This should be fun. Reusse interview with Tracy Claeys

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edma0012 said:
If it wasn't clear then, it should be now, that the Kill/TC experiement was a total failure. It didn't do anything to move the needle on Gopher football.
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Disagree, 9 wins and Holiday bowl win over Washington State is definitely something. Not the Rose Bowl, but it is something.
 

SamSquatch said:
The Brewster regime was an absolute malignancy on this program and the Kill/Claeys/Leidner era was the metastatic disease. Fans were so shell shocked by the absolute ineptitude of Brewster that the slightest competence made them giddy. But Kill/Claeys/Leidner were losers too. They never beat a team that finished the season ranked. They beat bad teams and altered the schedule to find more. They lost to mediocre to good teams. One win over Washington State (Washington State!) is not a signature victory or any hallmark of success. They were losers and it is good they are gone.
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Dang! Tough crowd.

All I can say is, you have to start somewhere. You can't instantly jump from bottom third/quarter of the Big Ten to the Rose Bowl.
 

CharchyCharch said:
it's true the QB spot was a mess. Why didn't Kill and Claeys know Rhoda was sub par?
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Rhoda was not planning on coming back until Fleck talked him into returning. Green and Croft were the current QBs on the roster and Claeys had recruited McLaurin (who left the U shortly after arriving).

No one can prove the negative, so projecting wins out of thin air is a futile exercise.
 

50PoundHead said:
Rhoda was not planning on coming back until Fleck talked him into returning. Green and Croft were the current QBs on the roster
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Did Rhoda participate in 2017 spring ball?

Just trying to figure out at what point Fleck decided that he wanted no part of Seth Green playing QB in 2017? Not even giving him a chance in the NW and Wisconsin debacles. Granted, he really thought Croft was going to be the starting QB for 2018 ... hahahaha
 



SamSquatch said:
The Brewster regime was an absolute malignancy on this program and the Kill/Claeys/Leidner era was the metastatic disease. Fans were so shell shocked by the absolute ineptitude of Brewster that the slightest competence made them giddy. But Kill/Claeys/Leidner were losers too. They never beat a team that finished the season ranked. They beat bad teams and altered the schedule to find more. They lost to mediocre to good teams. One win over Washington State (Washington State!) is not a signature victory or any hallmark of success. They were losers and it is good they are gone.

This is in no way related to Fleck. He may or may not also be a loser. I think he will be better but that is only hope. His success or failure doesn’t change that Kill and Claeys were complete duds - boring football, zero signature wins. If Fleck proves incompetent then we change again. When you don’t see the success you want, you make a change. You make your best guess but that change may bring in a loser. You still have to make the change, even if you go from one loser to another. Change until you find a winner. And not a 5-3 weak B1G and win over WSU cat. A legit winner.
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We really have some stupid fans.

If winning in Lincoln against a ranked Huskers team, dropping 50+ points on Iowa, beating WSU in the Holiday bowl is a "loser" coaching staff then Fleck sure has a lot to live up to.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Just like Glen Mason? Gene Chizik? Larry Coker? Lane Kiffin? Steve Sarkisian? Jim Mora, Jr.? And on and on and on.

Really, really stupid post.
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Not at all. There is a reason for each of those guys.

Let's all be honest - Claeys himself has no interest in ever being a head coach again. He took the MN job because his best friend Jerry had to suddenly retire and he wanted to keep the staff together.
 

Zeppelin Gopher said:
We really have some stupid fans.

If winning in Lincoln against a ranked Huskers team, dropping 50+ points on Iowa, beating WSU in the Holiday bowl is a "loser" coaching staff then Fleck sure has a lot to live up to.
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It doesn't count because Nebraska didn't finish ranked that season in the AP poll (they were #25 in the coaches).
 

John Galt said:
Not at all. There is a reason for each of those guys.

Let's all be honest - Claeys himself has no interest in ever being a head coach again. He took the MN job because his best friend Jerry had to suddenly retire and he wanted to keep the staff together.
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Hmmm ... I don't think this is right. Can't prove it, but my gut feeling is that is not correct.

I feel like every big time OC/DC has had thoughts about "giving it a shot" as the head man. To be sure, it is not at all .... at all .... the same job. Head man is like the lead sales guy, lead PR guy, etc. Coordinator is the head X's O's guy.

Also, he fired Limegrover, who had been on the staff almost as long as Claeys and the S&C guy.
 




dpodoll68 said:
Just as there is a reason for Tracy Claeys.
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That's the point if you could read correctly.

Normally a coach that wins 9 games in a P5 conference would be in demand. If they aren't, there is a reason for it.
 

edma0012 said:
Many of us said "Don't let the door hit ya on way out TC", many others whine about how awesome a guy TC was/is and how he got a raw deal, that TC is all class.
Yet from what I can see, TC is definitely not full of class to be throwing out BS aobut how he wins 9 games with the talentless dumpster fire he and his boy Kill left here.

If it wasn't clear then, it should be now, that the Kill/TC experiement was a total failure. It didn't do anything to move the needle on Gopher football. It stopped, for a short while, the Brewster slide (talk about low bar against which to compare yourself), but in the end, we were still an under talented and underperforming when it counted, an average at best B1G football team. Kill got there by throwing the Brewster era under the bus, he tried to back out of real non-con games to continue the narrative of low expectations- except unlike Fleck who is actually saying we should manage our expectations, Kill and co actively lowered the bar without the fanfare in hopes we wouldn't notice as to celebrate his mediocirty. Having only known coaching for Kill his entire career, TC is just as complicit in the game.

So now, 2 years later, TC demonstrates what we all knew him to be, not ready for primetime. Sure, he could coordinate some power 5 defenses, I think we'd all agree probably better than the guy we got now, but so that makes TC an expert on knowing what QB to start? On how to win games with even less talent than he had season before? TC was going to be just another go around with the failed Kill way, he isn't entitled to his own 3 -5 year plan, because he's litreally got nothing on his resume that says he'd even know how to do it different than Kill.

(Side note- I thought the most interesting shot TC took was at Kill, when he said Leach isn't so one-dimensional as to only be able to talk football)

I don't know if the Fleck experiment is going to work, I know he is trying to move the needle, by my measures he's doing what he needs to do to get us ready for next level, only left is the winning, which in the end is going to be the only measure or movement of the needle that matters.

I'd love to know how many other Power5 programs have to deal with endless sour grapes from preivous coaches? I'd guess it is uncommon, since most other Power5 coaches are able to actually find another head coaching job to focus on instead of the one they had and botched.
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Solid post. The last sentence hurts a little bit, but I kind of wonder if this isn't common for typically average to below average P5 teams (failed HC doesn't get another shot).
 

GophersInIowa said:
Didn't TCU essentially replace North Carolina on the schedule?
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No. This is wrong.

It was essentially New Mexico St and Eastern Illinois that filled the 2013 and 2014 open slots.
Later, TCU was added for 2014 and 2015. That pissed off Country Jer' as well.
 
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37score said:
No. This is wrong.

It was essentially New Mexico St and Eastern Illinois that filled the 2013 and 2014 open slots.
Later, TCU was added for 2014 and 2015. That pissed off Country Jer' as well.
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Right but if North Carolina was cancelled they wouldn't have scheduled TCU.
 

TCU was not scheduled by Kill. That was done against every fiber of his will.

Patterson was his best man. And Kill's staff would go down to Ft. Worth every off-season to share ideas, discuss football, etc.
 


Gophers_4life said:
Did Rhoda participate in 2017 spring ball?

Just trying to figure out at what point Fleck decided that he wanted no part of Seth Green playing QB in 2017? Not even giving him a chance in the NW and Wisconsin debacles. Granted, he really thought Croft was going to be the starting QB for 2018 ... hahahaha
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I believe Rhoda had already graduated with a year of eligibility remaining. I'm pretty sure he participated in spring ball in 2017.
 


50PoundHead said:
I believe Rhoda had already graduated with a year of eligibility remaining. I'm pretty sure he participated in spring ball in 2017.
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Well, he didn't put Rhoda a chance during NW or Wisc, either. He was quite obviously "playing for the future" in those games, thinking Croft was the starter for 2018.

Which is a scary thought. Because that could very well mean that a hobbled, injured ZA is the starting quarterback for tonight. That would be a decision that lands squarely on Fleck, and his stubbornness.
 

Don’t need to start a post with insults.

That win against Neb was good, but I’d give more weight to beating an unranked team that finished the season ranked. I also don’t consider the WSU win a signature victory by any stretch, but it was a nice win.

You’re also right that Fleck has to prove himself. I’m not sold on him yet, but I’m hopeful because I’m a fan. This isn’t a pro-Fleck stance. I just tire of the fetishization of the Kill/Claeys mediocrity paired with their aw shucks - pumpkin patch - penny whistle - corn cob - moon pie - dime store - Charlie Brown shtick. It was as much a shtick as Brewster’s bafoonery and Fleck’s frenetic energy.
 



SamSquatch said:
paired with their aw shucks - pumpkin patch - penny whistle - corn cob - moon pie - dime store - Charlie Brown shtick. It was as much a shtick as Brewster’s bafoonery and Fleck’s frenetic energy.
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I think more simply stated as: if you don't win, fans don't like you and will find something to make fun of you for.
 

Gophers_4life said:
Well, he didn't put Rhoda a chance during NW or Wisc, either. He was quite obviously "playing for the future" in those games, thinking Croft was the starter for 2018.

Which is a scary thought. Because that could very well mean that a hobbled, injured ZA is the starting quarterback for tonight. That would be a decision that lands squarely on Fleck, and his stubbornness.
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I'm not getting your point. I wasn't connecting a value judgment to my comment. I believe Rhoda had graduated after fall term and wasn't planning on coming back for 2017 until Fleck talked him into it. That is all I am trying to relay. Rhoda probably didn't fit with the Claeys/Johnson offensive scheme and so it made sense for him to leave football behind.
 

50PoundHead said:
I'm not getting your point. I wasn't connecting a value judgment to my comment. I believe Rhoda had graduated after fall term and wasn't planning on coming back for 2017 until Fleck talked him into it. That is all I am trying to relay. Rhoda probably didn't fit with the Claeys/Johnson offensive scheme and so it made sense for him to leave football behind.
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The point is that Fleck might be as bad as Kill and co at identifying big ten qb talent. Pretty scary. They could find MAC qbs all day but BT starters? Nope
 

I still can’t believe that some in this fan base, of all fan bases, would belittle a 9-win season and the remarkable upset in the Holiday Bowl that year. Honestly, if you need to do that for some misguided reason of supporting the current staff and/or the firing of the old staff, you need to step back and re-evaluate. The take is dumb, but to be fair, it is also stupid.
 

SamSquatch said:
The Brewster regime was an absolute malignancy on this program and the Kill/Claeys/Leidner era was the metastatic disease. Fans were so shell shocked by the absolute ineptitude of Brewster that the slightest competence made them giddy. But Kill/Claeys/Leidner were losers too. They never beat a team that finished the season ranked. They beat bad teams and altered the schedule to find more. They lost to mediocre to good teams. One win over Washington State (Washington State!) is not a signature victory or any hallmark of success. They were losers and it is good they are gone.

This is in no way related to Fleck. He may or may not also be a loser. I think he will be better but that is only hope. His success or failure doesn’t change that Kill and Claeys were complete duds - boring football, zero signature wins. If Fleck proves incompetent then we change again. When you don’t see the success you want, you make a change. You make your best guess but that change may bring in a loser. You still have to make the change, even if you go from one loser to another. Change until you find a winner. And not a 5-3 weak B1G and win over WSU cat. A legit winner.
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This...er wait, we aren't saying that anymore I forgot.


Firing Mason was the right call to make if you wanted the next level- we'd grown tired of the big embarrassing losses. The Penn State upset gives you a free ride for only so long...but at least we had that.

I see recruiting and connecting with the currnet young athlete as the biggest strengths of the Fleck regime. I never understood why anyone would want to play for Country Jer or Big Boi TC.
Social media is a thing- twitter, Insta, Snap, ect ect. Kill/TC are your grandma who posts cat memes on their facebook page. Fleck is the dude whose posts make you interested in what he is doing. If our HC is interesting then our program gets more interest. The talent is increasing, and I love that we are playing all these young dudes. Yes losing sucks, but we were going to be losing anyway- at least I can see in Year 3 or 4 some pretty amazing talent.
We'd have what, 6, 7 guys who have 2 full years B1G experience starting for us as Juniors? That sounds like a squad that is going to win some games- that's what I see which I like so much.
And I also love that I don't see Kill/TC or Maturi anymore addition by subtration going on there for sure.
 

Spoofin said:
I still can’t believe that some in this fan base, of all fan bases, would belittle a 9-win season and the remarkable upset in the Holiday Bowl that year. Honestly, if you need to do that for some misguided reason of supporting the current staff and/or the firing of the old staff, you need to step back and re-evaluate. The take is dumb, but to be fair, it is also stupid.
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Perfectly stated.
 

The 2016 Holiday Bowl- oh boy, what a win. Sure, WASU was favored by like 10, and sure, our winning touchdown ocurred when a WASU player doinked an easy interception into Shannon Brooks arms for TD (if the WASU guy had just ignored the ball we don't score there). Field/weather conditions favored a B1G style slugfest, but sure a fine win, given the drama I suppose. Remarkable? I guess depends on what you compare it to....
 

edma0012 said:
The 2016 Holiday Bowl- oh boy, what a win. Sure, WASU was favored by like 10, and sure, our winning touchdown ocurred when a WASU player doinked an easy interception into Shannon Brooks arms for TD (if the WASU guy had just ignored the ball we don't score there). Field/weather conditions favored a B1G style slugfest, but sure a fine win, given the drama I suppose. Remarkable? I guess depends on what you compare it to....
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I can't believe we didn't have a parade myself.
 

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