5 replacements for Tracy Claeys as Minnesota head coach
The University of Minnesota has fired Tracy Claeys as head football coach, and here are five possible replacements for him.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers won nine games this season, including a surprising win over Washington State in the Holiday Bowl. But a troubling scandal rooted in a potential sexual assault has hung over the program in recent weeks, and the heat on head coach Tracy Claeys turned up when he publicly supported the accused players via Twitter.
After a meeting with athletic director Mark Coyle, Claeys was fired on Tuesday.
We have learned that Tracy Claeys has been fired as head coach of the Gophers
— Mark Rosen (@KFANRosen) January 3, 2017
Since taking over for Jerry Kill toward the end of the 2015 season, Claeys always seemed in over his head as a head coach. But firing him at this late stage in the hiring cycle points to a replacement being on the radar, and here are five candidates to be the next Golden Gophers’ football coach.
5. Jay Sawvel
Sawvel just completed is first season as Minnesota’s defensive coordinator after being defensive backs coach and a special teams coordinator over the previous five seasons. It was his well-executed game plan, with a suspension-thinned secondary, that held Washington State’s prolific offense to 12 points and 303 yards of offense in the Holiday Bowl.
Claeys may have had a hand in that defensive game plan, due to his previous role as Kill’s defensive coordinator. If an internal candidate is in line to replace Claeys, convenient as it might be, Sawvel could be the guy.