If you actively follow University of Minnesota football, you learn to be disappointed in your teams performance, a lot. After seeing much success throughout the early 20th century, the Minnesota Golden Gophers had trouble building a consistently winning team for decades on end.
With the exception of a few big seasons during Glen Masons 10 year tenure as head coach, a lack of good leadership, poor recruiting and unappealing facilities put Gopher football into limbo for what seemed like an eternity. After the disaster of what was the Tim Brewster experiment, in comes Jerry Kill. Kill, with a coaching staff that had followed him to program turnarounds at multiple stops prior to taking over the Gophers, was able to bring respectability and success back to Minnesota, including back-to-back 8 win seasons, but unfortunately had to step down because of health concerns in the middle of his 5th season.
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Who steps up to take over the reigns? Tracy Claeys, Jerry Kill's longtime defensive coordinator. Claeys has made somewhat of a name for himself in the college football world. Most recently, as the Minnesota defensive coordinator, Claeys was able to take an underachieving unit and reengineer them into a force to be reckoned with. The Minnesota defensive performance in the Holiday Bowl game, on 12/27, stopped a Washington State offense infamous for gaining lots of yards on passing plays.
Tracy Claeys truly lived a rags-to-riches story. According to a Star Tribune article http://www.startribune.com/humble-beginnings-the-b... Claeys grew up poor in rural Kansas, and considering his families history and living situation, didn't have many prospects for a bright future. However, through hard work, determination and an optimistic attitude, Claeys became the first in his family to earn a college degree, and went on to teach high school algebra while also coaching football and baseball. Shortly thereafter he received an offer to join Jerry Kill's staff at Saginaw Valley State. From there he followed Kill to Emporia State, then Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois, and finally Minnesota.
In his time as the Minnesota head coach, however, Tracey Claeys has been the subject of much more criticism than his predecessor. It could be that Kill took over when Minnesota football was already at a low point, and he stressed patience as his staff attempted to rebuild a historically inept team. Claeys had the disadvantage of taking over a now-successful program, and considering his philosophy is generally parallel to Kills, the expectations have been raised. It could also be that Claeys does have a few pounds on him, and some critics like to point to physical shape as an indicator of coaching ability. However, being a coach and being an athlete require entirely different skill sets, and if you are a coach who understands the game and can convey that knowledge successfully to your players, your own athletic ability shouldn't matter.
What Claeys learned this season is that you can win the most games in team history in 13 years (9-4), win back-to-back bowl games, put yourself in a good position for the future, and still have half the population criticizing your every move.
What makes these credentials even more impressive is that Claeys never actually played college football.
While Tracy Claeys had to adjust to full-time head coaching duties, hire new coordinators, and had some trouble with clock management, there is little doubt he knows how to run a team.
Claeys is now a proven leader, has the work ethic and skills to promote a good attitude, has a mind for the game that has worked wonders at the highest levels, and has the ability to lift Gopher football to new heights, just as the athletic department is experiencing more success across the board.
It would be wise for the University of Minnesota to retain Tracy Claeys as head football coach.
