Well, I pretty much said the same thing 18 months ago. I'm in Portland now after 42+ years of freezing my ass offin MN.

I've grown numb to the Gopher woes. They haven't been to the Rose Bowl in my lifetime. I have to think the cold weather affects recruiting, but MI & OHSt aren't much better for that. Not sure what the solution is.

Cheers!

Coyle likes wielding the axe. Second coach he has fired in his 6 months as AD.

I find his comments about needing leadership to be pretty funny though.

Both coaches he fired stood by their players instead of bowing to the admins. He wants a coach that will do what he wants regardless of how the players see them.

Both firings were justifiable but I don't really agree with either one.

maybe after a few years into the Trump presidency one can get away with belittling rape victims, but for now it's a good way to get fired

When did Claeys "belittle" rape victims?

Cite to a source

anyone can google the tweet and the circumstances . . . read enough sources till you can see how his tweet can be interpreted as inappropriate . . . and being fired is justified even if no rape occurred.

 

Please point out to me where he is belittling a rape victim? Are you saying that these football players shouldn't have the right to protest because a crime might have been committed? (Gee that's weird, good thing we don't see that happen ever.)

If you think that is interpreted in such a manner than you are desperately grasping for it to be offensive. As a coach, your first priority is your athletes. In this case, the athletes strongly felt like they were wronged and wanted to show that. Sources I have read said Claeys tried to talk them out of the boycott but eventually was convinced because every member of the team was in on it.

Here's the thing, Claeys was screwed either way. If he bends over for the admin, he will never have the trust and respect of the players he coaches again. If he stands up for his players, which any good coach would do, he gets fired for pissing off the admin. At least this way he still has a chance to get a job somewhere else. His firing is entirely justifiable, doesn't make it the right decision, but to say that he belittled rape victims is complete garbage.

Maybe I'm missing something, since I read the tweet in the past. How exactly is that belittling rape victims? Is there another tweet I'm missing?

No. And I don't think he belittled the victim.

But do you really think when the administration suspends players during a sexual assault investigation that the coach should side with the players and not the administration? Anywhere I have ever worked, thumbing your nose at your boss was a good way to get fired.

Or would your argument be that the players should have been allowed to play during the investigation? That is a different kind of argument and not one the coach should be having in public with the university. And it is not one the university is going to find very compelling in 2016 or 17.

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I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

my take on the position of the administrators is that regardless of the degree of consent (rape or not) - the 'sexual encounter', and especially the social media publications of the encounter by the athletes - - - is not fitting the expected standards of student athletes (and possibly any UM student) - - - and for the coach to appear in any way to endorse or support this behavior is grounds for dismissal. I don't think the coach intended to belittle the victim, but I think a case can be made that he did - and the university can not take that chance.