The unexpected retirement of Minnesota coach Jerry Kill caught most of the college football world by surprise Wednesday morning, but the Gophers won’t be scrambling for a solution as they head into the most daunting stretch of their 2015 schedule.
Defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys will step in as the interim head coach, a role he has played before. Claeys ran the program for seven games during the 2013 season, when Kill took a leave of absence to deal with epilepsy and seizures. The Golden Gophers won four of those seven games under Claeys.
The transition, while a shock, should be made easier by a staff that has worked with each other for a long time.