Tracy Claeys and others

1/7

All the talk about how the players are upset and the ubiquitous online petition will soon dissipate.  There are some things to maybe look back on.

The "Grow Higher" windbreaker and tie worn by P.J. Fleck are strange.  MAC success has not been a harbinger in the Big Ten.  It will be fun to watch.

Collectively, Minnesota seemed to do the right things.  Still, the president comes off as kind of a weenie and a bit honest too; he admitted Claeys had success, it was tough, he had to side with his hire, but he also appeared to cave in the face of a "few" petitioner/protesters.

The AD, Coyle, wins as something of a tough guy.  He stayed with his convictions--a real coach, for years, and we're willing to pay.  A player boycott on the eve of a bowl game in response to ten suspensions for non-prosecuted "group sex" must have been a rough few days.  There were probably heated discussions and Claeys should have backed-down and supported everyone else (those in power) at the only major football program and state school in Minnesota.

Like D.J. Durkin at Maryland it is a job, and a darn good one.  Fleck went from around $500K to $3.5 million and a 5-year contract.

 Tracy Claeys, aka Goldfinger

1/5

“I won't be stepping foot back in the stadium," Kill told 1500-AM, "and I won't be stepping back into the university."

The quote from Jerry Kill, now offensive coordinator at Rutgers, begins to tell the story.  Kill brought respectability to Minnesota football and then did the right thing in resigning due to epilepsy.  His seizures continued--sometimes during games--and many others, besides Kill and his family, were affected.  Now apparently the advice from his doctors is he can be a coordinator but not a head coach.

I once drove off the interstate in an effort to find Manhattan, Kansas but it wasn't there.  I mean, I didn't drive far enough.  I heard there were hundred-story buildings.

Jerry Kill had been working in the Kansas State athletic department; KSU is Tracy Claeys alma mater.

Predictions for Rutgers' offense aside...  This is an opinion (Kill's) that is not going to become the majority.

Minnesota management acted quickly and strongly.  And the articulate AD came right out and said it:  "recruiting, ticket sales, and the culture of the program" and "athletically, academically, and socially."  Yes, the support of players suspended by the system you work for was a factor.  And suspended from the team by the university is not the same as criminal charges.

Elsewhere in the Big Ten, Kevin Wilson, the other leader of a better than doormat team, was fired for ostensibly the same reasons.  Purdue has hired Jeff Brohm from Western Kentucky.  P.J. Fleck and Western Michigan couldn't match-up with Wisconsin but the coach--all of 36 years old--so far has remained above the money and power-grabbing.

I too never liked the hiring of Claeys--Kill had a unique formula and there was no evidence whatsoever the new coach could succeed the same way.  He fired all Kill's assistants as soon as he became head coach?  Elsewhere in this thread/link there is clarification of why there may not have been criminal charges (i.e., 'bring it on').  But there is another reason:  Claeys is a terrible recruiter.

Nationally, you can see the great teams for now and the near future (plus Clemson):

Oh, poor grammar and an unusual way of looking at things.  Claeys had a parting statement about the weather.

THE DAY AFTER.  From The Post.  It was a gutsy and probably good move.  The Big Ten got better with Phil Fleck.