Letter from Tracy Claeys

Donate To GopherHole

Tracy has some points to be made, I just don't think he's very good at making them.
 

"I’ve been a football coach for 23 years. From Saginaw Valley State in Michigan to Emporia State University in my home state of Kansas. From Southern Illinois University to Northern Illinois — and eventually to the University of Minnesota.

Over the years, that has added up to countless practices, film sessions and game days. I’ve had the good fortune to be part of a successful coaching staff and the opportunity to lead a great program as the head coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

And through it all, the focus has been on the players. Those 18-22-year-olds that you mentor about respecting others, going to class and working hard. And that if you get out of line in football or in life, there are consequences.

However, a review released last week questioned my leadership, and that of my coaches, concerning the suspensions of U of M football players last fall and the decision by players to boycott the Holiday Bowl. To better understand that decision, let’s look back at how we got there.

Last September, I suspended five players for a reported sexual assault. When law enforcement authorities the following month declined to file any charges, the university reinstated those players. At the time, I was congratulated by our athletic director for my handling of this issue and promised that I would remain the head football coach in 2017.

But university officials soon conducted their own inquiry and in December re-suspended the five players and suspended five more — again, even though prosecutors had determined there was no basis for formal charges.

Members of our Football Leadership Group and others on the team felt strongly that administration officials had overstepped their authority and that the accused players were treated unfairly and denied protection under due process. To amplify their argument and shine light on what players felt was a flawed and unjust process by the university, the team voted to boycott the Holiday Bowl.

It was a decision that moved us directly into the national spotlight. Unfortunately, some misunderstood or misinterpreted the players’ decision to boycott the Holiday Bowl. They felt that our team and coaches were condoning or downplaying sexual misconduct or assault. Nothing could’ve been further from the truth.

In light of this new report, are there things I would’ve done differently? Certainly. First and foremost, I would’ve remained on campus with my team and coaches rather than attend a Holiday Bowl news conference in San Diego. I’m confident my presence would’ve better directed the conversation with our players and that I could’ve steered them toward something other than a decision to boycott the game.

I also would’ve refrained from using social media to state my support of the team’s decision. This was too complex and important of an issue to address in a 140-character message. It generated more questions than it answered and likely created more problems than it solved.

If that’s proof of “weak leadership” as outlined in the recent Dorsey & Whitney report, then I’m guilty and accept responsibility. If refusing to pull the scholarships of those players who voted to boycott the bowl game, as a number of people demanded, then I’m weak there as well.

I like to think, though, that as a coach I respected my team’s decision, responsibly addressed the situation and quickly defused the boycott. Could it have been handled more smoothly? Maybe. Could it have gone much worse? Without a doubt.

Through it all, we wound up beating Washington State in the Holiday Bowl and finished the season 9-4. That marked only the second time since 1905 that the University of Minnesota’s storied football program had won nine games or more in a season. This was a point of pride for our coaching staff.

We were also extremely proud of our student-athletes’ success in the classroom. Our Graduation Success Rate last year was the highest ever, our Academic Progress Rate was the second best in the nation among FBS public universities and our cumulative team GPA was an impressive 3.03.

Those things don’t just happen by chance. A lot of really good people put in a ton of work to reach those standards. Every coach and staff member had a clear understanding of the value of academics and in preparing our young men for life beyond football. We owed it to the players, but more important, we owed it to their parents. It was part of our culture.

Meanwhile, whatever happened to those five “additional” players who were suspended by the university in December? They were reinstated during the spring semester and will be on the 2017 roster — fulfilling their dream to play football for the University of Minnesota. They persevered, and I wish them and the entire team nothing but success this season.

In the months that have passed since the Holiday Bowl and my dismissal as the University of Minnesota football coach, I’ve thought a lot about last season and what might help to move us forward.

At the end of the day it is this: be truthful, hold yourself and others accountable, be mindful of the feelings of others and respect their right to express them.

Sometimes as coaches we learn more from the players than they learn from us. And that’s a pretty good lesson in leadership."
 


Fleck may give us a better chance to reach the promised land some day, but Tracy still got railroaded unfairly by an AD who wanted to bring in a flashier face and persona.
 


fmlizard said:
Fleck may give us a better chance to reach the promised land some day, but Tracy still got railroaded unfairly by an AD who wanted to bring in a flashier face and persona.
Click to expand...

Yep and no amount of success will ever change that. But with that being said Flecks the coach now and the program will always be bigger than the coach. Best of luck to Claeys, those were the best gopher defenses in my life time, not even close
 

"our cumulative team GPA was an _impressive_ 3.03"
lol

Regardless, if Claeys wants another job as a head coach then he needs to hire an agent that doubles as a communications adviser.
This was poorly written and didn't carry much of a punch.
 

IMHO, the scandal gave the administration cover to replace Claeys with Fleck.

I wish Coach Claeys good luck. He is a good coach and a decent person. Maybe not as flashy as PJF, and their recruiting styles are different.

IMHO, Mark Coyle was convinced that he needed to act to get the coach that he wanted in place, and this was his golden opportunity.

Let's hope and pray that Coach PJF is successful.
 

gopherjay said:
mggoph said:
http://www.twincities.com/2017/08/2...-things-i-wouldve-done-differently-certainly/[/QUOTE

Claeys takes responsibility when wrong or does not do a good job, that is a true leader. In this case he did a good job and is a victim of young people who made poor choices which can happen to any coach. Take note Eric Kaler.
Click to expand...

Taking responsibility does not make you a true leader.
It makes you responsible and maybe more trustworthy, but no matter how much accountability he takes, Claeys was never going to be a true leader at the U of M.

If taking responsibility was all that was needed, we'd have many more leaders in the world.

He is just now, 8 months later, taking responsibility.
That's not leading.
Click to expand...
 



hello-world said:
"our cumulative team GPA was an _impressive_ 3.03"
lol

Regardless, if Claeys wants another job as a head coach then he needs to hire an agent that doubles as a communications adviser.
This was poorly written and didn't carry much of a punch.
Click to expand...

A true leader would recognize their weakness and hire the right people to work on their behalf in salary / contract negotiations and in communications.

Those are two major areas where Claeys performed very poorly and he can only blame himself for that.
 

Apparently he did not see anything in the players texts or the fact (they admitted it) that they lined up and trained a girl. So clueless. Apparently it is okay for guys to take advantage of completely drunk girls and have 10-12 of them screw her. WOW! And he thinks the cops who called athletic director days later so they could lawyer up and destroy evidence was somehow siding with the victim. Somehow he justifies it with WE WON the Holiday Bowl. My god I am so glad he was fired. He is so tone deaf and clueless. Thank god we have a person who knows what decency is running the program now. All about winning...nothing about representing the university, the community or the team. He isn't taking responsibility. Somehow if the cops don't charge, raping is okay. #idiot #good riddance.
 

CoMn said:
Apparently he did not see anything in the players texts or the fact (they admitted it) that they lined up and trained a girl. So clueless. Apparently it is okay for guys to take advantage of completely drunk girls and have 10-12 of them screw her. WOW! And he thinks the cops that called athletic director days later so they could lawyer up and destroy evidence was somehow siding with the victim. Somehow he justifies it with WE WON the Holiday Bowl. My god I am so glad he was fired. He is so tone deaf and clueless. Thank god we have a person who knows what decency is running the program now. All about winning...nothing about representing the university, the community or the team. He isn't taking responsibility. Somehow if the cops don't charge, raping is okay. #idiot #good riddance.
Click to expand...

Didn't read it huh? :rolleyes:

That's okay. If you would have had your way, you would have ran 21 guys off the team last year. Or hung 'em all from trees right?
 

Face The Facts said:
gopherjay said:
Taking responsibility does not make you a true leader.
It makes you responsible and maybe more trustworthy, but no matter how much accountability he takes, Claeys was never going to be a true leader at the U of M.

If taking responsibility was all that was needed, we'd have many more leaders in the world.

He is just now, 8 months later, taking responsibility.
That's not leading.
Click to expand...
I'll go one step farther, saying he "takes responsibility" isn't particularly noble. He's admitting he F'd up when that was pretty obvious that he did. Just b/c a guy serves as an assistant coach to another guy that had decent success as they rose through the ranks of college football divisions, and was a good DC, doesn't mean he was remotely prepared to be a head coach or ever would be. IMO, he doesn't have it in him to be a HC. One year of winning vs a cake schedule doesn't make him a good head coach. Head coaches are proven over the course of several years, and he blew that chance.
Click to expand...
 



Iceland12 said:
Didn't read it huh? :rolleyes:

That's okay. If you would have had your way, you would have ran 21 guys off the team last year. Or hung 'em all from trees right?
Click to expand...

Read it and Claey's letter in full...the report made my stomach turn...and Claeys let those rapists back on the team because the cops couldn't find any evidence when they showed up a week later...yeah I read it and it was a typical local police working with the athletic department to get a bunch of thugs off the hook for gang raping a student. Why others were suspended I don't know as the names were all blacked out. But Fleck wants to teach these guys how to be human beings....I could be wrong but I doubt he would let a rapist back on the team...and remember Claeys reinstated the original 5. Clearly Claeys doesn't have any girls of his own who have been raped on campus. He's part of the problem and I personally hope he never coaches again. #clueless
 

CoMn said:
Apparently he did not see anything in the players texts or the fact (they admitted it) that they lined up and trained a girl. So clueless. Apparently it is okay for guys to take advantage of completely drunk girls and have 10-12 of them screw her. WOW! And he thinks the cops that called athletic director days later so they could lawyer up and destroy evidence was somehow siding with the victim. Somehow he justifies it with WE WON the Holiday Bowl. My god I am so glad he was fired. He is so tone deaf and clueless. Thank god we have a person who knows what decency is running the program now. All about winning...nothing about representing the university, the community or the team. He isn't taking responsibility. Somehow if the cops don't charge, raping is okay. #idiot #good riddance.
Click to expand...

Allegedly
 

CoMn said:
Apparently he did not see anything in the players texts or the fact (they admitted it) that they lined up and trained a girl. So clueless. Apparently it is okay for guys to take advantage of completely drunk girls and have 10-12 of them screw her. WOW! And he thinks the cops who called athletic director days later so they could lawyer up and destroy evidence was somehow siding with the victim. Somehow he justifies it with WE WON the Holiday Bowl. My god I am so glad he was fired. He is so tone deaf and clueless. Thank god we have a person who knows what decency is running the program now. All about winning...nothing about representing the university, the community or the team. He isn't taking responsibility. Somehow if the cops don't charge, raping is okay. #idiot #good riddance.
Click to expand...
Major history revisionist in action... Makes me want to puke to think there are such stupid simpletons out there that can just change words and meanings and say whatever they want and that makes it fact.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 

The sooner this Claeys chapter can be forgotten the better.

It's been a huge black eye to the program and his lack of leadership (or poor judgement) was prominently on display.

I would likely guess he will never be the head coach of another power 5 football team ever again because of his lack of judgement and leadership.


The good news is with each passing day, we are another day removed from his mess of an operation.
 

CoMn said:
Apparently he did not see anything in the players texts or the fact (they admitted it) that they lined up and trained a girl. So clueless. Apparently it is okay for guys to take advantage of completely drunk girls and have 10-12 of them screw her. WOW! And he thinks the cops who called athletic director days later so they could lawyer up and destroy evidence was somehow siding with the victim. Somehow he justifies it with WE WON the Holiday Bowl. My god I am so glad he was fired. He is so tone deaf and clueless. Thank god we have a person who knows what decency is running the program now. All about winning...nothing about representing the university, the community or the team. He isn't taking responsibility. Somehow if the cops don't charge, raping is okay. #idiot #good

Why are you here? Does it make you feel like a morally superior person to accuse 12 people of rape when the facts you presented are wrong and the conspiracy theory you are peddling outrageous.

Stop armchair quarterbacking a situation when you don't even bother to get your facts straight.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
 

Claeys can't put the toothpaste back in the tube and he was better off without this letter published. Get a job Coach.
 

CoMn said:
Read it and Claey's letter in full...the report made my stomach turn...and Claeys let those rapists back on the team because the cops couldn't find any evidence when they showed up a week later...yeah I read it and it was a typical local police working with the athletic department to get a bunch of thugs off the hook for gang raping a student. Why others were suspended I don't know as the names were all blacked out. But Fleck wants to teach these guys how to be human beings....I could be wrong but I doubt he would let a rapist back on the team...and remember Claeys reinstated the original 5. Clearly Claeys doesn't have any girls of his own who have been raped on campus. He's part of the problem and I personally hope he never coaches again. #clueless
Click to expand...

There are so many things wrong with this post. You're making things up.
 

CoMn said:
Apparently he did not see anything in the players texts or the fact (they admitted it) that they lined up and trained a girl. So clueless. Apparently it is okay for guys to take advantage of completely drunk girls and have 10-12 of them screw her. WOW! And he thinks the cops who called athletic director days later so they could lawyer up and destroy evidence was somehow siding with the victim. Somehow he justifies it with WE WON the Holiday Bowl. My god I am so glad he was fired. He is so tone deaf and clueless. Thank god we have a person who knows what decency is running the program now. All about winning...nothing about representing the university, the community or the team. He isn't taking responsibility. Somehow if the cops don't charge, raping is okay. #idiot #good riddance.
Click to expand...

You seem to feel strongly about a number of things - just not facts.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

First of all, Claeys was a great coach and had some great defensive teams, however, I don't think he was ever head-coaching material, especially at the Big Ten level.

He was essentially handed the job when Jerry Kill stepped down. He did not hire an agent to negotiate his deal with the U, basically backing himself into a corner with no leverage. I remember Glen Mason on the radio saying he advised Claeys to take nothing less than a 5-year deal.
With a new AD coming on, he knew very well that he might not survive more than one season regardless of the sexual assault case or on-field performance.

Either way, Claeys is coming across as very desperate and it doesn't look good on his part.

If you are going to interview or write letters, then at least go through a communications director or an attorney. Otherwise, take the high road and move on.
 

bemidjigopher said:
Yep and no amount of success will ever change that. But with that being said Flecks the coach now and the program will always be bigger than the coach. Best of luck to Claeys, those were the best gopher defenses in my life time, not even close
Click to expand...

Has anyone informed PJ of this? ; )
 

hello-world said:
"our cumulative team GPA was an _impressive_ 3.03"
lol

Regardless, if Claeys wants another job as a head coach then he needs to hire an agent that doubles as a communications adviser.
This was poorly written and didn't carry much of a punch.
Click to expand...

Grown men should probably refrain from using "lol" while criticizing someone else's writing as "poor."

You don't think he had anyone else take a look at this? Just put it together and shot it from the hip to a newspaper?

What was poorly written about it, and what "punch" were you looking for? He explained his side of the story, should he have dramatized a little for effect?

It's OK to not like Claeys as a coach, and still admit he was stabbed in the back and the administration is extremely slimy. Insults aren't necessary.

A 3.03 team GPA for student athletes is bad? Is that what you mean by eloquently busting out the "lol" (which is lol-worthy in itself when criticizing GPA). That's a tick over a B average, at the U of M. They're not taking 15 credits of garbage like in the SEC.
 

Face The Facts said:
The sooner this Claeys chapter can be forgotten the better.

It's been a huge black eye to the program and his lack of leadership (or poor judgement) was prominently on display.

I would likely guess he will never be the head coach of another power 5 football team ever again because of his lack of judgement and leadership.


The good news is with each passing day, we are another day removed from his mess of an operation.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. He probably should've been stating the things in this article quite a while ago in addition to probably doing the the things that he stated he should've done instead. Gave Coyle a great excuse to move on from Coach Claeys since he bungled the boycott handling so badly. Tracy is a nice enough guy and a good football coach, just not quite sure he was ready to lead an FBS program which is far more than X's and O's nowadays. He may not ever get another chance at that. But, I sure hope he gets another opportunity to coach again as he clearly has the chops to be a DC.

Best of luck to him.
 


I still like Tracy and I believe he was treated very poorly.

But I've moved on and so should he.
 

CoMn said:
Apparently he did not see anything in the players texts or the fact (they admitted it) that they lined up and trained a girl. So clueless. Apparently it is okay for guys to take advantage of completely drunk girls and have 10-12 of them screw her. WOW! And he thinks the cops who called athletic director days later so they could lawyer up and destroy evidence was somehow siding with the victim. Somehow he justifies it with WE WON the Holiday Bowl. My god I am so glad he was fired. He is so tone deaf and clueless. Thank god we have a person who knows what decency is running the program now. All about winning...nothing about representing the university, the community or the team. He isn't taking responsibility. Somehow if the cops don't charge, raping is okay. #idiot #good riddance.
Click to expand...

And.... he rears his ugly head....
 

Calm Down said:
CoMn said:
Apparently he did not see anything in the players texts or the fact (they admitted it) that they lined up and trained a girl. So clueless. Apparently it is okay for guys to take advantage of completely drunk girls and have 10-12 of them screw her. WOW! And he thinks the cops who called athletic director days later so they could lawyer up and destroy evidence was somehow siding with the victim. Somehow he justifies it with WE WON the Holiday Bowl. My god I am so glad he was fired. He is so tone deaf and clueless. Thank god we have a person who knows what decency is running the program now. All about winning...nothing about representing the university, the community or the team. He isn't taking responsibility. Somehow if the cops don't charge, raping is okay. #idiot #good

Why are you here? Does it make you feel like a morally superior person to accuse 12 people of rape when the facts you presented are wrong and the conspiracy theory you are peddling outrageous.

Stop armchair quarterbacking a situation when you don't even bother to get your facts straight.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...


I STRONGLY second this. You've really got no true business on this site.
Click to expand...
 

Really, posting a letter in the local paper just before the season starts -- yet another nail in the coffin of Claeys' coaching career.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom