Tracy Claeys - What’s he doing now?

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This dude was a competent DC for a short while and people are still lathered up about him - wild.

And not being able to work with others (just let me do my own thing!) is a problem at the D1 level. You have bosses here and working within their frameworks is part of the job. If you can't do that, you aren't a capable hire.

He isn't some super noble guy that just chose to give up money. I think the lack of interest in his employment for D1 coaching goes both ways.

I don't have any malice toward him or other past coaches but egad I wish this off-putting hyper-fetish for the ho-hum Kill/Claeys period would end.
 


Great defensive coach and a solid head coach as well. His one full season, 9-4, is often overlooked but will be fondly remembered more as time goes by
 

strokemonster said:
Yes, that's for sure. I'm not sure why some here seem to have a stiffy for him. He didn't create the situation involving the cheerleader. Could he have handled things differently, maybe- maybe not. I know I would have left with hard feelings, the administration threw him under the PC bus.
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He beat WSU with a bunch of his players missing. It was one of the greatest middle finger moments of Gopher football history when that game ended and Coyle had to watch, knowing that he was playing the role of Judas.

I have great respect for Claeys and the way he was loyal to his players. I hope his days are filled with joy.
 





SamSquatch said:
And not being able to work with others (just let me do my own thing!) is a problem at the D1 level. You have bosses here and working within their frameworks is part of the job. If you can't do that, you aren't a capable hire.
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At the same time, much as I loved him as a coach and really wanted us to hire him, I can't imagine working for Mike Leach would have been the easiest thing for many people.

I wonder if Kill reached out to see if he'd want to go to NMSU with him.
 

PeoplesFront said:
Damn. Some of you all are real dicks.
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No kidding. Tracy is a great guy and not an arrogant prick like some of the uninformed on this thread. I bought some of his Gopher things he accumulated while he was here and spoke with him numerous times. We would be lucky to have him run our D. Don't worry about him, he is doing just fine.
 




HoustonTXGopher said:
I have nothing but respect for Claeys. Anyone posting crap about TC is a real POS!
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If being a head coach at this level was only about coaching football, TC would have been a phenomenal choice as permanent head coach.

But it's not, and so he was not.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
smart guy - math background - has experience in planning, organizing and carrying out strategies - sounds like a good fit for banking.

BTW - my lasting Holiday Bowl memory will always be the sideline camera shots of Kahler and Coyle. The Gophers were putting off an upset while playing short-handed, and the college President and AD looked like someone had just run over their dog. I suspect the decision had already been made to change coaches.........
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The die was cast when he didn't get ahead of the threatened players' boycott. Whether that was the "right" thing to do or not will always be up for debate within the fan base, but from an employee/employer perspective, he had clearly crossed the Rubicon and unlike Caesar, he met a larger force.

Fleck is all PR (Ya Think?!?) and Claeys was basically no-PR. We can debate on the relative value of that to the program as well. I don't know how he would have done going forward. Can't prove the negative so we are resigned to conjecture. I think his next season would have been rough because there wasn't a QB ready to take over for Leidner.

All that said, one certainly can't take away that unbelievable performance against Washington State. He and Sawvel went counter to conventional wisdom on how to handle the Air Raid and it worked like a charm.
 

It is good that the Kill/Claeys era is over as they were not succeeding here. A win over WSU in a bowl (bowl games mean less and less every year) is less meaningful than any regular season conference or P5 win.

It is not disrespectful or hateful or anything else to be glad for a coaching change. Some found him charming, I did not. Some found his style compelling and believed it capable of winning, I did not. Others feel the same.

Honestly if there is ever a coaching change in the near to medium term future, the best thing about that is it pushes the Kill clan down a notch in the conversation tree of past failed Gopher coaches.
 



A shame what happened to him here - blindsided by a sexual imbroglio before the season began, but revealed at the end of the season, just before the bowl game. The girl initiating it got off scot-free, but the boys were persecuted at once, though later some got softer sentences. He was a solid defensive coach and was looking promising in his first year 9-4, which included shutting down Wash St's high-flying offense in the bowl. He deserved better.
 

MNVCGUY said:
+1000 - I am sure some think they are being funny and don't realize they are being an ahole but not sure why some are so compelled to make fun of his size.....it is pretty pathetic.

Claeys was a really good DC, but must have decided the coaching grind just wasn't worth it anymore.
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Lighten up Francis, my god it was a joke.

I'm fat too, but find fat jokes hilarious. Yes even when they're about me.

I must have missed the all comments must have class sign before entering the prestigious Gopher Hole.

Get a grip.
 


short ornery norwegian said:
smart guy - math background - has experience in planning, organizing and carrying out strategies - sounds like a good fit for banking.

BTW - my lasting Holiday Bowl memory will always be the sideline camera shots of Kahler and Coyle. The Gophers were putting off an upset while playing short-handed, and the college President and AD looked like someone had just run over their dog. I suspect the decision had already been made to change coaches.........
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Well, they did have to hang with each other. Pretty cool Coyle came out from under his desk for the trip down.

Tracy has more backbone than most of the people reading this. I can’t know everything about him but respect what I do know and he was always a good listen
 


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