Listening to the athletic director, you got the impression that this entire situation, one that was mishandled from the get-go by Kaler, Coyle and Claeys, enabled Coyle to make a change that he thought would not be possible coming off a nine-win season.
“This isn’t about one specific incident,” Coyle said regarding Claeys’ tweet. “I’ve been here six months. I’ve had a chance to look at that program and all of our programs. I don’t think it’s fair to say (this is about) one thing. I think the events over the past few weeks underscored the concerns and some of the things that I’ve been seeing in that program.”
In his statement, Coyle lays out the fact he feels the football program “most move in a new direction to address challenges in recruiting, ticket sales and the culture of the program.”...
It also puts the pressure squarely on Coyle not to mess this up and I can’t say the trust level in the guy is at a high right now. There will be plenty of names tossed around in the coming days for the head coaching position, including Western Michigan’s P.J. Fleck and his rah-rah act.
You also have to wonder about the fallout from upset players and recruits who will either decide to transfer or de-commit. A primary reason Claeys got this job in the first place is because his presence as coach meant that much of Kill’s staff and philosophy would stay intact.
That is now gone.
“What I took into account was what was in the best long-term interests of our program,” Coyle said. “There’s no reason we can’t compete at the highest level. We’ve got a phenomenal football stadium. We’ve got the Athletes’ Village, a great product that is going to be done a year from now.
“We have a world class institution academically. We have all the pieces of the puzzle. I made the decision today because I feel moving forward we can find a leader who embraces what Minnesota is and what we do well here.”
That all sounds great, Mark, but given the events of the past few weeks, you’ll have to forgive us if we take a wait-and-see attitude.
