CoMn
I do agree that Claeys didn't convey the right message in his tone and content of his message initially. Whether that is lack of empathy for women of sexual assault or something else like limited knowledge of facts or overriding initial concern for players is debatable. That said, I find it impossible to think that any decent man (Claeys included), given the information, would support a "culture" over doing the right thing in support of fixing the issues related to sexual assault on campus. He blew it, knowing what he knows now I suspect he would have handled it different, but that doesn't make him unfit for the job. It probably makes him a better fit for the job of teacher/mentor/parent figure, if in fact he has learn some very valuable lessons that will drive support for improved education on the subject. If Claeys is retained, this message would need to be clearly conveyed by him, the AD and the President. If he is retained, feet to the fire of a coach & AD could drive positive change on campus.
While Claeys message could have been vastly improved, I don't think he is the one to blame. This is an institutional issue, one that was allowed to permeate under former AD Norwood Teague and the "watchful" eye of Eric Kaler. From what I've heard recently from a couple of employees at the University, Eric Kaler is a hands off, lock myself in the office "leader" that offers no direction. If that is in fact true, Kaler should be accountable for not establishing a system at the University that doesn't turn a blind eye to these issues. If there is one person that should have been tuned into this issue, it should be him since he was responsible for Teague and fixing the issues after Teague. He should have taken a lesson from this and driven a change at the University. There are processes in place that teach athletes what they can/can not except in gifts if they want to retain their scholarship. There should be process in place that teach student athletes about the code of conduct and expectations of their roll in the community. The institution failed and it needs to correct the issue now.