Minnesota fires Claeys

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on
Just broke on twitter. 2017 opponent.

jimmyshi03

January 3rd, 2017 at 4:54 PM ^

After his(?) ill-advised tweet in support of the boycott. Personally, I've thought thi smakes the most sense for either Fleck or Miles, especially the latter, of any opeining this cycle.

1464

January 3rd, 2017 at 6:01 PM ^

If it was about the tweet supporting his team, it's ridiculous.  And I am not usually on this side of the argument.

Although who knows what went on behind closed doors.  I have a hard time believing that the people calling for his dismissal had anything to do with it, based off the innocuous nature of his comments. 

Yinka Double Dare

January 3rd, 2017 at 6:32 PM ^

Oh, I suspect the AD and University President who instituted the suspensions probably did not look kindly on the coach directly going against them in that tweet. It was probably the last straw though, the AD didn't hire Claeys and I'm sure would rather have a guy he hired. 

UMgradMSUdad

January 3rd, 2017 at 7:23 PM ^

Yes, this shows it was more than just the tweet. When the team members calling the boycott stated they did not believe Coach Claeys had any involvment in the decision to suspend the players, Claeys should have set the players and the public straight.  He left hanging the implication that the AD and President were lying to the team. He should have been the conduit between the team and the AD's office and needed to do a better job of explaining to his team what was going on and correcting their misconceptions, expecially after they made their public statement.

wolpherine2000

January 3rd, 2017 at 9:29 PM ^

...that ill considered tweet was bolstered by a lot more, less considered talk in the AD and Presidents offices. Insubordination is always bad, and in the context of the allegations, probably not survivable at a school where in importance football is somewhere behind hockey, the student code of conduct and broomball.

Squeezebox

January 4th, 2017 at 8:04 AM ^

and the players filmed her saying something like "Bring it on".

That's why no legal charges could be filed - consensual sex.  When she sobered up, she realized what had happened and is attacking the university.  This was the main motivation for the players threatening to sit out bowl game.

That doesn't excuse their actions, but it shows what can happen on college campuses when you don't know your alcohol limits.  For all the concerned parties.

SAMgO

January 3rd, 2017 at 4:54 PM ^

If Fleck decides not to paddle on over there, they aren't exactly going to be chalk full of great options. That program is not in good shape.

alum96

January 3rd, 2017 at 5:25 PM ^

They had Barkley last year too.  The QB change and the OC change is what made the difference.  They have gone Big 12 - we don't care about defense, we will score and score fast and our defense can try to stay on the field for 35+ minutes and deal.

I think this was the right move - their HC is what we hoped Hoke was.  Not a great technician but a good recruiter and hopefully hires great competent coordinators.  PSU had a great DC who made Franklin look great at Vandy and at PSU early, now they chucked the OC and went Big 12/Pac 12.  So it's working.

switch26

January 3rd, 2017 at 5:53 PM ^

Yea this exactly... PSUs offense is Barkley and Godwin... At one point they showed the offense was 300+ yards and the rest of the team had like 50 yards.

Mccsorley relies on just throwing up jump balls like denard did..

RockinLoud

January 3rd, 2017 at 5:15 PM ^

He's good, but their offense seems to be Barkley making plays and McSorley running around chucking balls up for grabs and somehow the other team's DB's failing spectacularly. We had the horses to shutdown Barkley and cover their WR's so they couldn't complete any arm punts, but not many teams can do both.

ak47

January 3rd, 2017 at 5:46 PM ^

He was running around because they had an offensive line worse than ours. Barkley is obviously good but I don't think anyone would have thought Michigan could put up 49 on USC and we have an overall more talented offense. That shows me he called a good game too.

stephenrjking

January 3rd, 2017 at 5:34 PM ^

They should absolutely give him a call. He might not go for it, but it would be worth a shot. 

Moorhead would be good. Miles has coached teams that are built the way Minnesota is built, so he would be able to keep up the continuity. 

It's hard for me to figure out where Fleck is a great fit, because he is a self-admitted CEO type coach who delegates the nitty gritty stuff. I'm honestly a bit skeptical about that concept in general anyway, but at a place like Minnesota where you don't get top flight recruits you need to be able to coach the players up even more than at other places. Is Fleck a guy that can do that?

OwenGoBlue

January 3rd, 2017 at 9:20 PM ^

Offense and defense isn't really the "nitty gritty" stuff; that's football. It can work if you get the right coordinators (see PSU this season).

Minnesota needs to hire a values-based coach next though, right? Fleck would seem like a fit from that standpoint but this situation is a tire fire.