Gophers players tweet displeasure over firing of Tracy Claeys

News emerged shortly before 4 p.m. that Tracy Claeys has been fired as Gophers football coach, and it didn’t take long for players to start reacting on social media. Freshman linebacker Carter Coughlin wrote, “I’ve always been really mindful about what I tweet,” before adding an expletive about the decision. He added this tweet:

How can someone makes such an idiotic decision…

— Carter Coughlin (@Cmoe34) January 3, 2017

Senior defensive back Jalen Myrick underscored the tension between players and administration that has developed during the recent suspension of 10 players over an alleged sexual assault. He tweeted:

Fire the coach that stick with his players .. it’s sad how this administration doesn’t care about the players at all — Jalen Myrick (@5__On__It) January 3, 2017

Freshman Tyler Johnson added simply:

Smh

— Tyler Johnson (@T_muhneyy10) January 3, 2017

Kamal Martin, also a freshman, had a much longer reaction:

pic.twitter.com/cAEsQFl78N — KSIX (@KamalMartin6) January 3, 2017

Alums weighed in, too. Said former QB MarQueis Gray:

Really Make it hard to be a proud Alum sometimes! Claeys waz a great coach and did a damn good job this year!

— MarQueis Gray (@MarQueisG) January 3, 2017

Added ex-DB Tyrone Carter:

Wow!!!! Now u fire the coach after he get the 9th Win, after all the AD had to say to my brothers was, Let’s Get this 9th Win SMDH!Scapegoat — Tyrone Carter (@TyroneCarter954) January 3, 2017