Claeys hopes contract extension coming

MINNEAPOLIS - After this season, Gophers football coach Tracy Claeys will have two years left on his contract. That’s when he would prefer to start talking about a possible extension.
“We enjoy being here and with the new facilities going to be coming along here pretty soon ... obviously, yeah, we would like to get something worked out,” Claeys said Tuesday on KFXN-FM.
A year ago Wednesday, Claeys received a three-year, $4.5 million contract to replace Jerry Kill, who resigned because of health problems in October 2015. Taking over for Kill, Claeys went 2-4 to finish last season, with all four losses against ranked teams.
This year, Claeys’ team is 7-2 (4-2 Big Ten) and riding a four-game winning streak against teams at the bottom of the conference standings.
Claeys and the Gophers will finish the season with a tough three-game stretch, beginning with Saturday night’s game against No. 21 Nebraska (7-2, 4-2) at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. After the Cornhuskers, Minnesota will face Northwestern (4-5, 3-3) and No. 7 Wisconsin (7-2, 4-2).
“I do think that us and the staff and the things we’ve been through, I think we’ve proven that we can get things done here at the University of Minnesota,” Claeys said Tuesday on his weekly radio show.
Claeys said he wants to focus on finishing the season and after that is a good time to talk with new athletics director Mark Coyle. Claeys received the extension from interim AD Beth Goetz; Coyle was hired in May.
“I don’t have time to mess with it, but hopefully it will be something that is addressed at the end of the season,” Claeys said. “Mainly from a recruiting standpoint, if you’ve got three years left on a deal, recruiting has went really good. But when you get down to two (years), it can be a little tough.”
Meanwhile, the Gophers are building a $166 million Athletes’ Village, which includes a new indoor practice field, training facility and offices for the football program. It is expected to open in 2018.
Claeys’ contract, which has the lowest annual pay of any permanent Big Ten coach, has a $500,000 buyout this year.
Under Claeys, the Gophers will be going to a bowl game for a fifth consecutive year. Last year, they went to the QuickLane Bowl despite a 5-7 record because there weren’t enough teams reaching the six-win eligibility threshold.
“I’ve been born and raised that when somebody hires you, you work hard and give them your best and everything will all work out for the best,” Claeys said.
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