Your inbox approves Men's coaches poll Women's coaches poll Play to win 25K!
BIG TEN
Minnesota Golden Gophers

Minnesota fires Tracy Claeys after coach's support of players' boycott

From staff and wire reports

Minnesota has fired coach Tracy Claeys, the university announced Tuesday. The move comes two weeks after the football program became embroiled in a standoff with the administration over the suspension of 10 players in connection with allegations of sexual assault.

Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach Tracy Claeys on the sidelines during the game against the Maryland Terrapins at Byrd Stadium.

Claeys, 48, was fired following his first full season as a head coach. He’d taken over after former coach Jerry Kill stepped aside for health reasons during the 2015 season. Claeys’ record is 11-8 as a head coach, 9-4 this season, including a 17-12 victory against Washington State in the Holiday Bowl.

"I made a difficult decision today on behalf of the University of Minnesota," athletic director Mark Coyle said in a statement. "With the support of Board of Regents’ leadership and President Eric Kaler, I have decided to take the Gophers football team in a different direction with new coaching leadership.

"I determined that the football program must move in a new direction to address challenges in recruiting, ticket sales and the culture of the program. We need strong leadership to take Gopher football to the next level and address these challenges."

Minnesota coach Tracy Claeys says he risked job by backing players

Petition calls for firing of Minnesota coach Tracy Claeys

Claeys met with Coyle on Tuesday after a tumultuous few weeks in which the football team boycotted team activities and threatened to boycott the Holiday Bowl after 10 players were suspended following the school’s investigation into an alleged sexual assault in September.

Claeys voiced support for his players publicly during the protest, much to the dismay of university officials.

”Have never been more proud of our kids,” Claeys tweeted on Dec. 15. “I respect their rights and support their efforts to make a better world!”

In his statement, Coyle criticized the tweet and noted that Claeys was involved in the decision and that he agreed with it.

"Coach Claeys, Deputy Athletics Director John Cunningham, and I met with the student-athletes to advise them of our decision," Coyle said. "Coach Claeys subsequently informed me that he agreed with the suspension decision.

"And let me be clear: this was the right thing to do.

"Coach Claeys’ Tweet later that week was not helpful. I accept that Coach Claeys intended it to support the boycotting players. Understandably others did not see it that way. I hope you will appreciate I cannot say more about the athletic suspensions in this case. 

"I will say, as a general matter, athletic suspension decisions — essentially a decision to bench a player — are different from a prosecutor’s decision to charge someone with a crime. 

"Different standards, different policies."

The upperclassmen who led the boycott tried to explain that they felt their teammates did not get treated fairly during the school’s investigation of the alleged assault. But both their message and protest came across as tone-deaf and insensitive to victims of sexual assault.

After a very public back-and-forth with the school and athletic department’s top administrators and the leaking of the school's 80-page report of the investigation that exposed disturbing details from that September incident, players eventually reversed course and agreed to end their boycott.

All 10 players are expected to get hearings in January to appeal those recommendations.

Additionally damaging to Claeys was that a 17-year-old recruit was also alleged to have had sex with the woman that night. All of the players accused told investigators that the sex was consensual, and Hennepin County authorities twice chose not to file charges because they said they had insufficient evidence.

Claeys has a buyout of $500,000 on the two years remaining on his contract.

Candidates immediately expected to be considered for the opening including Western Michigan’s P.J. Fleck, former LSU and Oklahoma State coach Les Miles, and Boise State’s Bryan Harsin, who was hired by Coyle when he worked there.

Contributing: Nicole Auerbach of USA TODAY Sports; and The Associated Press

COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACHING CAROUSEL 

Featured Weekly Ad