Brewster at Big Ten Media Day

Here is the video of Brewster's Big Ten Media Day press conference...



In typical Brewster fashion he used the word tremendous within the first two sentences! In fact reading the transcript I was able to find usage of said word nine times. I'm a big fan of Brewster and his optimism but when I meet him, I am going to give him a thesaurus.

Main Entry:	tremendous
Part of Speech:	adjective
Synonyms:	amazing, astounding, colossal, deafening, enormous, extraordinary, fabulous, fantastic, giant, gigantic, great, huge, immense, large, mammoth, marvelous, mighty, momentous, monstrous, overwhelming, powerful, stupendous, terrific, titanic, vast, whopping, wonderful

After his initial optimism and coach-speak about last season's competitive yet unsuccessful squad, Brewster pretty quickly got down to business...

"last year we were pretty solid on offense, did some pretty good things, scored some points and ran the ball fairly well. What we didn't do was stop anybody. We were a very poor defensive football team. From the head coach to the defensive staff to our team."

"And as you look through the years at the University of Minnesota, Minnesota has had good offensive football teams for a long time where we would come up short on the defensive side."

While I enjoy Brewster's optimism, the thing I most appreciate is that he isn't afraid to speak some of the truth. He wasn't afraid to say "Rose Bowl" when he first started and he isn't afraid to tell everyone that "yeah, we stunk on defense last year." While this fact is clear and anyone who paid attention knows this, most in the coaching world would pussy foot around this issue and say things like "we need to improve defensively" or "it is a total team effort" but Brewster wasn't afraid to call out his staff, the players and take some responsibility for not bing able to "stop ANYBODY."

Brewster also talked a little about our new defensive coordinator, Ted Roof (Roof received a double "tremendous")...

"Again, as I said, the key in our improvement without question is our development as a defense. I'm really excited about Ted Roof, our new defensive coordinator, comes to us with tremendous experience, not only as a defensive coordinator but a head coach. Tremendous calmness about him, understands, has been in the heat of battle, and his imprint on our defense was strong this spring. I thought that he came in and really got after those kids and let them know exactly the style of play that we want to play, and again, it just goes back to our commitment to playing great defense."

We really don't know a lot about Roof or what kind of style or personality he'll bring to the defense. But I like hearing that he got after kids a little bit. I'm sure as the season draws near we will hear more about how Roof wants to play an aggressive defense that flys around the field and swarms to the ball, but show me a defensive coordinator who doesn't want that and I'll give him directions to the unemployment center. The best thing that Roof can bring to this defense is his ability to teach. We have young guys who are going to have to contribute and they need to learn their responsibilities quickly.

Now on to the Q & A

Q. I know you. You mentioned about the emphasis on defense and trying to improve it and all that. How are you changing the defense in terms of style or scheme from last year?

COACH BREWSTER: You know what, I don't think it's at all about style. I don't think it's at all about scheme. I think it's about players, players having an attitude to swarm and attack. We talk about alignment, assignment and tackle, those basic premises which lead to playing good defense.

I know this is kind of a cop out answer, but for the Gophers this is completely true. If you have the tape, watch last year's Iowa game. The Hawkeye RBs would take a false step towards the Gopher sideline then cut back the other way in a designed counter play. Holes were massively huge because our linebackers would sprint three steps in the wrong direction before they realized the play was coming right at them. That is just bad defense of watching the ball and not reading the play. It doesn't matter how fast you are or whether or not you can tackle, if you take yourself out of the play you are a non-factor.

Then go and watch any other game on the schedule to see how awful we were at tackling. I thought Kyle Theret and Dom Barber were a solid tacklers but that was about it.

Q. Hearing from you and having just heard before from Mark Dantonio and Bill Lynch, a number of young coaches who are taking over programs who aren't traditionally the Ohio State do you feel like you and these younger coaches can continue to balance the power in the Big Ten?

COACH BREWSTER: You're a young guy, right? You don't realize that the University of Minnesota has won six national championships and 18 Big Ten Championships. University of Minnesota is truly one of the top schools in the Big Ten. Now it's been a long time since we've won a championship, but without question we believe that we can make an impact in the Big Ten, and that's why we're here.

I believe that HE believes he can make an impact on the Big Ten. Whether or not he can actually accomplish this is another question, but I still like the attitude and tremendous optimism.

New Poll on right sidebar...

I want to know how this breaks down in Gopher Nation...

Where do you stand on the current football coaching staff.

1 - Tim Brewster is the guy and will lead us to a championship level. If you land in this group you believe in the Ron Zook blueprint. Recruit, Recruit, Recruit, then the wins will come. It may take a few years and along the way the first couple seasons may be absolutely brutal but once the talent level is raised and those kids get some experience they will start winning games. As many may recall it wasn't very long ago that Zook was labeled as a great recruiter but a terrible game coach. Those labels are gone for now and soon the Brewster naysayers will have little to say as well.



2 - I miss Glen Mason. At least Mason never gave us a 1-11 season. While we knew a shot at the Rose Bowl was going to take some luck and even those shots would be few and far between. But Coach Mason was right, things were really bad before he got here, he brought us to a new level and under Brewster you are head right back to the bottom 2 or 3 of the conference on an annual basis. We had established one of the best running games in the country and fielded a team that was bearable to watch.



3 - I'm still on the fence. I think it was time for Mason to go but I'm not yet sold on Brewster. But if he can keep recruiting like this I'm willing to take a couple seasons like 2007 with the shot at greatness. I am not willing to call this hire a failure, but so far I'm not impressed.

I encourage you to vote with some passion, in the end I just want to know what % of Gopher fans are actually going to be patient, who misses Mr. Mason and who has bought the snake oil.

Brewtster taking heat for comments 17 months ago...

January 17th is a date known for many significant events…

• 1595 – Henry IV of France declares war on Spain
• 1605 – First publication of Don Quixote
• 1899 – Al Capone was born
• 1917 – the US buys the Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25 million
• 1949 – the first sitcom, The Goldbergs, airs on US television
• 1971 – Kid Rock was born
• 1982 – "Cold Sunday" in the US saw temperatures fall to their lowest levels in over 100 years in numerous cities (thank god for global warming)
• 1991 – Operation Desert Storm begins

But that date will forever be remember by Gopher fans as the day Athletic Director Joel Maturi officially hired his new head football coach, Tim Brewster.

We are 17 months removed from his first press conference and some Brewster quotes from that day are still being parsed and debated by fans, bloggers and message board enthusiasts. I’ve take my shot at analyzing and ending the conversation (not a goal actually attainable) but ultimately I wonder why it even matters?

There really are two things that matter in college football.

1- actually winning
2- the perception of moving in the right direction

I know that everyone will tell me that really winning is the only thing that matters. And maybe at certain schools that is true, but not necessarily at the University of Minnesota. One could argue that Glen Mason was the third best coach in the storied history of the Gophers (Murray Warmath and Bernie Bierman are clearly top 2). Mason did produce the highest win % since Bierman. But winning games and going to mid-level bowls was not enough to keep his job as it was determined that the program wasn’t really moving forward.

I’m putting words behind the actions of Maturi but I think it is safe to assume that the program had plateaued and the administration or influential alumni believed we needed a new leader to move forward.

This brings us back to January 17^th, 2007 and the initial press conference by Tim Brewster, who boldly proclaimed he was not only creating Gopher Nation but planning not take us to Pasadena and stated things like…

"My expectations from day one are going to be to win the Big Ten Championship. That’s what the seniors deserve and what everybody deserves."

“Our expectation is to win a Big Ten Championship now. We’re not interested in any rebuilding process. I’m very fortunate that I’m not coming into a situation that is decimated where there are no players. There are players here. Glen Mason did an excellent job at this university and coached these kids well. They’ve won a lot of games. They’re not void of talent, so we’re in a little different situation here than it is at most places that are going through the hiring process. I’m very excited that it’s not a complete rebuilding process."

These quotes created quite a stir and have been the root of controversy and debate ever since.

One side wonders how we ever hired this lunatic who thought we actually had the talent to win the Big Ten in 2007.Either he was crazy or he was a poor judge of talent and crazy. As his team marched on to a 1-11 season the fuel was added to the fire of this groups’ ire.

The other side says “C’mon guys he didn’t REALLY mean he could win this year.” What coach in his right mind is going to give up on a season. Of course he was just encouraging his troops and showing them that he had confidence in them. Ultimately he just meant that winning the Big Ten (as opposed to ‘earning’ a mediocre bowl bid) is the goal each and ever year.

After initially defending the comments, I say WHO CARES! Whether or not he thought the Gophers were going to be Big Ten Champs in 2008 is completely meaningless. There are two things that matter. His record and the perception that he’s moving the program forward. In year 1, he failed miserably in the win/loss department. But he did hit a home run in the world of recruiting which has Gopher Nation buzzing about being able to field a team with Big Ten talent throughout the roster.

You may say, his words don’t exactly matter, what irks Gopher fans is that his rhetoric is over the top and coming off as crazy which won’t get you anywhere. You may be correct to a degree. He clearly overstated things when he was in the moment of being paraded as a new head coach. But that same enthusiasm and goal oriented rhetoric is precisely the reason he was able to bring in a top 20 recruiting class which happened to be the best this program has seen in decades.

Was his first season a success? Absolutely not, but I would argue it wasn’t a total loss. Bringing in a top 20 class when your team finished 1-11 is incredible. 2007 was a disaster but he has given hope for a sustainable turnaround. Eventually he will have to prove he is more than a recruiter and a coach capable of winning games and take this program to a new level of competitiveness. Through one season he is completing 50% of his passes.

But really does the fact that he was excited and was the first person to voice that we should have higher goals really that big of a deal? His team struggled on the field and there has to be improvement this in 2008, but what he said at his initial press conference or even all through his first spring is completely irrelevant to the 2008 season. Can we please move on?

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Inspiration for this post
Charlie Walters
Sunday Morning Quarterback
Footballnews - 247

Brewster's Recruiting Grades

With Willie Mobley committing to Ohio State this morning we can now assess how well Brewster has done recruiting in state kids.

In the past there was much criticism that the previous coaching staff did a poor job of keeping the best kids home. This was very true as the list of successful college players from Minnesota who excelled at other schools is longer than the list of gophers who stayed home. Brewster has clearly stated that keeping Minnesota's finest at home is a top priority. I am going to say that while coach Brewster has had an outstanding recruiting class he is failing at keeping MN kids in MN. I know this is basically his first year and going 1-11 isn't going to help your cause, but there are some very talented individuals playing in this state that Brester was unable to land.

The Can't Blame Them Camp - There were two highly rated high school seniors this year. Two players who project to be impact players at any program. And these were the only two players who were legitimately recruited by the best of the best programs (Ohio State, Notre Dame, Florida, etc.).

Mike Floyd (pictured right) - WR - committed to Notre Dame
Willie Mobley - DE - committed to Oho State
Sam Maresh - LB - MINNESOTA

When you are a player being courted by the likes of Notre Dame and Ohio State, I really can't blame you for choosing them over Minnesota. If you feel that you will play and contribute on a team that most years will be competing for a BCS Bowl game, why would you choose Minnesota? I know that Brewster is engaging and has people believing he'll bring the gophers to a championship level, but why not take the sure thing? Really, there is no good reason that players like Floyd and Mobley should choose MN over those fine schools. We want them here and we want to seem them lead the gophers to a Rose Bowl, but can you really blame them?

Landing Maresh was a great get, but getting a third of your state's best isn't a good average. I also don't think Maresh had quite the same options as Floyd/Mobley. The real loss here is Mobley for a couple reasons. First of all we have a pluthera of WRs coming in and losing Floyd isn't the end of the world but we NEED help on the defensive line in the worst way. Mobley would have played and been an improvement from day 1. Secondly, it appeared that he was truly on the fence. We were so close and when it is close we have to land the hometown guy.

Good Players, Gotta Have 'em - this is your group of good players who are not the best of the best but they'll still help you win football games. These guys will contribute to most programs even some of the top notch programs. Land enough of these kids and you have a solid team. These are the kids we HAVE to land. This is where we lose good players to Wisconsin and Iowa each and every year. Then we watch them contribute to winning programs that go to decent bowls.

Joe Schafer - OL - committed to Wisconsin
Brendon Kelly - DE - committed to Wisconsin
Shady Solomon - RB - MINNESOTA
Roszell Gaydon - OL - MINNESOTA
John Nance - QB - MINNESOTA

Honestly I'm disappointed how this one turned out. Landing 4 of these 5 would have been acceptable (especially considering our young talent on the OL), but year in and year out we need to go 5 for 5 with this level of athletes. What makes this sting more is that Wisconsin landed them. I can't stress enough how important it is to keep these kids at home.

Ultimately when you rank the players within the state of Minnesota we are keeping one of the top five. I don't find that this is an improvement over what we saw in previous years.

Brewster's Recruiting Grades - being critical of this recruiting class is like being upset you won the powerball when it was "only" 15 million, not 200. This is arguably the best gopher recruiting class in my lifetime. But I'm going to be unusually critical anyway.

National Recruiting - A - I can't complain about Brewster's recruiting efforts outside of Minnesota. He is pulling kids from winning programs in Florida and Texas. He has 4-star recruits seriously considering and even committing to being golden gophers. Landing kids like Brandon Green(WR), Spencer Reeves(LB), Traye Simmons(CB) and Troy Stoudermire(Ath) are great recruiting gets for Minnesota. And we still have chips in the game. Other top rated players like MarQueis Gray(QB), LaMichael James(RB), Keanon Cooper(S), Nolan Brewster(S) and Jewhan Edwards(DT) are still on our radar with good chances of landing a handful of these kids.

Minnesota's Finest - B minus - I really don't fault Floyd for choosing Notre Dame or Mobley for choosing Ohio State when the gophers have a long history of playing somewhere between bad and mediocre. Maresh is a good get and I'm looking forward to watching him help the gophers over the next 4 years. This is hard to grade cause these guys were going to be difficult to keep. I'm frustrated that we didn't get Mobley and that is probably keeping this grade down the most. Had we landed him I would be very happy with this group.

Minnesota's Next Best - D+ - As frustrated as I am that we lost Mobley, missing out on the 2 best in this group to Wisconsin is unforgivable. Kelly committed originally and then de-committed for a Badger scholarship. That flip flop makes all the difference in the world. Getting a good DE to stay here would have been very helpful for this class. The border bleeding has to stop and it starts with this caliber of player.

Overall - B - this is tricky. As I mentioned above this has been a great recruiting class. But stopping the border bleeding has to happen now. So grading a great class with the disappointment of our inability to keep kids home is tough. I feel like I'm getting picky and acting as though it will never be enough. But at Minnesota building a winning program has to start with keeping our best home. That can't be something that "eventually" happens when we start winning. It has to start with that. Brewster has done a nice job of getting talented kids from Chicago, Texas and Florida to come here but he'll never get their best and he won't be able to get enough of them to build a Big Ten challenging team. A dream class that has Floyd, Mobley, Maresh and then several kids from around the country is what we need to build a winning foundation.

It should be noted that it ain't over till it's over. I think there is a good chance that a few players who have already committed elsewhere will change their minds and become golden gophers. Nolan Brewster leads that list and in-state guys like Mobley and Kelly are possibilities in my mind. This game is far from over but as it stands I'm not as happy as I probably should be.

Next year will be a huge upgrade in talent because of this outstanding class. I am pleased but not satisfied.

Brewster Skepticism - a different take...

Today's Star Tribune had Patrick Reusse taking another opportunity rip Tim Brewster.

Paging Jim Shikenjanski offered up his thoughts and tentative agreement with Reusse.

I'm offering another take. If you read this blog with any regularity you know that I am mostly positive when it comes to gopher athletics. But I should note that I completely agree with the notion that we should be skeptical of Brewster. My problem is, Patrick Reusse's is completely wrong. His point by point reasoning for skepticism is completely off base.

Patrick's Problem? - Talk is Cheap

PR has hammered his point home several times since Brewster was hired in January. Tim Brewster was hired and made the following statements...

"Our expectation is to win a Big Ten Championship now. We're not interested in any rebuilding process. I'm very fortunate that I'm not coming into a situation that is decimated where there are no players. There are players here."

" ... We're in a little different situation here than it is at most places that are going through the hiring process. I'm very excited that it's not a complete rebuilding process."

PR has had a tremendous problem with these statements and has ridiculed them with tremendous passion. Why I really don't know. If you look at those statements from the perspective of a crusty and crabby member of the local media then they are completely ridiculous. If you are a long time fan of the gophers you love to hear it. If you are a member of the gopher athletic department and you see a spike in ticket sales that is exactly what you want to hear. And most importantly if you are a player on the team this is EXACTLY what you want/need to hear. If he comes out and says what Reusse wants to hear he risks losing the respect of his upper-classmen before he ever steps foot on the practice field. You can't say one thing to the media and another to your team and expect to get your seniors to play for you. He's been consistent, he's trying to get his team confident and ready to play.

If you are the head coach of a division 1 football team you have a few jobs in early January...

1. Convince your team that they are capable of winning.
2. Get your fan base excited.
3. Sell tickets for your athletic department

If you are a head coach of a division 1 football team your job is NOT to make a local columnist happy by being honest about how bad your team may be.

Again, you have to think like you are the coach of a team, not a megaphone of truth to the media. Tim Brewster coming out in early January and making statements like "this is a total rebuilding year." "Our defense has very little talent." "Hopefully we can compete in the top 4 of the Big Ten in the next several years." That would accomplish NOTHING. It would have killed what little time he had to recruit. And what message does that send to the guys on your team?

Ultimately the message sent to his team is far more important than the message sent to the local media.

There are many reasons to be skeptical of Brewster. But the statements he made in early January are completely irrelevant to what we are currently seeing on the field or to his 2007 record. It also should be noted...

1. At the time of those statements Brewster still had 2 defensive starters on this team that would eventually be kicked off the team (that may have made a difference this year).
2. When on the job for just hours, I think his time to accurately evaluate his team's talent level going forward was a little short.

Reasons to be Skeptical?

1 - Never Been a Head Coach

This is a big deal and Brewster has struggled most of the time this year. This is reason to be skeptical but not reason to crucify Brewster yet. He has clearly made mistakes this year, but the important thing to look for is will he get better in year 2? We can accept rookie mistakes because we assume that a rookie (or freshman) will get better with experience. Will Brewster? Time will tell.

2 - We've Seen This Before

This goes both ways, but mostly for gopher fans we have seen a new coach struggle in year 1, then continue to struggle in the following years. Maroon kool aid drinkers will say Mack Brown, Barry Alvarez, Kirk Ferenz, Ron Zook etc all struggled mightily their first seasons but eventually won. Patrick Reusse and friends will point to Jim Wacker and John Gutekunst as former gopher coaches who failed for years and years. Again, reason to be skeptical but we won't know for a few years.

3 - Square Peg, Round Hole

We are team with players recruited to RUN, RUN, RUN. Brewster comes in with his spread offense and talent-challenged defense. Mason was able to hide his defense with a ball control offense. Brewster has a freshman QB and a team that passes more than a year ago, which greatly exposed this defense. Will it always be like this or will the right players make both sides of the ball more competitive and enjoyable to watch? Time will tell.

Be skeptical folks, but be patient. I am not guaranteeing future Rose Bowl success because of Brewster's enthusiasm but I am going on the record as saying I think he is doing things the right way and setting us up for future success. If the gophers are still terrible after a few Brewster recruiting classes, I will be the first in line to say I was wrong.

The real question is will Reusse admit he was wrong if Brewster is in fact successful? Personally, I doubt it.

Let me clarify, 1-7 sucks

Yesterday's loss was in no way a good thing. It was embarrassing and frustrating. The 1-7 record is a combination of having no talent on defense, players designed for Mason's systems being used in another system (square peg/round hole) and some maverick calls that simply didn't work in our favor.

To declare that coach Brewster is incapable of coaching at this point is just ridiculous. Maybe he will fall on his face. Maybe in 3 years everyone will tell me what an idiot I am/was. You can rip me then and I'll take it like a man (I'll probably beat you to it). But for now I think it is short-sighted and ignorant.

Brewster's biggest mistake has been coming in and building some excitement. He clearly over-promised and severely under-delivered. Here again, I wonder what the big deal is? So what that he came in and said he wants to win and he wants to win now? Who cares that he says being bowl eligible isn't enough he wants to win a championship? I want a coach who strives for more than mediocrity.

I guess people miss the Insight, Music City, Micron PC and the Wells Fargo Sun Bowls. Personally I don't. Being .500 and playing a weak schedule just so we can get bowl eligible is meaningless to me. I want a talented team, I want a team to truly get excited about. I want to see Floyd, the Ax and the Jug in Minnesota at the same time. With a couple games left I want to be talking about our chances to win the league, not can we get bowl eligible.

If taking this season as a step back (no matter how far back the step is) is necessary to take a step forward I'll take it cause I'm tired of the following recent records against the better teams in the Big Ten

• 2-10 against Wisconsin
• 1-5 against Iowa
• 1-9 against Purdue
• 1-17 against Michigan
• 1-21 against Ohio State

That's a combined record of 6-62 against the best in the conference. Is Brewster guaranteed success against the best of the Big Ten? Absolutely not. Has he shown anything on the field that shows he will? No. I'll grant you that he hasn't shown he is capable of winning. But he has shown that he is going to bring in more talent, his current list of verbal commitments is already a better class than anything Mason brought in.

To be fair we should see if he is capable of winning when he has kids who fit his system and when he has a defense that has more than 1 guy who is a legit Big Ten player on it.

Not sure if you noticed that a former fullback turned halfback actually outran our linebackers, corners and safeties on his way to 200 first half yards on the ground. Missed tackles were all over the place and I'll grant that can partially be attributed to coaching (although we didn't tackle las year either).

There are no excuses for losing yesterday. We were just beat by team that was more physical and executed their game plan. But really, who cares? If we win yesterday and are sitting at 2-6 does anybody feel any different about this team? If we would have won 56-3, would we all breath easy and say everything is OK? No chance. As I've said for weeks, the record is meaningless. This season was lost weeks ago.

Upgrade the talent, then lets scrutinize and evaluate Brewster and his staff. Let him have a Big Ten caliber defense and a QB who isn't a freshman then lets crucify him when he is sitting at 1-7.

My final point (I promise). Lets say that Brewster is the one and only (or at least biggest) reason that we are 1-7. The defense is very talented it's just that Brewster has been a terrible coach. The real test will be his 2nd season. It is reasonable that someone who has never been a head coach is going make mistakes. What will define his career will be how he learns from those mistakes and if he himself improves in season 2. Really if you have a problem with Brewster you should blame Maturi for hiring a green coach, but I just can't fault Brewster before he gets a legit chance to show if he is capable. I'm trying to not make excuses for him but I believe we have to be patient and give him (or any coach) a chance.

Minnesota v Indiana

I have not done any game previews this season for a few reasons. The non-conference games were not that interesting and so little was known about them (or us). The first couple conference games seemed like such bad matchups that it didn't seem worth my time. And really the visiting recruits were much more interesting than the games.

I am in the camp that wins and losses this season are pretty meaningless. Their only significance is to aid recruiting. Going 1-11 will make it tougher to turn verbals into signings. This game does have some meaning and a win will prove very valuable. And most importantly this game is "winable". As previously stated I don't really care about final record but I need to see improvement and that we have learned from early mistakes. Winning this conference road game would show everyone that this team is heading in the right direction. Everybody knows that we are not there yet but this will help us to believe that Brewster is not Jim Wacker reincarnate.

So here goes...

Indiana sits at 4-1 and has been a pleasently surprising team in 2007. The Big Ten's best is considered down but Indiana (and Illinois, Pur, Mich St) is showing that the bottom has improved. I think that is mostly a farce.

Indiana is still Indiana and I am guaranteeing a golden gopher victory this week.

Here is why...

Minnesota beats Minnesota - Minnesota is sitting at 1-4 and it is very difficult to have confidence in a team that lost to Florida Atlantic and loves to spot teams a 21 point half time lead. But I contend that the only 2 teams have truly beating Minnesota. Ohio State and Minnesota (you could argue Purdue, but I'll show you a few unforced errors that took us out of it).

But a gopher can't change his stripes you say? Well, I agree with that argument but if you look at the trend this team has done a much better job of taking care of the ball lately.

• 7 turnovers @ FAU
• 4 turnovers vs. Purdue
• 2 turnovers vs. Ohio State

Penalties have been better as of late as well. 7 per game in their first two games was bad. Their last 3 games their opponent has out-penalized them and we have averaged just under 4 per game.

If this team is improving, it will show up with reduced mental mistakes before you'll see it on the scoreboard and in the stat sheet. I see only 2 turnovers and neither will be the kind that kills you (like on the goalline, after a blocked FG or a pick-6). In fact we might even win the turnover battle for once.

Rushing Dominance - the Hoosiers are the most one-dimensional team we'll see all year. Their overall rushing numbers are decent but their leading rusher is their QB. Marcus Thigpen is their best RB and he is averaging just 3.6 yds per carry. Defensively Indiana has OK rush defense stats as well but I would argue they are also a mirage. This Hoosier defense let Rashard Mendenhal rush for 214 yards in their home loss to Illinois.

Obviously the gopher defense has been awful this year, I'm not delusional. I fully expect the Hoosiers to rack up a lot of yards, and it will all be in the air. What will greatly help the gopher defense this week will be our rushing dominance. I am seeing visions of Bennett, Pinnix and Weber running all over this defense. Eating up clock and keeping our defense rested.

Brewster Factor - this will be the game that Brewster's kids are fired up by a pre-game speech AND they'll carry it over onto the field. Brewster is contagious and as we all know "passionate"! This week it pays off. We start a little bit of momentum here.

BOLD Predictions...

• Minnesota Wins by 10+
• Indiana has under 400 yards of offense
• Minnesota wins the turnover battle
• Minnesota rushes for 250+

A little Grounded Perspective

I know that Kellen Lewis and James Hardy are very good. This is a good passing attack vs. a terrible pass defense.

I know that this is on the road and IU has serious momentum after their upset win at Iowa.

But I also know that Minnesota has won 3 of the last 4 meetings. The wins have been an average of 53-18.

I also know that Minnesota won last year by 37 points AND they gave up 500 yards of offense.

Keys to the Game...

1. Turnovers - not just the quantity, but the quality. Turnovers that lead directly to points or turnovers that obviously take away points are unacceptable. 3rd and long interceptions aren't the end of the world, they are just a really short punt. But you CAN'T fumble on the goaline, fumble when nobody is within 10 yards of you or throw it to a DE who runs to the house.
   
2. Run, Run, Run - if Minnesota owns the line of scrimmage that will reduce turnovers and keep the IU offense off the field. I see a HUGE day for Bennett and Pinnix.
3. Pass Protection - IU has been getting the the QB at a decent clip, the MN Oline has been very good thus far and they have to keep Weber from running and throwing (see Key #1).
4. Get to Lewis - keep him in the pocket and at least make him uncomfortable.

I have a good feeling about this matchup. I know I'm a homer but this game is winable and as I stated if Brewster wants to show recruits that this team is heading in the right direction then get this game done.

Any wonder why Mason is not here?

I'm listening to Dan Barreiro's interview of Glen Mason (9/20 podcast on KFAN). Really these quotes speak for themselves...

"I used to say at Minnesota all the time, if you ever see us in the top 10 in USA Today recruiting we're cheating."

"There's no palm trees there, there are no mountians, there's not an ocean and it's cold during the winter."

He continues to astound me with his defeatist attitude, especially when it comes to recruiting. The quotes just demonstrate to me why he was incapable of taking Minnesota beyond a middle of the pack Big Ten team. He did a great job of taking the Golden Gophers from a bottom 3 team to a low level bowl team (which he reminded us all in the interview as well), but he didn't seem to have any desire to take the program to another step.

Hard to win when your recruiting pitch is something like this..."it's cold here, we have nothing except the Mall of America, we play in a crappy stadium BUT you'll get the chance to play on a mediocre football team that used to be the worst in the conference." Just sign here.

Isn't it funny how the lack of ocean and mountains hasn't prevented Brewster from getting commitments from states like Florida (3), Texas (2) and Colorado (2) in just under 10 months on the job at MN? And there are many more that have the gophers among their top choices but they are yet to commit.

"The state of Minnesota produces some really good football players. But not the abundant number that states like Ohio, Texas, Florida and California did and those are the teams (along with Notre Dame) that have the ability to recruit those types of players."

There is truth to that, but the problem was he was incapable of keeping any of those "really good football players" here. Nobody is denying that you have to supplement in state recruits with plenty of good players from around the country but this team would look a LOT better if you add a few local players like...

• James Laurinitus - LB - Ohio State
• John Carlson - TE, Notre Dame
• Trevor Laws - DT, Notre Dame
• Nate Swift - WR, Nebraska
• Brandon Robinson - WR, Boston College
• several OL around the country (Murtha-Neb, Coleman-Wis, Carufel-ND)

Add those guys to this defense and it is significantly better and Weber has a much better receiving corp to throw to in Swift, Robinson and Carlson.

This post is meant to be less about Mason and more about Brewster. His attitude of 'we are going to have great recruiting classes' and 'we are going to contend for the Big Ten championship' are so much more refreshing than 'it is so hard to recruit here' and 'remember how bad it was before, you should be happy with 4-4 and an occasional 5-3'.

I don't know for sure if Brewster is the guy to get us there but I'm certain Mason was not. Give me a guy who will accentuate the positives rather than dwell on the negatives any day. Brewster will give us a shot at winning in the future, I have no doubt.

CALM DOWN and don't give up on Brewster yet...

I wanted to get this out ahead of Reusse's inevitable column that will rip Brewster tomorrow morning. Reusses has taken every opportunity to rip Brewster and everything he has done since he started. Why? I'm not sure.

I guess in Reusse's book living up to the mediocre expectations that Mason worked so hard to lower was what a football coach is supposed to do. So far Reusse has a bug up his butt because Brewster is raising the bar, getting people excited about football and really for doing his job.

I understand that his record is 1-2 and we've lost to 2 teams that we were capable of beating. On the field Brewster's Gophers have not lived up to the hype. But you can't rip him for the hype.

Here is what you CAN rip him for...

• Spotting inferior teams a 21 point half time lead (twice)
• Having a defense that seems unprepared to start games
• Starting the season 1-2

Here is what you CAN'T rip him for...

• Taking responsibility for his team's performance - today's game was ugly. But post game Brewster took full responsibility saying he and his staff needed to do a better job. When did you ever hear that from Mason?
• Raising expectations - Mason LOVED to tell us how bad we used to be and how hard it was to win here. Brewster isn't afraid of the challenges he faces and is working hard to overcome them, not submit to them.
  
• The talent level on this team - He is starting a handful of players that he recruited in just a few weeks from the time he was hired until Signing Day. What does that say about the talent Mason brought in?
• Making adjustments at half time - While the 1st halves of Bowling Green and FAU have been unwatchable (literally for Comcast subsribers), it is nice to see a team that makes half time adjustments and has twice reduced a 21 point half time deficit.
  
• The offense - as much as the defense has disappointed, the offense has been very encouraging. Redshirt freshman Adam Weber has been very good (sprinkled w/a few freshman mistakes), the WRs have been better than we hoped and the running game appears to be still be very good.
  

My point is that the book has not been written on Brewster. I know that they need to produce wins or his tenure as a head coach will be short lived and it will be back to TE coach for Mr. Brewster. But it is WAY too early to tell. And more specifically way too early for Mr. Reusse to put forth yet another I told you so piece. Maybe he won't be the guy to get us to he Rose Bowl, but I know for a fact it won't be a guy who tells us how hard it will be to get there so we won't disappointed when we inevitably don't. If anybody is going to get this program into a position to make the Rose Bowl it is going to have to be somebody like Brewster. Let's give him a little time before we write him off. Sometimes it has to get worse before it can get better.

My favorite part of BTN and Tim Brewster Interview

So there have been many mixed reviews. I for one am fond of the BTN thus far, particularly on Saturday afternoons. It gives me an outlet to watch all Big Ten games AND it means I get to see the best games from outside of the Big Ten. I realize that the in studio production quality is lacking but that should only get better with more revenue and more experienced personnel.

Anyway, my favorite mid-week show (besides watching App State beat Michigan again or Minnesota over Penn State circa 1999) is the Big Ten Coaches Q & A which is a recap of every coach's Monday press conference and a look ahead to their next week's game.

Tonight BTN did an interview with Coach Brewster. Nothing too terribly exciting, pretty much the same message he's been delivering every time you've heard him talk. He's tremendously excited about the Gophers, loves the state of Minnesota, we have a rich tradition of 6 National Championships, etc. But he does talk about Weber's progress a little bit and is honest about how we've struggled on defense.

Tim Brewster Interview

the NEW Golden Gopher Era - Part 4

What are the long term expectations for success?

The NEW Golden Gopher Era - Part 4 of 8

Intro - Turning point for Gopher FB and BB
Part 1 - What can we expect in 2007? - FB
Part 2 - What can we define as success (short term) - FB
Part 3 - How quickly can we win a Big Ten title? - FB

Raise your hand if you remember the long and storied Lou Holtz era at the University of Minnesota! I'm not old enough to know anything about it except that as a kid I was well aware that he fell on the short list of people that we do not extend "Minnesota Nice" to. For the record that list looks something like...

1. Norm Green
2. Lou Holtz
3. Drew Pearson (that was a push-off, cheater)
4. anything Wisconsin
5. anything Iowa

Anyway, I digress. My point with bringing up Lou Holtz's cup of coffee at the U is that the long term success of the U hinges on the loyalty of Tim Brewster. Will Coach Brewster answer the phone when the "bigger" schools come calling? Is this a stepping stone for Brewster or does he truly want to turn this program into a dominant program with long term success?

I love the U and want nothing more than to see the football program return to success and competitiveness in the Big Ten on a yearly basis. I think that Brewster has what it takes to get us there, but I think that there are 3 possible scenarios for success and two-thirds of them end with Brewster leaving.

Lou Holtz Scenario - The Gophers experience success and we get to see that success quickly. If Brewster takes this mediocre program and takes us to a BCS Bowl in his first 3 years, he will have his pick of jobs that are open (and some that are not). At this point staying at the U is a lose-lose situation for him. He can get monster money at a school with a richer football program in a warmer climate, making recruiting that much easier and potential for a career of sustained success.

Can You Blame Him Scenario - Under this scenario Brewster does NOT take the Big Ten by storm in his first few years. This is the most likely path of success for Brewster and the gophers. Here the Gophers improve step by step and win the Big Ten after Brewster builds the talent base here with a handful of good recruiting classes. Here Coach Brew is here for 5-10 years giving us a few years of success BUT he leaves when the Texas job opens up and Mack Brown endorses TBrew to replace him.

Sky-U-Ma Scenario - This is the dream scenario for Gopher Nation. Brewster takes the program where we want it to go. We get to the Rose Bowl before his 5th season is complete, Brewster wants to stay in MN, the U pays him whatever he asks for and Brewster finishes his career here. Gopher Nation gets to experience a team that each and every year has a shot at winning the Big Ten and we regularly house the Traveling-Trophy-Trifecta. Floyd, Paul's Ax and the Jug have their permanent addresses changed to the Bierman Building.

Personally, I don't see scenario #3 happening. Best case we get Brewster here for about 6 seasons and get to make a trip to Pasadena. After he leaves for his "dream job" we can hope that he has groomed one of his assistants to take the reigns and keep Gopher Nation heading in the right direction.

At this point I prefer to enjoy the process. We are currently seeing Brewster and staff upgrade the talent here and hopefully we'll see some exciting football this season. Let's not dwell on when this ride comes to end.

the NEW Golden Gopher Era - Part 3

How quickly can either of these programs win a Big Ten title?

The NEW Golden Gopher Era - Part 3 of 8

Intro - Turning point for Gopher FB and BB
Part 1 - What can we expect in 2007? - FB
Part 2 - What can we define as success (short term)? - FB

This is THE important question. With any new coach there is an initial period of excitement and anticipation. This is followed by collective patience while the new guy implements his schemes and recruits his players. But following that there has to be some meeting of the fan base's expectations.

Coach Brewster has certainly passed the test on generating excitement and anticipation within Gopher Nation. As if creating Gopher Nation wasn't enough he has generated ticket sales that this team hasn't seen in a number of seasons. It is expected that the every home football game will have the lower deck completely sold out (can you hear the laugher from Madison, Ann Arbor and Columbus? the lower deck? whoo hooo!). This bump in ticket sales (along with basketball season ticket orders) will allow the athletic department to pay off the former mediocre coaches (Mason and Monson) quicker than originally anticipated.

The second phase will play itself out this fall and probably the fall of 2008.

But taking this program to levels of success that Mason only dreamed about is another thing altoegether. One thing that I love about Coach Brewster is that from his opening press conference he hasn't been shy about his goals to win the Big Ten and go to Pasadena (again the collective midwest laughter is deafening). You haven't heard him tell us how bad the program has been in the past or list the difficulties that this program has for recruiting and sustained success. Instead he put in out there right away, "We're going to take Gopher Nation to Pasadena." Now, I hope he didn't mean as a tour bus for all of us to go watch USC vs. Michigan after we have won the Music City Bowl. While that would be fun to road trip with Brew and crew, I'd much rather witness the Gophers competing in the Rose Bowl in my lifetime. But how realistic is this and how quickly can it happen? Here is my timeline...

2007 - my magic 8-ball says "outlook not so good" (and by not so good I mean, not possible). The talent gap between the top tier of the Big Ten and mediocre tier is too great. Even if Brewster surpassess all expectations finishing 1st is just not realistic no matter how much maroon Kool-Aid you drink. Surpassing expectations and showing success on the field will however greatly help with recruiting. Currently Brewster is getting close to very good recruits but his lack of game experience is the opening for negative recruiting and makes it hard for these kids to committ. Winning some games and showing a style of football that will be fun to watch and play in will help to get some kids to committ.

2008 - Still probably a transition year. Brewster has to bring in more talent and even if he lands a top 10 recruiting class this year (which the 8-ball says "my sources say no" and so do mine) then those kids are freshmen in the Big Ten. Maybe we see some improvment and maybe a glimmer of hope but again winning the Big Ten isn't likely. This recruiting class has to be better than the Mason classes and I think it will be. It will have players who will contribute but won't be full of "difference makers."

2009 - I still say no. This freshman class and the soph class "should" be getting us to the point of a much more talented team from top to bottom but they are still so young. We will be in the new stadium and hopefully this will be the year that we break into that top tier of the Big Ten. Finish top 4 and be competitive in all of our games, then with a young team we have tremendous anticipation for 2010. This freshman class nees to have some difference makers, some 5-star recruits and be noticed nationally as one of the best recruiting classes in the country. And maybe a Jan 1 bowl game? That would be refreshing.

2010 and 2011 - these are the years that Gopher Nation should be looking forward to (who is laughing NOW!?). 3 years for Brewster to establish his style of play, get the kids for his system here, upgrade the overall talent and now we can compete with the best of the Big Ten, not the "rest" of the Big Ten.

The first 2 season I really don't care how good of a coach Brewster is, improving the talent level is priority #1. Beginning in 2009 I care very much how well Brewster can coach, because now his job is to take this team to the next level ON the field. Winning with current talent just isn't realistic no matter who is coaching, but eventually it will be his talent and then he has to start delivering on the goals that he set forth and Gopher Nation is buying into.

the NEW Golden Gopher Era - Part 1

PART 1 of 8 of the New Golden Gopher Era -
What Can We Expect in 2007 - Football

Well, this is my 2nd attempt at writing Part 1. Attempt #1 turned into a lengthy 2007 Gopher Football preview. That's not exactly what I want to do with this series. I don't want this post to be about 9 returners on defense or who will be QB or breakdown the schedule game by game.

I want to take a look at what will be different from 2006 because of the new coaching staff. And will these differences really affect us in the W/L columns right away. Obviously Coach Brewster and his staff had precious little time to make a dent in recruiting for 2007 (although they seem to be working their tails off for 2008), so the 2007 Gophers will be 100% Glen Mason returners and recruits, with Clint Brewster and HS teammate Kyle Theret being the only 2 exceptions. Here are 4 questions I'm going to attempt to answer on the 2007 season.

1. What can Brewster do to affect change right away? - Due to the timing of TB's hire, it will take him until 2008 to affect the talent level of the program. And really 2008 recruiting class won't pay dividends until 2009 or 2010. So how can TB affect change in 2007? I think the biggest thing he can do is change the mindset of the program. It has always seemed a foregone conclusion that Minnesota could hope for a 5-3 or at best a 6-2 season and maybe finish 3rd in conference. Pasadena? That's just crazy talk. Previous coaching staffs would tell you about all of the obstacles facing the program and how they made the Rose Bowl a near impossibility. We were constantly reminded how bad it used to be and we should be happy with mediocrity.

This wasn't just rhetoric to keep the expectations of Gopher Nation at bay, but this also had to seep into the mindset of the players. How could they not believe that we were at best a 2nd tier Big Ten team? That has been the upper limit for years, we HAVE been a middle of the road Big Ten team. But that's not good enough for TB.

I am thrilled that TB has come into Minnesota and immediately started raising the bar of expectations. His first meeting with the team he had them chanting "Rose Bowl!" He had actual turf from the Rose Bowl delivered to him and he has it on display for the team. Are these hokey? Yes. Can they be affective? I think so. Mason's teams played like they had a better shot at going to the moon then Pasadena! Brewster puts it out there front and center, this is the goal and we can get there.

The interesting thing is that TB is putting added pressure on himself. Mason managed expectations by lowering them at every turn, this added years to his tenure. If TB is able to raise expectations and he fails to live up to them he will be gone. But I respect that he seems to be putting it out there and he embraces it and believes it himself.

Now I get back to talent. Obviously the 2007 Gopher team does not have the talent to beat the Michigans and Ohio States, the talent level just isn't there. TB can't change that in the few months he's been on the job. But along with the talent level he has to change the mindset of the program. Team's that are used to losing tend to continue losing, teams that traditionally win tend to act like winners. The mindset of Gopher Nation has to change.

2. Is duplicating a Glen Mason season good enough this year? - I'm going to cop-out on this one. The answer is yes AND no.
YES - with current talent level and the schedule we have this season finishing 4-4 or even 3-5 in conference is acceptable.
NO - just winning 3 or 4 games can't simply be enough. There have to be 2 immediate changes. 1. Mason's ultimate downfall was his unique ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory (TexTech-06, Wis-05, Mich-03). 2. We have to be competitive even in defeat. I don't care how good Ohio State is, losing 44-0 is unacceptable. We are a Big Ten school and we should act like it. OSU was clearly the class of the conference but it was obvious that we went into that game having already lost. Losing to Michigan State 31-18 is unacceptable. Losing to Wisconsin 48-12 is unacceptable.

So in summary duplicating Mason's end results is acceptable (it is his talent after all), but duplicating the efforts and execution of his teams is not.

3. How successful can the spread offense be with Mason's personnel? - I don't want to get into too much X's and O's discussion at this point, but I think this is a very interesting question. OC-Mike Dunbar was brought in to run his high octane, spread passing offense. Glen Mason was very good at recruiting for and then executing the most dominating run game in the country over the last several seasons. How does Dunbar flip the switch with a roster full of players suited for Mason's run game. We have an OL with players adept at pulling and downfield blocking. We have skilled RBs but inexperienced and slow WRs. We don't have an experienced QB to rely on.

I think this will be a major struggle in 2007. Who will play QB, who will catch his passes and how effective will our best offensive weapon (Pinnix) be?

QB - Brewster and Dunbar will have 1 of 2 options. First, he can go with Mortensen who has a little experience and has shown flashes of a nice arm. Or he can go with the freshman route. Start Weber or Clint Brewster now. Take our lumps in 2007 and groom either of them to be your leader for the next 3 seasons when he'll have a deeper and more talented WR core around him. This will be a TOUGH call and I don't want to touch it at this point.
RB - Pinnix could be a home run threat every time he touches the ball. A poor man's Maroney. Will he get that opportunity? Will the 2007 offense be a hybrid so we can utilize Pinnix? Then it will expand into more passing when we get the right personnel?
WR - I am a big fan of Wheelright and I think Decker is solid. But after that we have NOBODY. This will be an issue. Somebody will have to step up and have a break out season. Who will that be? Trey Herndon-he's fast but small. Mike Chambers or Jack Simmons are your only other options. None of them get me all tingly but somebody will have to step up. Wheelright is going to have a monster year but the spread offense needs several talented WRs and we just don't have that.

4. Finally, what is a successful season? - I think 4 things will define Brewster's initial season.

1. This is the obvious and tangible one. Record. We have 4 non-conference games that are all must wins. Don't give me rhetoric that Miami(Ohio) or Bowling Green are two of the best in the MAC. They are in the MAC and there is no reason you should not beat them. Win those games then you have to win a few in the Big Ten.
• 9-3 would make Gopher Nation ecstatic, but don't hold your collective breath
  
• 8-4 is doable
• 7-5 is realistic
• 6-6 is OK but we'll need to see something next year
• 5-7 means a 1-7 Big Ten season and that will be very disappointing
• 4-8 is a disaster and inexcusable, we are not devoid of any talent.
2. A less tangible but recognizable goal is to be competitive. Don't get blown out. At Michigan looms as a blow out game, but have some pride and put up a fight. We won there in 2005, I don't hold out hope for this upset but show that you are willing to play with them. OSU is going to be down from 2006 and you have them at home, put up a fight. Wisconsin and Iowa are your rivals and you better go into it believing you can win. The rest are winnable.
3. Get better. Mason's teams seemed to slide into week 12. Look back and you'll see plenty of 5-0 or 6-1 starts that end with 1-4 finishes. I don't care who you are playing, get better throughout the season.
   
4. And the least tangible, but maybe the most telling if Brewster's message is getting through is play with some toughness. Have some pride. You aren't going to dominate the Big Ten, but seize this opportunity to be part of the building blocks. Put up a fight on every play, don't get torched for ungodly amounts of yards and don't blow massive leads that are ALMOST certain victories.

All in all this will be an intriguing season. Gopher Nation is excited and more interested in May recruiting then I've ever noticed. We believe we are the cusp of something bigger then we've seen in our lifetimes. I don't expect we'll see tangible results for a couple years but lets keep our eye on the building blocks in 2007. I'll give Mason credit for taking us from abysmal to mediocre. But that's not enough. I believe Brewster is the guy who can take us from mediocre to competitive and from competitive to the top.

Part 2 of Brewster interview

Click HERE

Football Tid Bits

After 3 months on the job, gophersports.com sat down to interview Coach Brewster. HERE is part 1 of the interview with part 2 coming in Wednesday. This deals with him settling in here, reaching out to the rich history of gopher football and more detail on his assistants. All in all it is a pretty good interview.

Recruiting Update...

• Minnesota kids are staying home so far. Every MN kid that has received an offer from the gophers and made a decision is coming to the U. There are 2 outstanding offers to MN kids who have yet to make a decision, and they are probably the top 2 kids in the state.
• Willie Mobley - 79, DE - Eden Prairie - 1. Minnesota 2. Ohio State 3. Iowa
• Mike Floyd - 88, WR - Cretin Derham Hall - 1. Minnesota 2. Notre Dame 3. Ohio State. Floyd is THE GUY Brewster has to land. One of the best WRs in the country, we run a pass happy offense and a statement recruit that we are keeping our best!
  

Notice that we are in the recruiting mix with Ohio State and Notre Dame, they are of course from here so we SHOULD be in the conversation but in past years we would just say "well who could blame them for going to (insert big time program here)." Hopefully that attitude is in the past and we can keep our best and steal some guys from other states.

• Based on ESPN's recruiting Insider here is a breakdown of previous Minnesota recruting classes...
  
• 2006 - 16 High School Srs. signed and 2 JUCOs - highest rated player was 75
• 2007 - 18 High School Srs. signed and 5 JUCOs - highest rated player was 82 (Clint Brewster), nobody over 80 from Coach Mason.
  
• 2008? As of April 24th we have signed 7 kids (yet to be rated by ESPN) and have interest from 36 more! From those rated here is the list of interested kids rated 79 or higher...
• Keanan Cooper - 82, OLB - 1. Texas Tech 2. Mississippi 3. Wisconsin 5. Minnesota
• Jonas Grey - 82, RB - 1. Florida 2. Michgan State 3. Colorado 5. Minnesota
• Joe Adams - 81, ATH - 1. Texas Tech 2. Okalahoma 3. Minnesota
• Quiten Williams - 81, TE - 1. West Virginia 2. Wisconsin 3. Minnesota
• Jewhan Edwards - 80, DT - 1. Syracuse 2. Minnesota 3. Penn State
• Kapron Lewis-Moore - 79, DE - 1. Texas A&M 2. Oklahoma 3. Notre Dame 4. Minnesota
• Brandon Green - 79, WR - 1. Illinois 2. Wisconsin 3. Minnesota
• Again notice the schools we are in the top 5 with. Notre Dame, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Florida, Oklahoma, Penn State. We haven't actually signed any of these kids yet but I look forward to tracking these guys and seeing what kind of magic Brewster can work here.

Gopher Nation wants to inspire you and help facilitate a new era of passionate Golden Gopher fans, but THIS IS FREAKING INSANE! I understand being passionate about your team and I know that MANY other NCAA football teams have a fanbase unlike anything Gopher Nation has yet to experience, but this is just plain nuts. 2% of the entire state was at this football game and people were turned away! Was this the Auburn game? Was it homecoming? NO!!! It was their spring scrimmage!

Football Follies

It was a short honeymoon for Tim Brester as a little negative publicity surrounds the Gopher athletic program once again. I don't believe for a moment that the Gopher athletes and coaches are worse citizens than just about every other program in the country, but it seems that we stay in the headlines more often than not.

I realize that am a bit late on this "breaking" story, but that was kind of intentional. Stories of indiscretion and poor decisions make me cringe because what really occured is irrelevant and this will be swept under the rug. Why? Because they play football.

I try to separate off the field actions from on the field. Tying the 2 together is unfair and irresponsible in my opinion. We celebrate these young men based on their athletic ability and contribution, we treat them as though they are more important to society than normal citizens and we are surprised when they think they can get away with their actions.

Off the field we should expect them to act with as much responsibility as we expect of any citizen. If they choose to do otherwise they should be held to the same standard as anybody else. Their status as an athlete should hold no bearing on how we feel about them and should not affect their judicial judgement. Cheer them on as athletes nothing more, nothing less.

Now on to the actual story. In a nutshell 3 members of the football team were arrested for allegedly assaulting an 18-yr old female student. Eventually the players were released but it is an ongoing investigation.

Coach Brewster is saying all the right things (which he is getting good at). He is willing to fully cooperate with the investigation and he fully supports his players.

Are they innocent? Who knows. I would be equally "un-shocked" to hear that they were guilty as I would be to hear they did nothing. In the past I think presumed guilt would be the strong sentiment but the recent exoneration of the Duke la cross team make this closer to a coin flip.

From the perspective of a fan I don't care what the result is. If they are guilty they should be expelled and face their just punishment. If they are innocent I hope this does not stick with them. This should not be covered up or ignored but it also really should be allowed to play itself out and hopefully the actual truth will come out and justice will be served. This is an opportunity for Coach Brewster to make a statement to the rest of his team, will he do it? We'll find out.

Recruiting News

Basketball Recruiting - There isn't much out there for Tubby to make an impact for 2007-08. We really should be looking at 08-09 as the recruiting class with Tubby's mark. With that said here are a few bits of news regarding scholarships and recruiting for this coming season. Remember that April 11th is the spring signing date so Tubby has just under 2 weeks to find someone worthy of a scholarship.

• Jai Lucas - "It's cold there (in Minnesota) but might be something I think about," Lucas told the Courier-Journal on Sunday. "I like coach Smith a lot." Getting MN on his list is the first step, how great would it be to land a McDonald's All-American just weeks after landing Tubby? My hopes aren't too high, but at least we are in the conversation.
  
• Limar Wilson - Star Tribune says that he wants to come back. Tubby is considering it, but I would assume that if he can give that scholarship to a good recruit then Limar won't be wearing maroon and gold next year. If you can't give it to someone else, Limar is a Sr. so it wouldn't hurt anything to give him the scholarship next year. Ultimately I'd rather see his minutes go to incoming freshman Al Nolen, or the soon to be sophs Payton or Westbrook at PG. Or if McKenzie can learn to be a PG let him get those minutes and start Hoffarber at SG. I would be shocked to see Limar back here next year, too many scenarios that benefit the team more without him on the roster.
• Royce White - DeLaSalle - Class of 09. This is a bit early but Rivals.com lists him as a big time recruit and probably a kid Tubby should start targeting NOW. 21.8 ppg as a soph for the 6'7" forward. Remember that name and lets start the recruiting watch for White.

Football Recruiting - This is heating up and it is fun to see Minnesota on the lists for some talented kids. Here is what I have been able to find...

• Tim Brewster - to start with I want to give credit to Coach Brewster for getting out there into the homes of talented kids all over the place. We are in the mix and cross your fingers, we'll land some of them. ESPN Recruiting Insider has this to say about Brewster,
  

"He has already caught my attention as I notice Minnesota's name popping up all over the place. They are in on and battling for kids nationwide from Florida to Philadelphia to California. I don't think they will leave many stones unturned. All in all though, I think you will see the Gophers improve in recruiting. Do I think he can turn them into a top-ten class this year? No, but I do think he will get the 2008 class to a point where it is in serious consideration for the top 25 recruiting classes."

• Nolan Brewster - a top notch safety and son of coach Tim, verbally committed to Texas. That is a big loss, but I also think that there is ample time for Nolan to change his mind. Wait until he comes up for a handful of Gopher games, talks with incoming Gopher recruits, hangs out with his brother and eventually he'll want to be a part of what's going on here.
  
• Brendan Kelly - DE, Holy Angels - I don't know how highly rated Kelly will be but it sounds like he was one of the top MN prospects and Brewster kept him home.
  
• Leonard Hubbard - ILB, Illinois - visiting this weekend and Rivals.com thinks he could committ before he leaves. Also, not yet rated but appears he would be a solid addition to the defense.
• Keanon Cooper - OLB, Texas - Rivals.com says MN is top of his list, ESPN shows MN lower, but both say he is a tremendous athlete and would be an instant upgrade on the D.
• Mike Floyd - WR, Cretin Derham Hall - #1 priority for Brewster, keep the best athlete in MN instate! We are battling with Ohio State and the best CDH theif Notre Dame. This would send a message if Brewster can keep Floyd from juggernauts like that. MN is currently at the top of Floyd's list but it is a long time before Signing Day in Feb.

That's all I can gather for now. Jai Lucas is the most pressing news to keep an eye on at this point. The Football team is bringing in kids left and right to be around for Spring Practice but as mentioned Signing Day is a LONG way off. Brewster seems to be backing up his reputation as a relentless recruiter but the proof will be in the signings!

2007 the Year of the Gopher

Gopher Nation has been delcared and now it is time for Gopher Fans to join!

I am convinced that we will look back on 2007 as the year the gopher bandwagon took off for the U of M's revenue sports. Non-revenue sports have been very strong for years, but the high profile sports have struggled to say the very least (hockey being the lone exception). Things have been bleak for Football since the late 60s and ugly for Basketball since the 80s (remember 1996-97 doesn't count).

But things are looking up!

Football has a LOT to be excited about. The affable and jovial Glen Mason was fired despite his stellar record of getting the Gophers to bowl after bowl. And by that last sentence I mean the stoic, boring and confrontational Glen Mason was fired because of mediocrity and consistent inconsistency. Glen honestly did a good job of moving the football program from laughable to respectable but he was clearly incapable of taking it to the next level.

1. Enter Tim Brewster. Never been a head coach but has a proven record of a dynamic recruiter, and energetic guy who is currently saying all the right things and meeting with the right people. It is WAY early in his "career" but I have been impressed and I think he is capable of moving the program forward. Personally I LOVE how he is not afraid to talk about Pasadena. His first meeting with the team he had them chanting "Rose Bowl", he has a small splot of actual grass from the Rose Bowl that he's keeping alive and on display for his players and he's brining in big names to talk to his club and restore a sense of pride in the history of our program. Under previous regime if someone would have said Rose Bowl out loud in practice I imagine the entire Bierman building stopping, in complete silence as everyone looks at the crazy man who uttered the words. Not anymore Gopher Nation, say it loud and say it proud!
2. Enter new stadium! Ground breaking should begin soon on a new outdoor, ON CAMPUS stadium. This can only help to sell tickets and attract recruits with a game day atmosphere unlike that of the HHH Metrodome.
   

Basketball hasn't been as bad for nearly as long as the Football program, but recently we have witnessed the worst of the worst. 2006-07 was the worst season in Gopher Basketball history. Dan Monson was incapable of restoring the once proud if not at least competitive program. Dan seemed like a quality person but his staff was inept and he lacked the skills necessary to bring us back to a respectable level after the Clem scandal. But things can't get any worse...

1. Enter new coach! Who will that be, who knows? But I like the excitement and anticipation of the process. My next post will be my list of candidates. But this program already has a foundation that should allow for success sooner rather than later.
2. No seniors on this year's team. Some may look at that as a negative and some may see it as a positive. This is not a Sweet 16 caliber roster, but I also don't think it is nearly as bad as we saw this year. Best case scenario for this club is still only an above average Big 10 finish and possibly one of the last at large berths in the NCAA Tourney. Of course things have to fall their way a little bit but I do think this roster has enough talent on it to be respectable.
3. The Barn is one of the most unique college basketball facilities in the country. It is a forgotten venue but that can quickly be restored with some success and a return to home court dominance.
4. The Twin Cities has a quality pool of basketball talent. The next Gopher coach (much like his FB counterpart) will have to be able to keep in state kids. MN kids will not produce a Final Four run on their own, but there is talent here to supplement a few kids from other parts of the country. Recruiting services show 4 top 100 from the state of MN. The Gophers were able to sign just 1. The other 3 going to Kansas, Wisconsin and Marquette. Those are big time programs stealing our players. Stop that bleeding and things will start to turn for this program.

There you have it Gopher Fans. Reason for hope, reason for optimism and reason to get on the the Gopher Nation bandwagon. Ski-U-Mah!