SAN DIEGO – The Gophers football team will play a game here Tuesday night, which can be viewed as either a relief or a meaningless diversion given all that has transpired the past 14 days.
What happens afterward remains uncertain, though it would be naive to think the operation will hum right along unchanged.
Programs don't go through events like what the Gophers just experienced and emerge without damage. A full-blown crisis of this magnitude will have repercussions. We just don't know the full extent yet.
Playing a game will help provide some sense of normalcy and briefly take the focus off fallout from the university's sexual assault investigation. But it's not being melodramatic to suggest Gophers football has reached a critical crossroads that will shape its future.
The most pressing matter starts at the top. Will the school retain coach Tracy Claeys or fire him? Neither outcome can be dismissed. Judging by my e-mail inbox, public support exists for either option.
If athletic director Mark Coyle sticks by Claeys, he must voice his support right away and then decide what to do with Claeys contract. He has only two seasons left on his deal. To do nothing would signal tepid support, at best.
Will the 10 suspended players have their punishment upheld or reduced on appeal? If their punishments remain unchanged, the team will lose those five players recommended for expulsion and perhaps a few of the five who face one-year suspensions from the university. That level of personnel loss — three key defensive backs and possibly the starting quarterback next season (Seth Green) among them — in one swoop would be devastating.
How will this scandal affect recruiting? This situation becomes another hurdle that Gophers coaches must navigate in the cutthroat nature of recruiting. Don't think for a second that other schools won't use this against them. Of course they will and probably already have.
