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MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - The University of Minnesota Athletics Director Mark Coyle said he wants to sit down with Gophers Football head coach Tracy Claeys to talk about his “expectations” for the program, according to a statement released Wednesday afternoon.
In the statement, Coyle remained non-committal on Claeys’ job status as head coach, simply saying the two will get together soon to talk about the future.
“Now that our football team has completed its season following an exciting win in Tuesday night’s Holiday Bowl, Coach Claeys and I will take this opportunity to reflect on this past season before sitting down together to talk about the future and my expectations for our football program,” the statement read.
Organizers delivered a petition to the Athletics Department and U of M President Eric Kaler on Wednesday morning, demanding he fire Claeys.
More than 2,000 people signed the petition, which stated that Claeys should be terminated for “failure of leadership and lack of sound judgment” in his response to the team's boycott of all football activities earlier this month. The players were boycotting the suspensions of 10 players following the university's investigation into an alleged sexual assault on Sept. 2.
This was Claeys' first full season as the Gophers Football head coach. He replaced former head coach Jerry Kill, who retired last fall mid-season for health reasons. The Gophers defeated Washington State 17-12 in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego on Tuesday night.