The progress on the field was clear.
And if that had been the only factor, Tracy Claeys did more than enough to keep his job after what had amounted to a season-long audition that finished with nine victories and a bowl championship.
But an investigation into an alleged sexual assault resulted in the suspension of 10 players, and Claeys' support of Minnesota players during their ensuing, ill-fated boycott of all football activities appears to have been enough to ruin his tenure with the Minnesota Golden Gophers. And now the program is unexpectedly facing another coaching transition, one that this time might well have the potential to knock over the bricks laid by Claeys and predecessor Jerry…
