Tracy Claeys has a losing record as an interim head boss of the Minnesota football program, but the Golden Gophers have removed the provisional tag from his title.
Claeys, who is 4-5 as interim head football coach in place of Jerry Kill and 0-2 this season, signed a three-year contract Wednesday morning to fill the first vacant Power 5 head coaching position on the market.
From startribune.com's Joe Christensen:
The Gophers announced Wednesday morning that they have hired Tracy Claeys as head football coach, removing the interim tag they gave him when Jerry Kill retired Oct. 28.
Claeys received a three-year contract that will start in February, carrying through the 2018 season. He is scheduled to make $1.4 million next year, with $100,000 raises each of the following two years.
Claeys, 46, worked 21 years as an assistant under Kill, mostly as a defensive coordinator. This is the first head coaching job of his career.
Kill, 54, retired suddenly two weeks ago because of health reasons after going 29-29 in four-plus seasons leading the team. He had just signed a contract in August with a $2.5 million salary for this year, and would have made another $11 million over the next four years.
Minnesota fell at Ohio State, 28-14, in Claeys' second game as interim coach last Saturday. A week earlier, some questionable late-game clock management resulted in a last-second defeat to Michigan, 29-26.
Claeys had been urging the administration to make a decision one way or another with the head coaching position in order to retain future recruiting classes. He got his wish Wednesday.
"I've said I want to be the next head football coach here," Claeys said Nov. 3. "I think I can do it."
Here's his shot.
"Last thing I tried to get him to do was take those last games (losses) on his record." Tracy Claeys, a jokester! https://t.co/c9IVJq44F5
— Brent Yarina (@BTNBrentYarina) November 11, 2015
