Listened to Kill on AM1500, he didn't have a ton of talking points. I'll summarize what I recall:

-Coyle has been thinking of firing Tracy for a while, people talk in the business
-U only has 1 black cop on staff
-U doesn't have an attorney available for athletes like most school do
-This was a big mess, 1 guy took the bullet for the entire thing
-Every coach in America would stand with his players
-The hosts gave the impression to Kill that Coyle said the program wasn't "1st class", Kill was angry about that stating the volunteerism of the staff, good people, charitable, gave everything they had to their jobs
-He promised to never step foot on campus again (assuming in a non coach role) and that he wouldn't see the athletes village that he had a big part of getting built.


That's all from Kill, I'm also wondering today.....WHAT IF. I don't see the situation escalating to a boycott if Kill was head coach. But, I'm wondering if it even would have escalated to that if was allowed to stay on as he wished last spring in some capacity?

I can understand the firing of the coach, but why not pay the $500k buyout and instead honor the full contract?

That makes no sense to me at face value. Were there some legal ramifications or potential lawsuits coming? But isn't that what a buyout is literally for?

In very confused by this expensive decision.

I hated the Claeys firing. You just do not fire someone after back to back bowl victories. But now let's get real.

Claeys and group were very good coaches, especially on the D and Specialy Teams sides. Offense, not so much. Certainly they could find the "diamonds" in the rough, but were unable to make any strides with highly ranked recruits. Because of this, the Gophers were never going to reach the level we would like this team to reach. Claeys really bonded with Minnesota's high school coaches. He and Kill had at least erected some fencing around our home turf. Unfortunately and unlike basketball, the local pool ain't very deep. Clearly the trend with Minnesota football was level.

As good of a guy as Claeys is, he was not able to fill the seats. People don't pay to watch defense and people don't pay to watch a truly non-inspiring head coach. In five years of Kill/Claeys recruiting we have no O Line and no Quarterback. Additionally, there was nothing compelling about Claeys. He was competent, but competent doesn't fill seats. With a 1/3 empty stadium, the program was never going to shine, and Coyle has to fill those seats.

The question now is, where do we go? The answer will come quickly when we see the hire and when we've learned just how much $$$ the administration is really willing to spend. Won't take long.

I realize that the administration has done a horrible job of communicating.. I just know there are athletes at Minnesota in other sports that need our support... I wish I was in the Twin Cities as I would be at all the sporting events that I could possibly attend. I may not love the administration's decisions but I LOVE GOPHER SPORTS... I am thankful for the athletes and want them to know that I have unwavering support for all the Minnesota teams

I do think the fanbase still has influence on decisions.. I know that Coyle and Kaler are trying to figure out how to get fans out to the football games. Fans can influence this by sharing with the university why they wont attend games and suggestions to improve game day outside of winning games. I am sure they want an energetic coach that can reach out to the fanbase and current/potential donors to share the vision of the program. We cant stay lamenting on Claeys' firing but move forward as it is done and over, even if it was a horrible decision. The new coach, whoever it is, will not be at fault for whatever shortcomings the administration has had before, during, and after this process. SKI-U-MAH GOPHER FANS!! Our guys and gals need to know that "we have their backs".

You can complain about the past and call names, whatever.. I MAKE AN ANALOGY TO POLITICS... I would say the same to the Republicans in Congress... "We, as conservatives, have complained about the last 8 years in the White House.. But we BETTER SPEND OUR TIME FIGURING OUT BETTER SOLUTIONS THAN THE ONES THAT EXIST, NOT RELIVING THE ANALYSIS OF THE LAST 8 YEARS!!" We have expressed our concerns and complaints,, Now we have to figure out solutions MOVING FORWARD. LETS GO GOPHERS!!!

I've been thinking about this as best I can from PJ Fleck's viewpoint. Why would he have interest in Minnesota?

I think Fleck knows his best chance to win at a major program would probably be in the Midwest. All of his coaching ties are in this part of the country which does matter in recruiting.

I also think guys like him need to strike while the iron is hot. If Western Michigan went 10-2 next season maybe Fleck wouldn't be in play as much for a Power 5 job.

Finally, and most interesting to me, if Fleck's goal is to coach in the Big Ten then Minnesota might be a really great fit for him.

Just look at all of the situations of the Big Ten programs:

Ohio State: Urban Meyer will be there as long as he wants to be.

Michigan: Jim Harbaugh will be there as long as he wants to be. Certainly he could jump to the NFL, but if you're Fleck is that something to really want to wait on?

Michigan State: Mark Dantonio will retire with that job. It might not come open for 3-5 years at least.

Penn State: James Franklin just went to the Rose Bowl.

Purdue: Fleck turned down interest from Purdue.

Illinois: Lovie Smith is there for at least a few more years.

Iowa: Captain Kirk literally has a decade left on his contract.

Wisconsin: Paul Chryst is a good fit there for the long term.

Indiana: Minnesota is a better job than Indiana. If Fleck wasn't interested in Purdue, I don't know why he would want to go to Indiana.

Rutgers: Minnesota is a better job than Rutgers.

Maryland: Interesting job but its on the East Coast which isn't in Fleck's area of interest or coaching circle.

Nebraska: Mike Riley seems to fit there and Scott Frost at UCF seems to be in training for the Huskers.

Northwestern: Pat Fitzgerald will have that job as long as he wants.

what if his statement about suspending players is true? What if claeys is lying? Did claeys overplay his hand believing that the truth would never come out?

Does that change opinions on if this was the right move?

How come no one is talking about the real issue. Games! Thats why you have a team to play games.
We're losing 10 Scholarship Athletes all potential starters. I don't no the Scholarship count, but a school can only give 25 a year.

3 Schemes in 3 years
3 Philosophies in 3 years

The AD and President put this team on a 3 year probation.

I'm a fan of Fleck and am hoping that he's the one hired after this debacle. He seems very charismatic, has done well recruiting (in the MAC at least), and his offense ranked 11th overall nationally. With that said, do you think it's realistic at all for him to keep Sawvel at D-Coordinator? I feel that would be one hell of a duo at HC and DC. I'm assuming he'd bring Kirk Ciarrocca over from his current staff for OC. There will be plenty of money for the assistants I can imagine.

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.

Never in my lifetime of watching Gopher football have we been better defeinsively than under these two fellas.

We finally get the defense fixed after what seemed like decades of ineptness and now this happens.

I have to believe Claeys and Sawvel will be in high demand on the open market for schools looking to shore up their defense. These guys can flat out get the job done on that side of the ball.

now that the coaching staff has been let go, we cannot let the admin off for giving the players a fair hearing

Viewing Coyle's presser, his insistence repeatedly that the U would soon be competing at the highest level for BIG fb championships under his AD leadership was quite stunning.

How can this happen given the reality of the U's decades-long history of mediocrity, instability and turmoil in BIG fb and the obvious record of failure to pay the compensation necessary to attract head coaches of winning national reputation and stature?

When Coyle makes the call, will Jim H suddenly leave MI etc? No.

What that leaves is the aging Tubby Smith type hire or perhaps the hot-shot MAC Fleck-type or God forbid, the Brewster-type unknown.

Will the U even pay what the market demands to get the best of these guys?

Coyle wants a Messiah in a Mercedes, but past U pay policies don't square with that fantasy.

Jump-started by Kill's efforts, Coyle can't even seem to raise additional funding for the Athletic Village!

Anyone contemplating working for Coyle now knows that one serious false step in the fb program...average W/Ls, 2H performance setbacks, low-avg star recruiting, lousy TCF attendance, poor (if any) bowls...means their days are numbered.

How can any new hire expect stability from this AD boss?

Lots of things go wrong repeatedly in Gopher fb and it starts at the top with poor leadership skills from the BOR, Pres and AD.

There are obvious reasons and serious limitations to Minny's BIG fb ambitions:

> a very limited pool of MN BIG-ready D1 high school talent;

> a northern location remote from talent-rich areas requiring families of recruits to travel great distances to visit on gameday (WI and IA are much closer to ChicagoLand and the St Louis areas and their larger athlete resources);

> a history of below-average BIG fb recruiting for a variety of reasons;

> a metro area offering many pro sports entertainment options of more interest than Gopher sports;

> a local media/press generally hostile to U sports plus a hard core of U sports haters;

> although new, a smallish TCF stadium of about 50,000 that limits ticket revenues.

Of course, all of these negatives and limitations can possibly be overcome if Coyle can actually convince the BOR to pony up the cash to bring in the proven coaching talent to make his BIG championship ambitions a reality within a few years.

Imho, Coyle's presser was simply a "feel good" exercise to make BIG fantasy promises he and the Administration do not have the resources or leadership skills to deliver on...simply blowing smoke up the a$$es of boosters and donors hoping to shake out $'s for the Village and convincing season ticket holders not to abandon ship.

In any case, as events unfold in Gopherland, this curious stew will make for interesting "Inside Gopher Nation" discussion and speculation in the months ahead.

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It seems every time MJH interviews a line recruit, they are fired up about playing for coach Miller. The current players also raved about him when he replaced Limey. Any chance he'd want to stay in MN or is he now too loyal to TC for bringing him in?

Wonder what he needs to do this year to keep his gig. Is he a dead man walking like Claeys?

Yo! It was a tough call....but the right call. I think Coyle's balls finally dropped. His statement is powerful if you pay attention. He said....I decided to fire Claeys. No committee....ME!

For all we know...Kaler fumbled everything with the players handling and now Coyle is finally grabbing this bull by the horns. I hope

We heard he was a stud....now it's his time to shine and show us he is one. When you are new sometimes it's tough to take charge of a situation as you are feeling things out and the U has so much red tape to cut through for everything. You must get approval and fill out a form to take a dump in bierman.

Coyle seems very calculating so he has been churning on this one for a while.
We know a few things
1. Claeys was a nice guy but lacked executive presence. Tough seeing him on the sideline.
2. Season tickets are down after a 9-4 season and after a bowl win....still no momentum.
3. We have a brand new practice facility and a great stadium.
4. It's time to make a move for relevance and Claeys was not the one to take us to the promised land.
5. Coyle must have his guy....

I'm guessing the Boise State head coach. Boom!

I think he will set the pace here on out and be the leader we desperately need. I'm hoping...55 has no facts to back this up. But since I'm right almost all the time. Let's go with it!

I see where a couple of reporters have thrown the name of NDSU coach, Chris Klieman, out as possible replacements. Why? Just because he was the QB of Coyle's HS? I would hope we're not that desperate in our search.

Does anyone know much about former Rutgers and Tampa Bay head coach Greg Schiano.

I remember him as players coach at Rutgers, lots of intensity.

The reason myself, 42 and others were thinking a change might be necessary earlier in the year had nothing to do with Clayes not being a good football coach.

It had to do with my belief that he wasn't a natural head coach and leader of a huge organization like a Big Ten football team. X's and O's are a very small part of the job.

Glen Mason aluded to it on KFAN and Tracy didn't learn to be a head coach in the MAC and make all the mistakes down there and figure out how to be a head coach.

Some guys are just born to be assistants or coordinators and some are leaders/head coach material

This isn't a knock on Clayes, he is a good football coach

wait until some of these guys get out in the real world. If the VP of your division gets fired, will they go on social media and rip the corporation?? Career suicide and very unprofessional.

Watching the Wisconsin vs WMU replay it is obvious they played the Badgers at least as tough as we did this year. Their D was aggressive and swarming and their O was creative and disciplined. Given that WMU has obviously less in resources than our U ... I can see how Fleck could be successful here. Just saying.

I'm taking a long break this ordeal. I have too many friends that have been negatively affected by the actions of our so called University leaders in the past 6 months. In addition, I am too passionate for hard working people like Claeys, Sawvel, Sherels, etc. to let the shots at them fall by the wayside.

I may disagree with many on who, what and where, but we all have one thing in common, our love for the Gopher football program. Pissing off you guys is not my goal and unfortunately I seem to be doing that. Off to get my BP under control and wipe my mind of this anger.

Cheers!

I have been very harsh and have ripped the stupidity of the 'Row the Boat' theme. I thought I understood the general theme: 'grab an oar and do your work and together we'll move this thing forward'.

I just watched the YouTube videos of PJ Fleck explaining this mantra and I was wrong and am a heel. I take back what I have said and the snide and negative sentiment that went along with it. I did not realize how this mantra was tied to real events in PJ's life. Whether he's a candidate, the candidate or not a candidate, I was wrong.

You all already know the story, I don't and for that I'm a dick. In case you're a wanker like me, do yourself a favor and watch these two short videos. Once beyond the Row the Boat story in video #1, it get's a little evangelistic, but still obviously a thoughtful guy.

Interesting stuff on video #2 on his belief on culture, what 90% of his job as a Head Coach REALLY is and other stuff.

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