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.
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.
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