Tracy Claeys has the "full support" of his first-year athletics director.
A statement from Minnesota athletics director Mark Coyle, published by the Star Tribune, expressed the backing of Claeys, who just wrapped his first full regular season as the Gophers' head football coach.
"Now that our regular season is complete, Tracy and I have begun to discuss this past season and the plan for our program moving forward. He is our head football coach. As is the case with every one of our head coaches, he has my full support. I will do whatever I can to help him and our students achieve at the highest levels.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Chicago sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
"Our football program has now won eight games in the regular season three times in four seasons. We expect that our program will continue to grow, and I am committed to putting us in a position to do so. This includes working with coach Claeys to evaluate where we need to improve and what each of us can do to ensure we meet our expectations."
Claeys will be back for the 2017 season and a contract extension is forthcoming, according to that report from the Star Tribune's Joe Christensen.
It might sound odd that an athletics director would have to publicly voice support for a coach that just turned in an eight-win campaign at Minnesota, but Coyle is new to the athletics department after coming over from Syracuse earlier this year.
Claeys took over for Jerry Kill midway through last season after Kill stepped down from his position due to his ongoing battle with epilepsy. Claeys is 10-8 in 18 games as head coach, though he has continued the consistent winning that Kill established. This was the Gophers' third eight-win campaign in the last four seasons. Prior to Kill's arrival — and with it, Claeys' as defensive coordinator — Minnesota had only experienced three eight-win seasons since 1967.
Big Ten
News of Claeys' forthcoming extension is not terribly surprising. Claeys received just a three-year contract when he was named the permanent head coach last fall, and college coaches typically have contracts long enough to assure recruits that they will be employed through the players' college tenure.