Former Minnesota Coach Jerry Kill Furious Over Firing Of Tracy Claeys

The University of Minnesota fired head football coach Tracy Claeys on Tuesday, at least in part because Claeys supported his players’ plan to boycott their bowl game in solidarity with 10 teammates who were suspended following a university sexual assault investigation. The university’s decision to fire Claeys does not sit well with former head coach Jerry Kill, who made an emotional departure from the program in 2015 due to health reasons.

Kill went on ESPN radio yesterday to say he was furious with the school for firing Claeys, and vowed to never set foot on Minnesota’s campus again. From ESPN:

Kill, who was forced to retire at Minnesota in 2015 due to health reasons and handed the job to his longtime assistant Claeys, told 1500 ESPN radio on Wednesday that he was furious with athletic director Mark Coyle’s assertion that the program was in need of “integrity and class.”

“I won’t be stepping foot back in the stadium,” said Kill, who was recently hired as Rutgers’ offensive coordinator. “And I won’t be stepping back into the university.”

Claeys’s players never went through with the boycott, changing their minds after 80 pages of the university’s investigative findings were made public. The report included graphic details of a woman’s account of being forced to have sex with multiple football players while others watched and filmed. After Claeys was fired, Minnesota athletic director Mark Coyle said that Claeys’s decision to support his players’ planned boycott was “not helpful.”

[ ESPN]