Pioneer Press: Why did the Gophers boycott? Gaelin Elmore Explains

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per Shipley:

University of Minnesota football players knew there would be backlash when they threatened to boycott last month’s Holiday Bowl. What they didn’t anticipate was why.

Elmore, 21, spoke to the Pioneer Press on Thursday in an effort to explain why the entire football team protested when 10 teammates were suspended on Dec. 13 in the wake of the school’s investigation into an alleged sexual assault that occurred off campus on Sept. 2.

PP: The EOAA report is leaked (Dec. 16). Did many of you guys read it?

GE: We read it then and we were like, “Yeah, this makes us look really, really bad.” But we still felt like if we could really get our message across, that what we were fighting for, that it would hurt, no doubt — that we would lose a lot of people — but we didn’t think it would be the ultimate end of what we were trying to accomplish. That morning, we read the police report, we read the court documents, so we had a pretty good understanding of what went on as far as the investigations go. The case wasn’t why we stood up. If we had seen the report, it wouldn’t have changed our stance, but it would have changed the way we negotiated.

PP: And your (suspended) teammates didn’t share any of this information with you?

GE: Friday after it was leaked, we felt like (the boycott) was over. But as bad as the report was after getting leaked, we met again as a team Friday and came to the conclusion we were going to boycott. Because throughout the day we had met with Kaler and Coyle, and we felt like they were not cooperating, and not taking us very seriously. So, we met with them that afternoon and night. … So, we go into the staff room where a lot of this took place, and we as a counsel (of players) met with Kaler and Coyle and tried to come to an agreement that would have been beneficial to both sides.

http://www.twincities.com/2017/01/0...ocial&utm_source=Twitter#link_time=1483659707

Go Gophers!!
 

Whatever side your on in this mess one thing is for certain; the players are not going to trust this adm. A new coach is going to have to take sides one way or another which is going to not make someone happy so look out.
 

Shipley wrote something ....sensible? How in the hell did that happen?
 

It seems like there are a lot of people who could have handled this better, but Coyle comes off as very "UNTRUTHFUL" throughout this whole process. I don't think for a second that he knew exactly what he was doing. He had no reason to fire Claeys and took this opportunity to make him the scapegoat. The man is truly slime!
 

Elmore handled the interview very well. A very good point is that the University went out of their way to protect the identity of the wrestlers while essentially tabloid style publicizing the identity of the 10 football players.

In retrospect, Elmore (black and with remaining eligibility) would have been a better choice to read the statements.
 


Kaler and Coyle need to be gone


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#coacheslivesmatter
 

Iceland12 said:
Shipley wrote something ....sensible? How in the hell did that happen?
Click to expand...

Not really. He wrote down Elmore's sensible answers. He did everything he could to virtue signal that whole interview.

Kaler and Coyle not going to be happy reading that. Makes them look absolutely awful. I supported the boycott without knowing all that. Wow! I love when Coyle bolted the player meeting.


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I'm super proud of Gaelin and his fantastic answers.

This proves my point that the U admin and their handling of this report/investigation/suspensions is what caused the boycott.

Not the players' tone deafness.
 




Well done Gaelin.

More proof Coyle and kaler should be relieved of their duties immediately.
 

Judging from that interview, Elmore is an impressive young man. In particular, I'm impressed by his introspection and his willingness to admit where they went wrong, especially their blind spots regarding sexual assault victims. Amazing he could be part of the messed up culture Coyle tried to depict the other day . . . .

And if Elmore's version of how Coyle related the situation to the players is true, you can sure see why the players want nothing to do with the guy.
 

Coyle just comes off like a complete bung-hole - and also, a lap dog for Kaler.

I don't want to see any of the current players leave - but after reading that, I understand 100% why some players would not want to play for the current AD and President.

Someone should e-mail a copy of that article to every member of the board of regents.
 

Formo said:
I'm super proud of Gaelin and his fantastic answers.

This proves my point that the U admin and their handling of this report/investigation/suspensions is what caused the boycott.

Not the players' tone deafness.
Click to expand...

Agree
 




short ornery norwegian said:
Coyle just comes off like a complete bung-hole - and also, a lap dog for Kaler.

I don't want to see any of the current players leave - but after reading that, I understand 100% why some players would not want to play for the current AD and President.

Someone should e-mail a copy of that article to every member of the board of regents.
Click to expand...

I said this almost two weeks ago. Saw it coming from a mile away. Pretty sure the BoR members actively commenting publicly already knew most of this, and the BoR brought those two in to have them explain how they are going to move forward and then "snapped the line"...
 

Formo said:
I'm super proud of Gaelin and his fantastic answers.

This proves my point that the U admin and their handling of this report/investigation/suspensions is what caused the boycott.

Not the players' tone deafness.
Click to expand...

Great young man who has not had an easy path to where he is now. The team is filled with young men very much like him. Too little too late for the windbag Shipley though. Hope this opened his eyes to the crap he's been writing...but I doubt it did.
 

Coyle is going to have to meet with players and men's some fences. Fleck may make this happen after getting to know players. I assume Fleck would do this if he's the leader I think he is.


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As available data increases I've determined I dislike the AD and dislike the President more.

If you go to the article you'll note Gaelen's answer for this question does not answer the question: PP: And your (suspended) teammates didn’t share any of this information with you?

Although the article is the first "definitive" view that we've gotten from the team, I believe the answer to this question is very important to fully understanding the team's mindset.

Still waiting on this one.
 

Fantastic interview. Some very tough, but fair questions asked. Elmore did a great job of explaining the players side. The thing I noticed most was that he was willing to take some blame. The aspect where he says the players deserve some blame is the tone deafness of their boycott. I'm one who thinks that no one looks good in this, and I think it is a great step that one of the parties is willing to step up and admit some fault. The tone deaf nature was my biggest problem with the boycott, and the fact that he recognizes that really shows me that he gets it now, which is the most important thing - he is learning from it. Can't change what happened, but you can learn from it. I'd like to see Kaler and Coyle stand up and take their share of the blame for their poor communication. And Kaler for his manipulation tactics. Then it's time to right the ship cause we got some rowing to do.

Awesome job Gaelin! (Please stay a Gopher!)
 

The players and coaches have been fairly criticized for their tone deafness. When details of the investigation and Kaler and Coyle's handling of it, they will also be held accountable. Unfortunately, the University is going to be paying a couple of the 10 a lot of money and the program is going to suffer for years.


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Some of the concern expressed by Elmore and the players was apparently that Coyle couldn't give them specific information about why the players had been suspended. Would Coyle and the U of M have legally been allowed to do so? The actual hows and whys would seem to be protected by confidentiality rules. I'll add that while a better effort should have been made to let the players know how the EOAA process works, they were hardly owed such information as is being implied.
 

Fire Kaler now! He is complete scum. Zero integrity, honor, or class. 100% duplicitous and craven.
 

Sports_Realist said:
Some of the concern expressed by Elmore and the players was apparently that Coyle couldn't give them specific information about why the players had been suspended. Would Coyle and the U of M have legally been allowed to do so? The actual hows and whys would seem to be protected by confidentiality rules. I'll add that while a better effort should have been made to let the players know how the EOAA process works, they were hardly owed such information as is being implied.
Click to expand...

This is from the Pioneer press article - Gaelin Elmore describing the players' meeting with Coyle before the boycott:

And he answered, and I think this is where it really turned for the worse, he said, “Based on the information I’ve been given, I’ve come to the decision that we need to suspend the players.”
So, someone followed up with, “Well, what’s that information? Can we know anything?” And he was like, “I don’t have enough information right now to tell you that.” So, the team was like, you suspended our players based on this information, but you don’t have enough information to tell us that? That’s what set the team off, and right after that question, he left, and it was left at that.

Again - assuming this is an accurate account of the meeting, Coyle is either an idiot, or he is incredibly inarticulate and cannot explain what he means. either way, is this the person you want leading the U of MN athletic Department? I sure as bleep don't.
 

Great interview. As many suspected, Coyle and Kaler completely botched this situation. Shameful lack of leadership from the administration.
 

Bravo to Elmore for giving honest answers. Helps solidify suspected poor communication by coaches and admins. Also shows lack of control by coaching staff by not being involved. A connected staff should have headed off the boycott. Can't believe they would act with no knowledge by a competent staff.


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short ornery norwegian said:
This is from the Pioneer press article - Gaelin Elmore describing the players' meeting with Coyle before the boycott:

And he answered, and I think this is where it really turned for the worse, he said, “Based on the information I’ve been given, I’ve come to the decision that we need to suspend the players.”
So, someone followed up with, “Well, what’s that information? Can we know anything?” And he was like, “I don’t have enough information right now to tell you that.” So, the team was like, you suspended our players based on this information, but you don’t have enough information to tell us that? That’s what set the team off, and right after that question, he left, and it was left at that.

Again - assuming this is an accurate account of the meeting, Coyle is either an idiot, or he is incredibly inarticulate and cannot explain what he means. either way, is this the person you want leading the U of MN athletic Department? I sure as bleep don't.
Click to expand...

If that is true he should be fired as soon as Fleck signs the deal. I can't believe someone twofold go into that meeting and be that clueless.
 

Most concerning is that the players weren't aware and/or didn't have an understanding of the EoAA and Title IX investigations and how that whole process worked and they weren't made aware or schooled on sexual assault, sexual harassment, possible punishments and how to avoid it, protect their team mates, etc. And the Empire text messages were just disgusting. I don't support rape and I don't support taking young people's futures who didn't commit a crime either...that said, totally classless and disrespectful Not worthy of being expelled or suspended for a year, but def should not be on our football team.

I get the issues and understand how the coaches have to accept some responsibility. But how in the world is Coyle and the AD staff thinking they are faultless in this. I hope Coyle's last official action at this University is hiring Fleck...then adios dbag.
 


Better spokesperson than Mitch by a million. Erudite, contrite, and confident. Wonderful job.
 

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