The Minnesota football program has decided to move on from head coach Tracy Claeys
The Minnesota Golden Gophers had a successful postseason, recently winning their Holiday Bowl matchup against Washington State. However, apparently the controversy from the season was enough for them to make a head coaching change regardless.
According to reports on Tuesday, Minnesota has decided to remove head coach Tracy Claeys from the position.
We have learned that Tracy Claeys has been fired as head coach of the Gophers
— Mark Rosen (@KFANRosen) January 3, 2017
There were some rumblings earlier in the week that the Gophers might be looking to make a change, and they have done just that. Minnesota finished the year 8-4 and with that Holiday Bowl win, but again, the controversy surrounding the program overshadowed the success on the field.
Ten players from the team were suspended for that bowl contest against Washington State amid a sexual assault scandal stemming from an incident back in September. Following the suspensions being handed down, the Minnesota team decided they were going to boycott the postseason contest, which even drew the backing of Claeys, much to the dismay of many.
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A short time after the announced boycott, the players were given information about the incident and ultimately decided to play in the game against the Cougars.
Now, with Claeys out the the program needing to do some repairing to the reputation, the attention has turned to a replacement. The big name of course making the rounds is P.J. Fleck, who is one of the more charismatic young coaches you will find and has recently completed an incredible turnaround of his own with Western Michigan of the MAC. They recently went 13-0 in 2016 and earned the Group of 5 bid to the Cotton Bowl.