The Gophers went 4–3 under Claeys during the regular season, a stretch that included a four-game Big Ten conference win streak (the Gophers' first since 1973). They lost their bowl game to Syracuse, in which Coach Kill returned to the sidelines in the second half. Kill retired for health reasons on October 28, 2015, and Claeys was named interim head coach for the remainder of the season. On November 11, 2015, Minnesota dropped the "interim" tag from Claeys' title and formally named him as its 29th head coach. On January 3, 2017, he was fired after public outrage over a team-led boycott in response to suspensions of 10 Minnesota football players accused of having a role in a sexual assault case. Claeys was on-record stating he "supports his players 1st amendment rights!"