@Littlefinger my condolences on your sig heartthrob. that is unless you are really Joe Jonas, in which case, screw you.

Love the sig, gave me greater appreciation for her beyond GoT.

http://www.news.com.au/entertainmen...s/news-story/5e31adc1c561f29bb2f249e8edb3ec68

I was thinking about this and Sawvel has a lot of contacts out there.. I have no idea of his relationship with Matt Campbell at Iowa State but both played at Mount Union and the local recruiting area would be similar to Minnesota... I wonder if Kill will help Claeys find a job(not necessarily Rutgers) but at a school in Kansas or maybe back to a MAC school. I WANT SAWVEL to STAY AT MINNESOTA but I dont think that will happen. Just thought it is an interesting topic to consider.

Chicago?

Kaler, Coyle and 3 others in Chicago, where Harsin's and Fleck's agents are HQ'ed.

Like they say, it's a small world.

For a new coach to honor all of the previous staff's commitments and offers?

I gotta believe that will be the case here, with signing day less than four weeks away.

Also, how many recruits will the new coach bring with him from his old job?

A lot of moving targets.

Let's evaluate Coyle on how he is doing as AD. First, his fundraising prowess seems poor. He had a honeymoon period, but seems by all objective accounts to be lackluster on fundraising even before this scandal hit. Second, ticket sales seem to be languishing in both basketball and football (not sure about hockey). His step of cancelling the increase seems to have been a step in the right direction, but otherwise the marketing effort institutionally seemed weak and he personally did nothing to generate enthusiasm. Third, his ability to communicate has been poor. He has been a combination of invisible, inconsistent (I am going to extend Claeys even though I know what is going on behind the scene and then Claeys in unacceptable; privacy is paramount except the names of the 10 players will be on the front page), bungling (player meetings, full contract versus buyout), and dishonest (Claeys is responsible for the suspensions). Fourth, his poor crisis management skills have allowed a huge rift to develop between him and the student athletes. An extended search or poor replacement coach that guts recruiting and exacerbates transfers should be the end of him. Likewise, failure on the field next year should be the end of him. You do not get a grace period when you were a huge part of causing the problem.

www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-01-04/college-football-s-top-teams-are-built-on-crippling-debt

i really think that Kaler has been the nitwit behind the scenes. I'm sensing Coyle is the stud we heard he was and will now clearly take the reigns. He's only been here 6 months, not a long time to understand culture and impact change. But his time is now. I'm thinking Kaler will be exposed as the weak link...not Coyle. A hunch.

In a new article late tonight by Joe Christensen:

Board of Regents Chairman Dean Johnson said Wednesday “now’s probably the time to notch it up” and pay what it takes to land a top coach.

“We have to make a decision: Are we just going to have a midrange football program, or do we make substantial investments to take us to the next level?” Johnson said.

Johnson said in the current marketplace, the caliber of coach the Gophers seek likely will cost “anything from $2 million to $4 million [per year].”

Regent Michael Hsu had a comment expressing concern, yet he seemed open to hearing an explanation or plan. He always seems to be like that. It's hard to get a clear read on some of these guys. But I like Johnson's comments. $2M is very low. But at least he seems open to $4M. Which is better than what I thought the Regents would be okay with.

I think its starting to breath...

Training wheels off?
We shall see

Finebaum gets on ESPN and said this was the ONLY MOVE to fire Claeys.. When asked if Fleck was the right person, he said (paraphase) MINNESOTA IS COLD AND UGLY....FLECK would come for a couple years and then leave for his "dream job".. Finebaum is a SEC guy.. Dont know why he has that opinion.. Needs to spend some time in the beautiful state of Minnesota and re-educate himself so he has a knowledgable opinion.. SMH.

Name has popped up twice in following coaching news:

Fleck def coordinator Ed Pinkham was a Gutey coach 89-91.

John's son, Brian, is interviewing for General Manager jobs in NFL. Brian played at UW LaCrosse and has worked his way up the personnel ladder in NFL, currently as Packers director of player personnel.

The decision to not stick with Claeys is opposite of what we did with Gutey.

We get our 2nd shot at Michigan State coming up soon.. I think they will be a different team than we saw at the Barn because of the return of Miles Bridges.. I think the kid has a lot to work on before moving to pros but as far as upside, I dont think he has many peers nationally as a freshman. His game reminds me of a young Clark Kellogg, former Ohio State great... Similar size and skills though I think Kellogg passed the ball a bit better at that same age. Big body with lots of ball skills. After watching him play a bit, it just reinforces the fact that we need to continue to stay really focused on each opponent and never get 'satisfied'.. There is always work to do for the next opponent, and that is why the Big Ten is so fun to watch, each game.

It has been interesting to observe the outrage from the current players, especially the senior leadership. But if you're upset about the Head Coach firing, the players need to look in the mirror.

Coach told them that their boycott could likely cost him his job. They ignored this and still boycotted. Don't tell me that their stand was so important or more important than their coach's job. If that was true, why did they drop the boycott so quickly. Don't tell me about principles. If it was that clear and important and righteous, it would have been worth carrying on the boycott.

The players had a number of smarter options to express their concerns about due process. The content of Coughlin's post today in a press conference form without threats or ridiculous demands of all their teammates being reinstated would have resonated and would have been supported across the country.

So sorry Seniors but you kind of failed your coach. Your arrogance and privilege blinded you. You let your coach, who was about to grudgingly get an extension, be hung out to dry.

I'll repeat, Coach told you he would likely lose his job and you didn't respect him enough or care enough to do more homework, get better advice, etc.

Blaise Andries: Blaise and his family were pretty close with Bart Miller and really admired Tracy Claeys and the staff. Still, I'm pretty confident that he'll stay committed.

Eric Abojei: He'll stay committed and has told me as much.

Javan Hawes: I'm sure he'll look around. He recently picked up offers from Cincinnati and East Carolina. Initially, he was really interested in Cincinnati, which is the area that he's originally from, but Anderson talked him out of that interest almost completely. Now that the staff is gone, I wouldn't be surprised if he visited East Carolina. I'm sure he'll visit Cincinnati if his offer there is still commitable, although I'm not sure it is since it was their old staff, not Luke Fickell, that offered.

Joshua Croslen: He may look around a little bit but right now Minnesota is his only Power 5 option. He had an excellent senior season so he may get more offers but that hasn't happened yet.

Claudin Cherelus: Pretty confident he'll stay committed.

Trey Creamer: Creamer may look around, but right now Minnesota is his only Power 5 offer. Georgia Southern was recruiting him hard before he committed to Minnesota and has kept recruiting him. He recently retweeted at Georgia Southern recruit, too. Remember he's from Georgia so I'm sure there's some local appeal for him.

Jakyle Homes: Pretty confident he'll stay committed. Minnesota is his only Power 5 option. He liked Tulane a lot but that interest ran dry in the last few months, I believe.

Bryson Jackson: Jackson told me a couple weeks ago to refer to him as a soft commit, so I would say he'll certainly be looking around. I would think that he'll leave if Mike Sherels is not on the next staff, but my gut says Sherels will be wanted and will stay.

Grant Ryerse: He's from a family of season ticket holders. I can't imagine that he won't stay committed.

Nate Bursch: Very confident he'll stay committed.

Dominik London: Very confident he'll stay committed.

Brett Kitrell: Kitrell doesn't have any other Power 5 offers, so I would think he'll stay committed or at least wait it out and see who the next coach is.

Raheem Layne: I think Layne will take visits to Vanderbilt, Purdue, and maybe Indiana. Unfortunately, he's already taken his official visit here, so that makes it tough for the next coach.

Neil McLaurin: Very confident about him staying, as this was his only FBS option.

Jimmie Terry: I think Terry will stay committed, or at least wait it out and see who the next coach will be. He really admired Bart Miller and I'm sure is upset that the staff is leaving. He cited the Gophers' success and playing in the Big Ten as the reasons why he liked Minnesota so much, and this is his only Power 5 option right now.

All in all, I don't think there will be nearly as many initial decommits like there are for some transitions.

As for the targets, just about everything changes, and I would expect the new coach to have their own batch of targets. If this makes the recruiting hit easier to swallow, remember that I said Minnesota was the frontrunner for just three of the Gophers' top ten targets (Handy-Holly, Mafe, and Huntley), and since then Mafe has picked up a Rutgers offer.

---

Also, I was able to get quotes from several of the commits here.

Nothing? Insiders -> feel free to PM me any info you need to get off of your chest in regard to the coaching search.

Here is my offering (more Sierra Skye):

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Eric Abojei: “I’m honestly disappointed. I was extremely excited to be coached under him this year. I’ll keep doing more research on what happened. God bless him.”

Neil McLaurin: “It’s a lot going on right now but hopefully things get settled by the time the new guys arrive. I couldn’t believe that he was fired, and I really wanted to get to know Coach CLaeys and being coached by him, but now we have to look forward and put that behind us. We have to prepare ourselves for the next head coach to be able to get the job done.”

Trey Creamer: “I’m trying to figure things out like the other recruits are.”

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Dominik London: “I’m trying to figure it out.”

Grant Ryerse: "My parents and I are talking tonight but we're just trying to figure things out for now."

Nate Bursch: "Have lots of mixed emotions."

Jimmie Terry:
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Javan Hawes:
Hawes deleted an earlier tweet saying he was committed but opening up his recruitment, and has since tweeted this:
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Blaise Andries:
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I'll update this as I get more responses.

To me this is the primary issue with Claey's firing and the other events that have transpired as well. Was it just?

Coyle's statement about this being the just thing to do made me ask just that. I write this not knowing everything about the events and all that has transpired or what has gone on behind closed doors, but recent events have been pretty overwhelming. As someone that has expressed my opinion (maybe a little extreme, but....)

Anyways, to me the issues break down like this

1. Title IX - The biggest problem...A Group of NCAA Lawyers are going to have to camp outside Pres. Elect Trumps office on this one...and quickly...Even Lawyers have a lot of problems with this one.

On a side note, I can appreciate one aspect of the issue. Increased physical violence on campuses and the need to protect students places a lot more pressure on Universities to protect students and deal with perpetrators.

2. U's bungling of this.
a. About everyone this side of China realizes the U has bungled this big time. The initial suspensions and hiding behind the laws. The timing and how the in general went about it. As one person stated "This is a textbook example how not to handle it". It smacks of Liberal Elite arrogance and the basic belief I have that Liberal elites are great at messing things up for the average man and then placing the blame on others.
b. The long (50 years) history of degrading football and to a lessor extent BB programs in favor of pleasing the liberal elitist.
c. The suspension of 10 players without due process right before the bowl game.
d. The double standard of protecting a girl who may well not be innocent yet publicly damaging 10 players probably for the rest of their lives. (not against protecting victims, especially to public exposure...that is necessary, but what about innocent until proven guilty)
e. Kaler's and Coyle's handling of this.
f. Coyle's firing of Claeys
i. was it just that "Just"
ii. Ulterior motive - Was this more about replacing Claeys with his own guy and this gave him the opportunity...Let me just say if this is the case, that wipes the "justness" of his decision right out the window IMO. Either this firing is about how Claeys handled himself and his position as HC or it is not! Don't use one to cover up the other.
iii. Coyle came across very strongly in his statement with the benefit of the players gone on winter break...I wonder if he would have had the same composure if they were in school at the time and he faced them.
iv. It is almost as if Coyle is telling the students "If you don't like it, feel free to leave!"

3. Claeys firing
This is where it gets even murkier, especially since I have wanted to see Claeys and staff retained.
i. The problem is if he did know about the suspensions, he should have been with his team and discouraged the protest. Claeys makes it appear he knew nothing about the suspensions and than left for San Diego. Although I truly believe the U bungled this by being so quick with the hatchet, I gotta side with Mason on This. Claeys should have stayed home and been there.

If Claeys knew and signed off (I can believe he knew since I seriously doubt Coyle's would have not told him first) yet left for SD without being sensitive to how the players would react, then endorsing their behavior rather than taking charge of the situation, I am afraid I have to agree that he should be fired.

Not only that, the players themselves should rethink how far they take their support of Coach Claeys on this.

Even though he is still young as a HC, and I have no problem believing he was not experienced enough to handle this and it was something not necessarily covered in the rules to coach by textbook, it showed some pretty pour judgment.

I do think the expressed concern of the players willing to boycott the game for the just treatment of their teammates was admirable, yet they should have made the decision after seeing the report not before.

Along with this, I wonder if the U simply did not have confidence in his judgment as a HC and his ability to keeping the players in check. Given the history of the U in regards to student behavior, this is at least understandable.

If the firing was am excuse to bring in someone else, this was a horrid mistake and will unnecessarily damage the U.

The players. Great they are standing for their teammates, but what is just in this situation. Being a long time fan (and conservative btw.) I can fully appreciate the frustration dealing with the U, the BOR, Kaler and Coyle who seemed to have no problem smearing 10 players, behave as if they are simply rightly dutifully doing their jobs and treating everyone as if they are not as enlightened.

Along with this the Title IX injustices to go along with the police and DA not wanting to press charges, but the U seems "out to get the players anyway" without considering the perceived attack on the entire football program.,

That said, they really should have at least read the report before protesting. Players that want to leave should step back at and breath first and really look at what is right. At this time, it is all about the brotherhood of the team and the damage the school has done. It really needs to be about what is truly just and right. If what is just and right dictates, that is one thing, but if it is about protecting players whose behavior is wrong and needs to be held accountable, that is another thing!

I know other issues have floated through my mind since yesterday, but just wanted to try to figure out what is a right and truly just position. As far as I am concerned, what is truly just needs to be first.

A little feedback is appreciated.

Row the boat...
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Pregame speech...
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Cool to see his direction and work ethic in year one back when he was 0-4 and he wasn't a big name...
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A week in the life this November...
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brutal

Dean Johnson, chairman of the Board of Regents spoke to KFAN today:

FWIW I thought Johnson did a good job and did not avoid any questions. He answered everything that he said he had knowledge of, and explained the process of the hearings that people were unsure about. Did not really answer anything about coaching search, as I'm guessing that was told to be avoided.

-After years in the state senate, house, and BOR, life is filled with controversy and your job is to fix it and find answers.

-There’s an old saying, “The buck stops here”, and it stops with me on the BOR, and it goes right on through the whole chain of people involved. What we have to do is learn from what happened.

-Most people thought alleged players and people thought it was over once the police deemed them not guilty. Did not realize EOAA was still doing investigation. Student code of conduct is more stringent than the law. That was not communicated well.

-This is not the first or last crisis at Minnesota. It is important how we manage these going forward. We talked about that aspect of it at yesterday’s meeting.

-The hearings will take place for the players this January to the panel, and they will give their side, the appeal will be sent, and they have 30 days to decide.

-Tracy Claeys is an honorable human being, and that makes it even harder for this entire staff. Graduation rates have gone up, attendance has gone up, and the team won eight and nine wins. I think he has done wonderful things for the University.

-On the other side, eight recruiting sites have rated us last in the big ten, and ticket sales have gone way down.

-Coyle said on behalf of the University that he thought it was best that they moved on. Johnson gulped, removed himself, and questioned if it was the right move, then accepted it and decided to move forward.

-Not sure on time period of the new coach, but the sooner the better.

-Claeys gets $500,000 buyout and coaches get one year salary and benefits.

-I traveled to San Diego for the bowl game with the coaches and players. I have nothing but respect for players and coaches.

-Not putting words in Mark Coyle’s mouth, but I think he was talking back to September 2nd, when the coaches and rest of us were sleeping. That’s not acceptable, and there needs to be more mentoring and monitoring of these players.

-Need to address the problem of binge drinking.

-Being a coach is more than just worrying about your next opponent. It’s also about caring about your players and making them into people of our society that are mature and help them grow.

-There was miscommunication. Claeys tweet was miscommunication. Things like that in the heat of the moment can get you in trouble. I believe he meant to stand up for the players that were not alleged of the punishment, but it came across that he was in support of all of the individuals.

-They felt they were not being heard and getting due process. It was a communication issue all the way.

-Leaking the report was both helpful and unhelpful. Once that was done, the tide changed. Different students of the ten, are alleged to have done different things. The hearing is so important because it presents each one to give their side of the story.

-I honestly can’t give a comment on the availability of the report because I don’t know. I expect they all (Coyle, Claeys, Kaler) had access, but I do not know that as a fact.

-Before we tweet, text, or communicate, we better have all the facts. Claeys did not have all the facts when he did that. Lesson learned. Know the facts before you speak and tweet.

-Our job is to hire and hold our president accountable. It is very difficult to be a college or university president. We have a confidential way for people to give feedback on his performance with reviews, and that happens every year. Athletic department now in the same category as Penn State, and Baylor.

-Told his wife that his New Year's resolution is to keep Minnesota out of the news unless its for a championship, or the cure for cancer.

-Not sure about Claeys and Coyle’s different stories on knowing about the suspensions. There is some frustration around the issue, but he does not know what is fact so he can’t comment.

Gophers wide receiver "commit" Javan Hawes has some interesting wording here. He's opening up his recruitment, but it's been fairly open anyway, as he just picked up an offer from Ball State, plus offers from East Carolina and Cincinnati's old staff a little bit further back.

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MONDAY UPDATE

It's my understanding that the football staff does not know if they'll be back next year. I do know that there's been contact with Western Michigan's PJ Fleck. Two months ago I first got word that PJ Fleck had "very strong" interest in Minnesota, and this was confirmed by multiple people. I'm not sure when Minnesota was first in contact with Fleck (I imagine a couple weeks now), but I heard today that Minnesota and Fleck had talked shortly before the Cotton Bowl. Now, I don't mean to say that Fleck will for sure be the next coach. I have not yet hard that he's been commital, just that he's reciprocated interest.
Coyle said tomorrow he'll meet with Claeys about the season. I'm not sure if that meeting is actually set (it may be, but I haven't been able to confirm that). Claeys on the radio sounded as if the meeting wasn't a for sure thing.

It's also pretty clear that Minnesota is not interested in firing Tracy Claeys solely for the sake of firing Claeys. If they were set on moving on from him, a move would have been made in the day or two after the Holiday Bowl.

PJ Fleck is the only target I know about. I do not know if Coyle has contacted other coaches or not, but right now he seems to be the top target. I also don't know if it's Fleck or bust, Fleck or Coach X or Coach Y or bust. As I said above, Coyle does not appear to be hellbent on firing Claeys and I think would only do so if he has his guy in place.

With the Cotton Bowl having taken place today, I would think we'll hear news by tomorrow afternoon, and if not by then, for sure by Wednesday.

TUESDAY EARLY EVENING UPDATE: CLAEYS FIRED

Like I said earlier, I've been told that PJ Fleck has strong interest in Minnesota. Given everything I've learned about the situation, I certainly expect him to be the top target.

Here are some other names. Some are significantly more likely/unlikely than others for various reasons that I'll break down in a hotboard soon, but I'm leaning on the side of inclusive right now: Troy Calhoun - Air Force HC, Les Miles - Former LSU HC, Craig Bohl - Wyoming HC, Bryan Harsin - Boise State HC, Greg Schiano - Ohio State DC, Philip Montgomery - Tulsa HC, Dave Clawson - Wake Forest HC, Scott Frost - UCF HC, Bo Pelini - Youngstown State HC, Ken Niumatalolo - Navy HC, Chris Klieman - North Dakota State HC, Scott Satterfield - Appapachian State HC, Lincoln Riley - Oklahoma OC, Bobby Wilder - Old Dominion HC, Skip Holtz - Louisiana Tech HC, Dave Aranda - LSU DC, Joe Moorhead - Penn State OC

TUESDAY NIGHT UPDATE

I had a conversation tonight that reiterated that PJ Fleck wants the Minnesota job bad, and that it will be "a layup" for Minnesota if he's Coyle's guy.

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE

Again, every conversation I've had leads me to believe that Fleck has strong interest in Minnesota, and the Gophers have strong interest in him. I believe he's the top target and will most likely be the guy.

Could Kill's words deter Fleck? It's definitely possible. Remember, Fleck was an assistant under Kill. I was told by one person that Kill was one of several who recommended Fleck to Western Michigan. Fleck sent Kill an oar in 2013 after a seizure episode. I don't think the two necessarily talk frequently, but I believe Fleck has quite a bit of respect for Kill. On the flip side, regardless of the respect Fleck has for Kill, the conversations I've had suggest that his ambition and personality would make him likely to still make the jump to Minnesota. Someone I spoke with and trust is adamant that Fleck is looking to leave Western Michigan this season and that he's determined Minnesota to be a very good fit (independent from Kill's words).

Lastly, I've messaged a few Western Michigan recruits and while of course they all say they expect Fleck to be back next season, they haven't been told for sure that he will be. Also, worth noting just for amusement: their language kind of mirrors Fleck's, which I found kind of funny.

Other notes:

• Troy Calhoun has had a lot of success at Air Force but always seemed content staying there. I'm told he wants out of Air Force bad now, and that's why I included him on my initial list of other names to know about. I know that he interviewed at Purdue.
• Craig Bohl I'm told is very loyal to Wyoming. That doesn't necessarily mean that Minnesota couldn't flip him, but I don't think it would be the guarantee that everyone thinks.

WEDNESDAY EVENING UPDATE

Spoke with a friend who's a writer for the Boise State Rivals site, Mike Wittmann, about Harsin:

"I haven't heard anything. Only thing I've seen is same as you, that his name should be on the list. Don't know if you've seen anything about Harsin not being Coyle's first choice for Boise three years ago. I'll keep an eye out, but don't see that happening."

A lot of his information came from Stubbs Zanelli from Rivals who did a lot of research on Harsin back in September. He talked to people from Texas and Arkansas State from his previous stints for his previous research when Harsin was hired there.

He tweeted this yesterday:
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Everything we know still leads us to believe that Fleck is the clear frontrunner but we'll continue to do our research on other potential candidates.

WEDNESDAY HOT BOARD

Link: Coaching Search Hotboard

Nothing in this hotboard is new, but it provides some information on a handful of candidates.

THURSDAY MORNING UPDATE

I wouldn't really read much into the Moorhead turning down the offer news right now. I'm sure Minnesota is reaching out to others in case something falls last minute, and I'm sure some coaches are also having their agents release things to get raises. Minnesota also has incentive to get other candidate names out there for more leverage when negotiating. Again, everything I've heard indicates that Fleck really wants the job, and that he's likely the top target for Minnesota. Kaler and Coyle flying down and meeting with him the day after they fired Claeys supports that.

I'd expect news this afternoon or evening.
If there's not news by this evening, I'd be a little concerned that Fleck either turned something down because of Kill's words, BOR didn't want it (unlikely from what I've heard), or something unforeseen. Again, I haven't been given any indication it won't be Fleck, though. I don't mean to cause panic and don't believe there should be any panic right now -- just writing this because today is very likely the day.

Thursday morning update Pt. 2

The Regents have been told that the search is over and two candidates that Minnesota has reached out to want the job. One of them I imagine to be Fleck, and given what we know, I would be pretty surprised if he's not the one with an offer.

I would not expect any last-minute interference from the Regents. Coyle spent a lot of time getting them on board with the decision to get rid of Claeys and what was next.

Also, there's this tweet from Dan Barreiro:
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THURSDAY EVENING UPDATE

It's been quiet for most of the day, as I believe negotiations were going on with Minnesota and Fleck/his party in Chicago.

What I'm hearing right now is that the ball is in Minnesota's court. That news came from someone I trust but ultimately I can't confirm its truth. However, everything they've told me leading up to this aligns with what I've heard. This is obviously a unique time with the boycott, sexual assault case, etc. Kaler and Coyle want to make sure the transition goes as smooth as possible. From what I'm told they're doing background checks and looking into how Fleck has handled similar situations. An announcement may not come until tomorrow even if there are no red flags.

Also, over the past couple hours there's been Les Miles steam:
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I can confirm that there's interest in Miles, and have been given reason to believe that he may even be a top two candidate. I can't confirm that he actually came here.

6:50 PM Update:

Another text saying it will be Fleck.

Barring something last minute, PJ's the guy.

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More links: My thoughts on the status of every commit // Commits react to Claeys being fired // Coyle presser summary // Coyle presser video // Recap: Glen Mason discusses Claeys firing // Recap: Regent chair Dean Johnson talks firing // Recap: Jerry Kill talks Claeys and administration on AM 1500