Kirk Ferentz: Where Does He Rank Among Big Ten Coaches?

No. 13 – Tracy Claeys, Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-6)

After taking over for Jerry Kill, Tracy Claeys simply hasn’t done much. He led Minnesota to a mediocre 2-4 finish in the second half of 2015 and the Gophers’ 5-2 record in 2016 isn’t as impressive once you start to dig into the numbers.

Minnesota is in line for a possible eight-win season, but they’ve been unable to beat good teams under Claeys. Sure, it’s a small sample size, but wins over Central Michigan and Maryland are the only times Minnesota has won against a team above .500 under Claeys. The Gophers have been able to barely squeak out wins against lesser competition but fold against better teams.

Part of it is that Minnesota has dealt with injuries to key players. Also, this is Claeys’ first full season as head coach, but Minnesota hasn’t seemed to respond as strongly to the new leadership as one may have hoped.

The Gophers rank outside the top-40 in scoring offense and scoring defense and almost lost to a struggling Rutgers team. Jerry Kill turned Minnesota around from a three-win team to an eight-win team in just a couple of years, but now they need a coach who can get them over the next hump.

Considering Minnesota’s 2017 recruiting class ranks 70th in the nation, and has no four star commitments, getting over the next hump might be a couple of years away. Tracy Claeys is still trying to implement his system and make his mark after Jerry Kill’s success, but the Gophers have seemed to regress under his leadership and that’s not a good sign for a young coach.