What is the impact of the coaching change on your 2017 expectations

What is the net change in your expectations

  • +3

    Votes: 3 6.4%
  • +2

    Votes: 2 4.3%
  • +1

    Votes: 4 8.5%
  • 0

    Votes: 18 38.3%
  • -1

    Votes: 7 14.9%
  • -2

    Votes: 6 12.8%
  • -3

    Votes: 7 14.9%

  • Total voters
    47
  • Poll closed .

Some guy

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Basically what are your expectations now vs if we had brought TC back?



I expected 7 wins, I still expect 7 wins. So for me the answer is zero
 

No change this year. We should be in BT title game within first three years.
 

I read the question the same as "some guy" but I think this poll could get messy if you know what I mean. The question can be read a few different ways.
 

If there is no net change, I will be disappointed in the coaching change. I thought Claeys would be 7-5 this year, Fleck better improve on that if he is everything he is cracked up to be.
 

None for this year, but the ceiling for future years has gone up.
 



Just the coaching change as a variable, i'd say it should be a push in this case.

Longer term I'm thinking net positive.

As for wins and losses this year who knows with all the question marks.
 

Yes, 0 seems to be the safest answer. The team had significant losses of personnel and there is always an expected adjustment period with a new coach. We also have a somewhat more difficult schedule. Even if Claeys had stayed, we still should expect a slight decline from last year. Likely we have more long-term confidence (at least offensively) in the new coaching regime but we can't be too confident of those positives translating immediately.
 

Fleck has a better coaching staff than Claeys; he is a far better motivator of players; and his team will play with more discipline and consistency. That means Fleck should win 1-2 more games than Claeys would have won. However, because of the more difficult schedule, inexperienced QB's, and below average wide receivers I doubt the Gophers will win more than 7 games. If the Gophers win 8 or more games Coyle should tear up Fleck's contract and give him a new one for more money and a longer term.
 



I voted -3.

Change of culture is not something that happens overnight, and I would have voted -4 if you had that option.

I have this team at 5 wins this year. Anything above that will exceed my expectations.
 

No change this year. We should be in BT title game within first three years.

Oh, yeah. That's perfectly reasonable since we made it so frequently that last 50 years.
 

Fleck has a better coaching staff than Claeys; he is a far better motivator of players; and his team will play with more discipline and consistency. That means Fleck should win 1-2 more games than Claeys would have won. However, because of the more difficult schedule, inexperienced QB's, and below average wide receivers I doubt the Gophers will win more than 7 games. If the Gophers win 8 or more games Coyle should tear up Fleck's contract and give him a new one for more money and a longer term.

Coaching staff Offensively yes, defensively I don't think so.
He is a different type of motivator, not necessarily better. To me Claeys was more of an intrinsic motivator and it worked for him. The WSU game showed that.

So you're saying had Claeys been retained, you would have expected 5 or 6 wins this year?


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Said "0."

I don't think we'd be better off at QB with or without Coach Claeys at the helm.

Lot's of other variables with the change (as articulated nicely above) but think it would be tough for either coach. Would love to be proven wrong by PJF and the players on the field.

I read this as likely a 7 win regular season...maybe 8...with a bowl game on top.
 



I went with "0." I am predicting 5-7 regular season wins from Fleck - the exact same I would have predicted with Claeys.
 

Don't have a strong starting QB regardless of the coach and I think that's the biggest limiting factor.
 

Coaching staff Offensively yes, defensively I don't think so.
He is a different type of motivator, not necessarily better. To me Claeys was more of an intrinsic motivator and it worked for him. The WSU game showed that.

So you're saying had Claeys been retained, you would have expected 5 or 6 wins this year?

I wouldn't underestimate the new defensive coaching staff. I think they are going be better than Claeys and his staff because their recruiting will be better. And I believe the players motivated themselves for the WSU game. Without Ohio State and Michigan Claeys benefited from one of the easiest schedules in modern Gopher history. I don't think he would have won more than 6 games this year, and maybe only 5 or less. But 5 or 6 wins for Claeys this year appears to be about right. Claeys wouldn't have had a prayer of achieving the success at Western Michigan than Fleck did.
 

Coaching staff Offensively yes, defensively I don't think so.
He is a different type of motivator, not necessarily better. To me Claeys was more of an intrinsic motivator and it worked for him. The WSU game showed that.

So you're saying had Claeys been retained, you would have expected 5 or 6 wins this year?


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Yes, I would have expected Claeys to win 5 or 6 games because Seth Green would be the starting quarterback.
 

I put -1. If Claeys had stayed, you'd be likely be looking at McLaurin starting at QB (no Morgan or Rhoda, supposedly McLaurin was brought in because they didn't have faith in Croft/Green/Williams). Moore would likely still be center. All the expelled players would be gone either way. A few true freshman would be gone, others here. I think player wise it'd probably balance out this year (I think next year and on you'd start to see separation IMHO). I don't think the defense will be as good as if Claeys/Sawvel was here but think the offense will be better. But I still feel like the changeover in systems is going to bite them once this year. Receiver will run the wrong route, DB will be on the wrong receiver, OL blocks the wrong guy, etc. I hope I'm proven wrong.
 

I expect we'll be better than if Claeys was still here. Claeys was a smart coach, but he was living off what Kill put in place. With Claeys at the helm I would of said 4 or 5 wins this year. With Fleck I say 7 or 8 wins.


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If Claeys were still coach the OL would have been stronger with the guys that left remaining and the JC guy Fleck ran off on the team. On the D side we would still have Elmore on the D line and the defensive side was not going to be a problem with Claeys and his Sawvel in place, even with the loss of Hardin and the other two promising D backs kicked off the team.

I think the upside is somewhat higher in future years if Fleck recruits at much higher level, and there I no reason to think he is Brewster #2 on the X and O/ organizational skills side, so we are covered but the odds are that TC might have won more games than we will see won this year.

A TC lead team would have played good to great D all year, which means the lesser teams would be in big trouble, assuming TC forced the former OC Jay Johnson to not get to exotic and let the two RBs control the games, and keep the QB from making any big errors. That blueprint would lead to a 7 to 9 win season, and maybe PJ Fleck can match or go beyond that. My view of last year is that Jay Johnson's play calling cost the team the Penn State game and possible a couple of other games, Last year could have been a massive year with two more wins.
 

If Claeys were still coach the OL would have been stronger with the guys that left remaining and the JC guy Fleck ran off on the team. On the D side we would still have Elmore on the D line and the defensive side was not going to be a problem with Claeys and his Sawvel in place, even with the loss of Hardin and the other two promising D backs kicked off the team.

I think the upside is somewhat higher in future years if Fleck recruits at much higher level, and there I no reason to think he is Brewster #2 on the X and O/ organizational skills side, so we are covered but the odds are that TC might have won more games than we will see won this year.

A TC lead team would have played good to great D all year, which means the lesser teams would be in big trouble, assuming TC forced the former OC Jay Johnson to not get to exotic and let the two RBs control the games, and keep the QB from making any big errors. That blueprint would lead to a 7 to 9 win season, and maybe PJ Fleck can match or go beyond that. My view of last year is that Jay Johnson's play calling cost the team the Penn State game and possible a couple of other games, Last year could have been a massive year with two more wins.

We lost 1 starting O lineman to transfer, Elmore was nothing special. Our O line coach this year is much better. Our receiver coach this year is much better. The D is the question mark. Our starting or backup QB wouldn't even be on the roster under Claeys.
The further Claeys got away from the Kill days the worse it was going to get. Bowl games are about motivation, MN players were motivated big time by the suspensions. Other than that, they beat nobody last year. The recruiting class was shaping up to be poor. We'll see how many Fleck wins this year. We'll also see that Claeys will never be a head coach again at a power 5 school.




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Right, Elmore was no good, and all the new coaches are the best. TC was garbage, 9 wins was nothing! We beat "no one" last year, but now Northwestern is a great team we possibly cannot beat this year under PJ Fleck, and an 8 win Mike Leach coached team, #2 in offense last year now is "nothing"

Well you sure know a lot, "some day is coming" about motivation, and the players are super motivated now by the great one, so we will see how many wins occur this year.

Apparently you have some great bias against TC, a fat guy who managed to get his team to 9 wins last year, but will never do anything again. Please explain in more detail why he could not be a good P5 HC? Too fat? Not bombastic enough? Trusted his weasel AD too much?

The D may be a problem now, but it would not have been under the previous staff, they had credibility and would have fielded a decent D, (see WSU game last year) The offense would have been OK, as it would have leaned on the OL and the two great RBs coming back, not the QB.

Again, we can hash this out in about 3 months and see how correct your rash comments were now "some day is coming" I suspect your constant moving of the goalposts and silly comments are going to look fairly exposed in early December.
 

Right, Elmore was no good, and all the new coaches are the best. TC was garbage, 9 wins was nothing! We beat "no one" last year, but now Northwestern is a great team we possibly cannot beat this year under PJ Fleck, and an 8 win Mike Leach coached team, #2 in offense last year now is "nothing"

Well you sure know a lot, "some day is coming" about motivation, and the players are super motivated now by the great one, so we will see how many wins occur this year.

Apparently you have some great bias against TC, a fat guy who managed to get his team to 9 wins last year, but will never do anything again. Please explain in more detail why he could not be a good P5 HC? Too fat? Not bombastic enough? Trusted his weasel AD too much?

The D may be a problem now, but it would not have been under the previous staff, they had credibility and would have fielded a decent D, (see WSU game last year) The offense would have been OK, as it would have leaned on the OL and the two great RBs coming back, not the QB.

Again, we can hash this out in about 3 months and see how correct your rash comments were now "some day is coming" I suspect your constant moving of the goalposts and silly comments are going to look fairly exposed in early December.

Sad that some are still bitter
 


Right, Elmore was no good, and all the new coaches are the best. TC was garbage, 9 wins was nothing! We beat "no one" last year, but now Northwestern is a great team we possibly cannot beat this year under PJ Fleck, and an 8 win Mike Leach coached team, #2 in offense last year now is "nothing"

Well you sure know a lot, "some day is coming" about motivation, and the players are super motivated now by the great one, so we will see how many wins occur this year.

Apparently you have some great bias against TC, a fat guy who managed to get his team to 9 wins last year, but will never do anything again. Please explain in more detail why he could not be a good P5 HC? Too fat? Not bombastic enough? Trusted his weasel AD too much?

The D may be a problem now, but it would not have been under the previous staff, they had credibility and would have fielded a decent D, (see WSU game last year) The offense would have been OK, as it would have leaned on the OL and the two great RBs coming back, not the QB.

Again, we can hash this out in about 3 months and see how correct your rash comments were now "some day is coming" I suspect your constant moving of the goalposts and silly comments are going to look fairly exposed in early December.

Brilliant! +1


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I was so impressed with the job our old defensive coaching staff did in the the period leading up to the bowl game. Gave me confidence we would be very competitive this year.

Although not pretty to watch I also think our previous coaches knew how to 'shorten' the game and limit mistakes on the offensive side of the ball - which helped us stay close against more talented opponents.

I think/hope PJ and his coaching team will be fantastic.in the long run but my expectations for number of wins are less this year. Learning new schemes, transfers, building 'culture/relationships' all play a part.

Sincerely hope I am wrong and, if I am right and we do take a backward step, hope everyone is patient.

Go Gophers!
 

Right, Elmore was no good, and all the new coaches are the best. TC was garbage, 9 wins was nothing! We beat "no one" last year, but now Northwestern is a great team we possibly cannot beat this year under PJ Fleck, and an 8 win Mike Leach coached team, #2 in offense last year now is "nothing"

Well you sure know a lot, "some day is coming" about motivation, and the players are super motivated now by the great one, so we will see how many wins occur this year.

Apparently you have some great bias against TC, a fat guy who managed to get his team to 9 wins last year, but will never do anything again. Please explain in more detail why he could not be a good P5 HC? Too fat? Not bombastic enough? Trusted his weasel AD too much?

The D may be a problem now, but it would not have been under the previous staff, they had credibility and would have fielded a decent D, (see WSU game last year) The offense would have been OK, as it would have leaned on the OL and the two great RBs coming back, not the QB.

Again, we can hash this out in about 3 months and see how correct your rash comments were now "some day is coming" I suspect your constant moving of the goalposts and silly comments are going to look fairly exposed in early December.

A little emotional are we? Never said Elmore was no good, your words, not what I said. Never said Claeys "could not be a GOOD power 5 coach", your words not mine.

I said Claeys will not be a power 5 head coach again, never said he "could not be a GOOD power 5 HC". Ya see, those are two different things. Things you are making up, and things I actually said.

I never said Elmore was "no good", I said Elmore was nothing special. Again, you making up things I didn't say.

I never said, Claeys was too fat to coach, I've never ever said that, and never would. Those again were your words. But if you feel the need to defend fatness, be my guest.

Yes, let's check in in 3 months, 13 months, 30 months, 3 years, etc etc.

Maybe you'll have calmed down by then and wont be so butt hurt.




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Right, Elmore was no good, and all the new coaches are the best. TC was garbage, 9 wins was nothing! We beat "no one" last year, but now Northwestern is a great team we possibly cannot beat this year under PJ Fleck, and an 8 win Mike Leach coached team, #2 in offense last year now is "nothing"

Well you sure know a lot, "some day is coming" about motivation, and the players are super motivated now by the great one, so we will see how many wins occur this year.

Apparently you have some great bias against TC, a fat guy who managed to get his team to 9 wins last year, but will never do anything again. Please explain in more detail why he could not be a good P5 HC? Too fat? Not bombastic enough? Trusted his weasel AD too much?

The D may be a problem now, but it would not have been under the previous staff, they had credibility and would have fielded a decent D, (see WSU game last year) The offense would have been OK, as it would have leaned on the OL and the two great RBs coming back, not the QB.

Again, we can hash this out in about 3 months and see how correct your rash comments were now "some day is coming" I suspect your constant moving of the goalposts and silly comments are going to look fairly exposed in early December.

Oh ya, I said other than WSU we beat no one last year, but you feel the need to include WSU in your remarks. Have someone explain to you what "other than" means.

Also, NW was not a "great team" last year, because LAST YEAR is what I was talking about. But by all means, stretch all you can to make it fit your narrative.


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So many "IF's" involved here.

All I can say with any certainty is this: if Claeys was still the coach, we would have a different roster and a different recruiting class. How that would have impacted the team, no one can really say. But, if Claeys was still the coach, the Gophers would presumably have the same coaching staff and schemes.

But, that is in the past. As far as the season ahead, I still really don't know what to expect. I need to see this team play. I need to see what the offense and defense look like in game conditions against a real opponent. I need to see how this coaching staff works, and what type of adjustments they make. I need to see how Fleck operates with in-game decision-making. Ironically, I will be DVR'ing the game Thursday because of work commitments, and I probably won't be able to watch it until Saturday at the earliest. I think there may be a lot of stopping and rewinding to watch the offense in action.

But - as I was saying - before you can compare something, you have to have something to compare it to. We saw what the Gophers looked like on the field under Tracy Claeys and his coaching staff. Until Thursday night, we do not know what the Gophers will look like on the field under PJ Fleck and his coaching staff. After Thursday, then we can make some intelligent comparisons - not just speculation.
 




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