a self preserving weasel as he was in his dealings with Kaler and Claeys does not look good to the average person paying attention.

I would not give Coyle too much credit for Fleck, either although he did get it done. Despite the PR, Oregon was would have been the choice for PJ and they backed out (nice way to say it) or did not buy the act at all, so this was his best bet if he wanted to get paid.
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Nailed.[/QUOTE]

Or at least given her a fair shot. Coyle could still turn out to be a decent AD, but...
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
You're right it's not up to me. But it's pretty easy to draw conclusions based on his history. Most coaches who want to become head coaches don't work under the same coach for 20 years. They try to advance at a young age. His one year opportunity showed moderate success on the field but was a complete failure off of it. I'm sorry, but he will not be a head coach ever again. He'll make a really good living being a defensive coordinator at a P5 school, and I'm sure he's fine with that.
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I think if he wanted to he could get a shot at a low level mac school. They often hire guys with much less on their resume'.
 



btowngopher said:
I think if he wanted to he could get a shot at a low level mac school. They often hire guys with much less on their resume'.
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Impossible! GopherWeatherGuy has already spoken and it is impossible for Claeys to get any kind of head coach title in the future. Claeys is fine with being an assistant the rest of his career according to GWG.
 


Another thread the Kaler/Coyle Haters Club turned into rehashing the perceived wrongs done to them.


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scools12 said:
Another thread the Kaler/Coyle Haters Club turned into rehashing the perceived wrongs done to them.


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I am still amazed that everyone other than friends and family isn't part of that club. Not everyone can see what is right in front of them.


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GopherWeatherGuy said:
You're right it's not up to me. But it's pretty easy to draw conclusions based on his history. Most coaches who want to become head coaches don't work under the same coach for 20 years. They try to advance at a young age. His one year opportunity showed <b>moderate success on the field but was a complete failure off of it. </b>I'm sorry, but he will not be a head coach ever again. He'll make a really good living being a defensive coordinator at a P5 school, and I'm sure he's fine with that.
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Will you apply this same criteria to condemn other coaches that you have publicly supported?


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If it makes anyone feel any better the Wazzu Rivals site had a thread dedicated to Coach Claeys hire that quickly devolved into the incident, its treatment, and ultimate fallout.

Just switch out the GH names with theirs and just about the same as here a year ago to today.

I'm hoping they can get past it much quicker than us...so that they can actually enjoy what Coach is going to do for their program's D.
 

BilldGopher said:
If it makes anyone feel any better the Wazzu Rivals site had a thread dedicated to Coach Claeys hire that quickly devolved into the incident, its treatment, and ultimate fallout.

Just switch out the GH names with theirs and just about the same as here a year ago to today.

I'm hoping they can get past it much quicker than us...so that they can actually enjoy what Coach is going to do for their program's D.
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Took a looksie...instead of 4-5 posters it looks like just one with a pitchfork on that site.
 

I don't know how WSU fans see this as anything other than a home run hire.

Good DC with HC experience. Seems to have a lot of personality traits that fit with Leach. DL coach already knows the system.
 


Hope it's not too cold for Clayes there... Lol

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MaxyJR1 said:
I don't know how WSU fans see this as anything other than a home run hire.

Good DC with HC experience. Seems to have a lot of personality traits that fit with Leach. DL coach already knows the system.
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WSU fans will like Claeys. I can't say the same for the other assistant coaches at WSU though. No matter how much they think Claeys might like them they will always be wondering if Claeys will fire them if he becomes head coach just like he fired Limegrover and Zebrowski. They both got 5 second telephone calls from Claeys and nothing more. Limegrover was pissed off by it and so was Kill.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
You're right it's not up to me. But it's pretty easy to draw conclusions based on his history. Most coaches who want to become head coaches don't work under the same coach for 20 years. They try to advance at a young age. His one year opportunity showed moderate success on the field but was a complete failure off of it. I'm sorry, but he will not be a head coach ever again. He'll make a really good living being a defensive coordinator at a P5 school, and I'm sure he's fine with that.
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Not everybody can be PJ Fleck. Most coaches work their way up a little more slowly. Many coaches would love this type of advancement, and many head coaches have resumes that look like this.

1995: D2 defensive line coach
1999: D2 defensive coordinator
2001: FCS defensive coordinator
2008: FBS G5 defensive coordinator
2011: FBS P5 defensive coordinator
 

Cruze said:
WSU fans will like Claeys. I can't say the same for the other assistant coaches at WSU though. No matter how much they think Claeys might like them they will always be wondering if Claeys will fire them if he becomes head coach just like he fired Limegrover and Zebrowski. They both got 5 second telephone calls from Claeys and nothing more. Limegrover was pissed off by it and so was Kill.
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This just in. Tracy Claeys. Worse human than Mark Coyle.
 

e.bigelow said:
This just in. Tracy Claeys. Worse human than Mark Coyle.
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Cruz is the worst there is. He's probably on the WSU Rivals board too. You gotta hope that he's not that way in real life. As for Limegrover, who ended-up at Penn State, he didn't seem angry about it. Sounded both surprised and relived. Seemed pretty sure he'd "land on his feet" too. By the way his hiring at Penn State was announced on 1/13/16.

Didn't take long now did it?

From 11/29/15

Q. What is this like emotionally for you after being with this staff for so long?

A. "To be honest, I’m not even really thinking about it for myself right now because I’m pretty confident, bordering on cocky, that I’ll be able to land on my feet. The whole thing that was going through my mind is that my wife and my kids just love it here. They love where we live, love the community and love the schools. And that’s what really was on my mind that I’m going to have to go home and tell my wife and kids that we’re not going to be here much longer.

"The other thing is, it’s corny and it sounds trite, but those guys [on the coaching staff] are like brothers, and the guys that I’ve worked with for 15, 16, 17 years. You can only imagine what we’ve gone through both good and bad and go through that and have those experiences. I’d never give them back for anything. And the things we did with Coach Kill, and all of us together. So it’s hard, you’re given that news and then you can hardly think straight."

Q. Your offenses under Kill got better every year until this year. Was it a one-year blip?

A. "You’re always looking at it. I never was one who felt like I knew more than anyone else in the room. I always was one to say, 'We’ve got deficiencies, and there are things that need to get better.' And you roll up your sleeves and you get to work and work on getting those things better.

"I will tell you this, I think it is getting harder and harder to do what we wanted to do. And I have no idea what direction Tracy will go from here. I think it gets harder and harder to be able to stick to that. I watch the other teams in our conference, those kind of teams that you think of, they’re going to pound and run the football. And they’re going to do those things that you feel like you need to do in the Big Ten and they’re fewer and fewer of those. So I don’t know."

Limegrover was both offensive coordinator and offensive line coach.

A. "I will say this is a conversation I’ve had with Coach Kill. Obviously we didn’t do as well as we needed to, or I’d still have a job. But from a standpoint of being an offensive line coach and being a coordinator, that took a lot out of me. And I got to the point, I didn’t know if I was doing either one particularly well. And for better or worse, I had a guy who was 100 percent in my corner and wasn’t going to let me out that easy, in Jerry Kill. And he said, 'Hey, we’ll get through this. You know you’re good at what you do and we’ve just got to fight through whatever was happening at the time."

http://www.startribune.com/after-fi...s-confident-he-ll-land-on-his-feet/358317571/
 

And on his hiring at PSU:

Limegrover will take over as Penn State's offensive line coach, the university announced Wednesday afternoon, just two days after Herb Hand left his position with the Nittany Lions to take the same position at Auburn.

The Gophers will travel to Beaver Stadium on Oct. 1, 2016, to take on Penn State in a division-crossover game.

"I am both humbled and honored to join Coach Franklin’s staff and coach at Penn State," Limegrover said in a statement of head coach James Franklin. "Growing up in Western Pennsylvania, I have been a Penn State fan my entire life and to now have the opportunity to coach there is overwhelming. I can’t wait to get there and start working on building an offensive line to help this program become a championship team."

Focusing on just one responsibility is probably best for Limegrover. He told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that being a coordinator and a position coach took a lot out of him. "And I got to the point," he said, shortly after his firing, "I didn't know if I was doing either one particularly well."

Limegrover, who attended the same high school as PSU's new offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead (Pittsburgh Central Catholic), should be an upgrade at offensive line for the Lions. Hand was a respected coach, but his numbers often invited criticism. Since 2010, at both Vanderbilt and Penn State, Hand's offensive lines only once rose above No. 100 in terms of tackles-for-loss allowed and his unit's never finished better than No. 70 nationally.

http://www.espn.com/blog/bigten/pos...rdinator-matt-limegrover-headed-to-penn-state
 

Hates Monikers said:
Not everybody can be PJ Fleck. Most coaches work their way up a little more slowly. Many coaches would love this type of advancement, and many head coaches have resumes that look like this.

1995: D2 defensive line coach
1999: D2 defensive coordinator
2001: FCS defensive coordinator
2008: FBS G5 defensive coordinator
2011: FBS P5 defensive coordinator
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I agree that many coaches would love that type of advancement, but name the 'many' current head coaches that have resumes that look like that? Claeys first time being a head coach was at a P5 program at the age of 47. Many coaches are born natural leaders and want to lead at a young age. I don't think Claeys fits that mold. Look at the other head coaches in the B1G. The following is the age of their first head coaching experience:

Illinois - Lovie Smith - NFL - 45
Indiana - Tom Allen - High School - 34
Iowa - Kirk Ferentz - College - 35
Maryland - DJ Durkin - College - 38
Michigan - Jim Harbaugh - College - 40
Minnesota - PJ Fleck - College - 32
Michigan St - Mark Dantonio - College - 47
Nebraska - Scott Frost - College - 41
Northwestern - Pat Fitzgerald - College - 32
Ohio St - Urban Meyer - College - 36
Penn St - James Franklin - College - 38
Purdue - Jeff Brohm - Arena - 30
Rutgers - Chris Ash - College - 42
Wisconsin - Paul Chryst - College - 46

So Chryst and Dantonio are really the only two that are comparable in college to Claeys. Lovie was also similar age but worked his way up in the NFL. The average age of the current B1G head coaches first head coaching job is 38, nearly 10 years younger than Claeys was.

On top of that, if Kill didn't have health issues, I think he'd still be here and Claeys would still be the DC. I don't think Tracy ever really wanted a HC job, but gave it a shot because it was offered, and increased his pay by 2.5 times. Based on everything I've said, plus what happened last year, I think it's an easy prediction to say he'll never be a HC again.
 

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