6-7 in 2006 vs. 7-5 in 2008

[Hates Monikers]

For some time now, the media and some on this board have talked about how the Gophers' turnaround from 1-11 to 7-5 is being overblown, because Mason was 6-7 just two years ago. I agree. However, the likes of Art Vandalay, Gopher God and ULFR parrot Barriero and Reusse more and more now and use this as proof that Brewster is overmatched.

I prefer to look at the glass as half full.

Brewster went 1-11 in his first year, which was horrifing, yet here we are, one year later, all caught up to where Mason had us. This only confirms to me that firing Mason was the right thing to do. I have always believed that as long as we can hire a minimally qualified coach (not a given at the U, considering Salem and Wacker), Minnesota can achieve bowl eligibility regularly by following the Mason Plan: beat four cupcakes in the NC schedule and scrape up three or four Big Ten wins. That's what Brewster did this year. (Mason usually only needed three BT wins, since he most often played 11 games.) Mason also needed help from the BCS bowl selection process a few times to avoid the Motor City Bowl, which the media is again muttering about.

If anybody REALLY expected when Mason was fired that any coach would take us to the Rose Bowl in just two years, they are beyond naive. Sure, 55-0 is historic and unacceptable. But Mason had an embarassing blowout almost every year.

This is not intended to rip Mason. And I have no idea if Brewster is the guy to take us from the Music City/Insight Bowl track to a January bowl. Besides, we are (thankfully) upgrading the schedule in the coming years, so the Mason Plan won't be available to us. I'm just asking ... begging: Can we PLEASE stop comparing 2008 to 2006 to prove that Brewster sucks?

 

[TruthTeller]

Brewster is the coach, is not. Brewster is enthusiastic, able to recruit, and able to make adjustments(Davis hire). Fans should support him.

Next year should tell a lot about Brew and his ability to win.

 

[McGopherFan]

Great Post

Brewster is the coach, is not. Brewster is enthusiastic, able to recruit, and able to make adjustments(Davis hire). Fans should support him.

Next year should tell a lot about Brew and his ability to win.

 

[Nine]

I agree

I have always looked at it like this:

When I looked at the roster for 2007 coming off a team that had one of the worst defenses in the country (2006) losing Trumain Banks, Mario Reese (to graduation like every other team) Dom Jones, Keith Massey, Alex Daniels, Durrel Clark-James (to suspension) and had VERY little behind them due to Masons poor recruiting...I said we have a very easy schedule but this is still a year (only worse talent) like the Mason year when we went 5-7 and were blow out at Toledo.

I thought Mason would probably win 4-5 games with the 2007 roster.

Then with Brewster, I though the completely new offense and we knew the defense would be terrible ...I thought 4 wins was about right. Well, 1-11 was worse than I (or anyone) thought and the team showed we really needed DB's (starting 3 true frosh was a disaster), better DL, LB and our offensive players needed another year to feel comfortable with the system.

In 2008, I had MAJOR concerns about the OL. Many people told me I was an idiot and the OL would be fine...we all know the story. Was Meyer a bad coach or was the talent too young and small? Maybe some of both, who knows.

The funny thing is that Mason was kind of known for good OL, good RB's and a poor defense...yet behind Shidell and Brinkhaus where were all the Greg Eslingers and Mark Setterstroms that Mason had stockpiled. Where were all the Marion Barber III's, Lawrence Maroney's and Gary Russell's behind Amir Pinnix that we had stockpiled.

In year 10 of a program, you would sure hope you have enough talent and depth to withstand losing players like Jones, Massey and Daniels.

The going from 1-11 to 7-5 thing is overplayed, as we were never as bad as a true 1 win team but it was more like what Michigan was going through this year with one exception...Michigan had plenty of talent on defense still.

I kind of look at it like we went from a 4-5 win team in 2007 to a 7 win team in 2008.

We fixed several warts (due to recruiting and off season workouts) moving Sherrels to DB, Campbell to LB, recruiting Lawrence, Brock, Simmons.

This year we need to repair the OL: (Carufel plus young guys progressing)
We need to increase the speed at WR: (Hayo Carpenter plus young guys progressing)
We need to get better at RB (Bennet, Whaley,Lipscomb plus Eskridger and Solomon progress)

We were much better this year but still had way too many warts. The one thing you can't deny is that Brew has much more ability to go out and fix the problems (recruiting) in a hurry.

OL- Carufel
DB- Royston
WR- Carpenter
TE- Hageman
RB- Lipscomb, Whaley and Bennett
LB- Maresh, Cooper, Reeves

Plus we will still bring in some big time high school kids and a small number of JUCO players so our roster in 2009 will be light years ahead of that roster of 2007. Thats the good news.

The schedule in 2009 is also light years ahead of the 2007 schedule so we better be ready.

 

[Maverick]

begging: Can we PLEASE stop comparing 2008 to 2006 to prove that Brewster sucks?

If anybody wants to compare 2006 to 2008 to prove that Brewster sucks, has to also admit that Mason sucked!! You can't say a coach with a 7-5 record sucks without also indicting the coach that had a 6-7 record!

 

[GopherGod]

If anybody wants to compare 2006 to 2008 to prove that Brewster sucks, has to also admit that Mason sucked!! You can't say a coach with a 7-5 record sucks without also indicting the coach that had a 6-7 record!

I have always said that Mason needed to go as well, my big complaint with Brewster is that I do not feel that a Big Ten job such as the Gophers should have been used as a training ground for a coach with no head coaching or coordinator experience when there were other qualified candidates available. However, the decision was made to hire Tim Brewster and I will support this team as I did before he was here and as I will long after he is gone. I am just cautious of all of the rhetoric, one-liners, and sales pitches and want to see something of substance.

 

[Go Gophers Rah]

For me, at this point, 2006 and 2008 are roughly equal. Both 3-5 in the Big Ten and both with some stretches of good play and bad play.

Forgetting the details of the 2006 Insight Bowl (ie how far we were ahead in the 1st half), I was happy with playing a passing juggernaut into overtime given that we had the #115 passing defense in the country.

So, if we show up for this game, I will still find 2006 and 2008 to be pretty equal.

The difference is (and this is a big difference), the 2006 team was not any improvement over the 1999 - 2005 teams. We had COMPLETELY plateaud at 3 or 4 conference wins as the norm. I have hope that we can get better next year and even better in 2010. Mason was fired becuase he failed to build on his success. Brewster seems to be utterly consumed with making this a better program - i never saw that kind of determination from Mason.

 

[Hates Monikers]

I have always said that Mason needed to go as well, my big complaint with Brewster is that I do not feel that a Big Ten job such as the Gophers should have been used as a training ground for a coach with no head coaching or coordinator experience when there were other qualified candidates available.

I agree with you on part of that, GG. When I first heard the news that Brewster was the choice, I was angry. But maybe Maturi wasn't satisfied with the other experienced options he saw. Maybe we couldn't get those more experienced guys (Gary Patterson reportedly turned down $2 million per year from us), or maybe the ones who were interested didn't interest Maturi (maybe he thought Lane Kiffin viewed us as a stepping stone?).

Whatever it was that led Maturi to Brewster, we can all agree that it was not the safe choice. Sometimes that works out great, sometimes not. I think it's too soon to know on Brewster.

 

[Bayfieldgopher]

The Gophers under Mason could never win big and often. He was maxed out. The Admin. finally fired Mason, raised the bar and went on record that they expect the Gophers to be competitive. I was 100% in agreement. Enter Tim Brewster with proven ability to recruit and sell/promote but an unknown quantity as a head coach. He has shown a lot of skill in the first two areas but the jury is still out with his ability to bring a winner to the UM. Maturi took a huge gamble with the future of the program.

Two years and a Mason like record is what we have. At least we are back to square one after winning 3 BT games and a minor bowl ahead. Fine. So the question is, can Brewster get us to the next level? And how long will the Admin. give him? I think if Brew's teams continue to show improvement, the Admin. will stay with him. Averaging 5 BT wins over a few years is a very tough task. Ask Alvarez, Ferentz, Tiller and even JoPa. I would be pleased to see us get there.

I like how Brewster goes about with his business. He is very confident, knows what he wants, seems to be able to address problems in a hurry (Davis, Roof hires), offers no excuses and is relentless. Can all this equate to more victories the next two seasons? If not , he may be replaced.

I am excited to watch us go up against Kansas, how the players react to Davis and what changes we will see in the offense.

 

[RodentRampage]

I support Brewster, but it's too early to tell how this will all work out. I'm not at all concerned about the head coach being an enthusiastic salesman for the team. That's a big part of any coaches job. Sure the local sports pundits would prefer it if Brewster, instead of being enthusiastic about the team was instead to wear ashes and sackcloth and engage in weeping and gnashing of teeth. But who wants to make them happy?

 

[John_Brown]

I must stand up for Coach Mason.

I love his offense. His first 3 years at KU brought 7 wins and 24 losses, but the Hawks would take on all comers from the Hurricaines to the Huskers w/ a 5'6" tailback and a 5'4" cornerback. They always ran the same 10 plays straight into the LOS no matter what the score or circumstances. Line em up and run it at em. If that man had been lucky in life, he'd have led a bunch of 5 star Olinemen at Ohio State or Georgia to a MNC. Instead, he spent his career rebuilding Kent State, Kansas and Minnesota. He begged KU to rebuild Memorial Stadium, and two years after he left 90 year old Memorial Stadium was rebuilt. He begged Minnesota to get outta the Metrodome, and two years after he left, ya'll built a new Stadium. He's a hard luck guy who always plowed foward. I have always admired him.

"There are some coaches that are known as smart coaches. I don't want to be a smart coach. Other coaches are known as lucky. I don't want to be lucky. I just want to be the sonofab&^tch who got the job done."
-Glen Mason in 'Max and the Jayhawks' to his first team at the UofKansas in 1988.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk, Beat Mizzou

 

[KD6-3.7]

john browm raises a good point with his mason quote

what exactly makes a good coach? i have always felt that in a good head coach i want two things: the ability to recruit and the ability to spot and hire good talent at coaching positions.

i am not sure, on the play calling front, if brewster calls the offensive plays or not, but he certainly does not call the defensive plays. the defensive and offensive schemes are created by the coordinators.

someone needs to make clear what a good head coach does (other than recruit and hire talented coordinators) so that those of us who are not sure what that measuring stick is, can notice it when it happens.

 

[sec105]

If anybody wants to compare 2006 to 2008 to prove that Brewster sucks, has to also admit that Mason sucked!! You can't say a coach with a 7-5 record sucks without also indicting the coach that had a 6-7 record!

Neither one of them "suck" to use your term. Mason was not a horrible coach. He was mediocre. Brewster is learning and as someone else here said (Truth Teller) next year will tell the tale. We are in the same place we have been in for the past 5- 6 years which is a heck of a lot better place than we were in during the Wacker Salem et al years.

 

[oleboy41]

Mason was 25% of a good coach. For me a great college coach needs to be able to
-have a great scheme in place and gameplan each week
-be able to make excellent in game decisions
-be able to recruit
-be able to motivate and get great effort from his team

We had an excellent offensive scheme that let us beat up on less talented teams. However we were rarely over 500% in conference because Mase was a poor recruiter so we were almost always in the bottom 2 or 3 in the B10 in overall talent (both sides of the ball and not just 1st teamers but the entire depth chart).

His teams always seemed to lay eggs at some point in big games and many times rolled over and gave up halfway through the 1st quarter which tells me he struggled to consistently motivate his teams or get top effort from them

Lastly I always hated his in game coaching abilities. We never adjusted to things teams were doing to beat us. In the 4th quarter if our opponents buckled down and shut down our run he'd keep running for 0 gain into the line. He consistently played not to lose instead of playing to win. I think Mase wouldn't gotten eaten alive at a major program

 

[Maverick]

Sorry, but I was quoting

Neither one of them "suck" to use your term. Mason was not a horrible coach. He was mediocre. Brewster is learning and as someone else here said (Truth Teller) next year will tell the tale. We are in the same place we have been in for the past 5- 6 years which is a heck of a lot better place than we were in during the Wacker Salem et al years.

Hates Monikers with the sucks term. And my point was that if 7-5 qualifies as sucking then so does 6-7.

Personally I don't think either of them sucked on everything. Mason sucked on recruiting and PR and Brewster sucked on his kool-aid too much at first. He has improved on that though.

 

[1983]

What I see here

Coach Mason's failures here had nothing to do with football. He refused to put his ego in his back pocket and blow smoke up the right rear ends. This caused discontent with the high profile Minnesota high school athletes and coaches. Dealing with our low quality media is impossible. As far as football is concerned, he did just fine, the absence of Minnesota kids on defense and recruiting to the dome spelled a very tough job. Coach Brewster comes in with a lot of enthusiasm, a stadium, fresh approach and a better crop of recruits. The media is still gentle. A true appraisal cannot be done until December 2010. At that time, No one will mention Mason and it will be the moment of truth for Brewster and his future here.

 

[Zales04]

I always thought Mason was a good coach 6 out of 7 days during the football season. Unfortunately, that 1 bad day often ended up on Saturday it seemed. It looked like he always was late or failed to make adjustments during the games.

I do remember one half time adjustment on a Friday night that put us in a prevent defense in the 3rd and 4th quarter. We know how that one ended.

 

[Sour1729]

Now every time I think of Glen Mason I think of that bizarre video on the Trib website that C.J. took where Mason is hobnobbing and eating some fancy dinner. It's really weird.

 

[thailleagle]

2006 - good offense, putrid defense

2008 - good defense, putrid offense

 

[50PoundHead]

I am old and have a few contacts among high school sports types. Mason was literally reviled by HS coaches and athletic directors in Minnesota. And that, while it wouldn't have been alright in my book, as long as he was building toward some measure of consistent top-tier play. But he never built any depth. He never had guys ready to go when a guy graduated (How many snaps did Cupito take while Khaliq was running the team? How many snaps did Mortenson take when Cupito was running the team?) Mason would beat the cream-puff non-cons by 50 points and in the 4th quarter, we were still looking at the first string on the field. Every year, linemen would shuffle because there wasn't a guy trained to take over.

Brewster has already done a better job with Minnesota kids and he's been here all of two years.

 

[ulfr]

Stop comparing this year to last so fondly

For some time now, the media and some on this board have talked about how the Gophers' turnaround from 1-11 to 7-5 is being overblown, because Mason was 6-7 just two years ago. I agree. However, the likes of Art Vandalay, Gopher God and ULFR parrot Barriero and Reusse more and more now and use this as proof that Brewster is overmatched. ....
This is not intended to rip Mason. And I have no idea if Brewster is the guy to take us from the Music City/Insight Bowl track to a January bowl. Besides, we are (thankfully) upgrading the schedule in the coming years, so the Mason Plan won't be available to us. I'm just asking ... begging: Can we PLEASE stop comparing 2008 to 2006 to prove that Brewster sucks?

Listen buddy, I am no f#king parrot. I call them the way they are, and don't need any sports pundit to have my own concerns with the Brewster Era.

First off, I don't listen to Barriero, being that the last Gopher topic I can remember being in the car and randomly tuning into on his show was after the '06 tOSU beatdown, and Mason's infamous rebuilding comments in the aftermath. I will say, however, Barriero is following a proud Twin Cities tradition of being Gopher cynical. Most local sports journalist, imho, go after the Gophers because it is easy to be snarky towards them, and it is a lay-up way to keep an "edginess" in their column/show.

I don't like that the local media has chosen Gopher Football as their snark-o-matic whipping boy. I think most are overly on the bandwagon when it comes to Vikings football, or at least the editorial staffs are, so perhaps they use the Gophers to balance out their journalistic cynicism feng shui. I am not saying that we need the Kool-Aid drinkers you find in many collegetowns' media (many of you could probably write for such a paper), but rather a little objectivity would be nice across the board.

As toward Reusse, I cannot count myself as big fan of his, and actually don't tend to read him more than 6 to 10 times a year (fellow G'Holer ATTF usually steals the sports section first thing in the morning so nobody else in the house ever reads it regularly). I believe (through appraisal gained from trusted sources in the media) that Pat Reusse might be more personally opposed to Brewster than strictly professional manner allows. I think it is evident Reusse was adamantly opposed to Brewster's hiring , hates him and his rhetoric, and genuinely wants Brewster to FAIL.

I, on the other hand, like GopherGod, was adamantly opposed to hiring a no-name coach. I agreed that it was time for Mason to go (definitely didn't like the idea of giving Mase a raise in '05) and desperately wanted us to go out and get a real solid name. I was even more pissed off when they did so for the basketball program ( I guess I just don't love BB like I will always love CFB). I don't want to see Gopher football become the training wheels for the coaching talent of this country.

Unlike Reusse, I want Brewster to succeed. I just don't want to suffer through anymore historic lows for this program in order to get there. This last loss was epically awful, as was the sum of last year. I want to always be competitive, especially for our trophy games. I don't want to find new bottoms to the Gopher's well of disappointment.

I have compared '08 to '06 only to temper the ridiculous adulation that we saw mid-season and later on about some epic turn around. Completely dismantling and debasing the program and then returning it to the mediocrity that Brewster was hired to transcend is no marked accomplishment. "Feel good story of '08"? HA! I only drew lines back to '06 to rebuke this ludicrous idea that some vast sea change has taken place in the annuals of this program or that we had something to feel great about, not to illustrate Brewster "sucks" per se.

I think Brewster is still a wholly unproven coach. The future is cloudy at best, and the finish of this season did nothing to inspire confidence. Will he ever get us to Pasadena "sooner rather than later", as promised on his hiring? I think the ship has sailed on "sooner", but I still do have some hope for "later". He did well bringing in one highly regarded recruiting class, and I credit him for making me follow recruiting much more than ever before. The '08 class, however, has had its share of disappointments especially amongst the "4 Stars" and the JUCOs and definitely proved to be a mixed bag on the field, but I know that they will get better with age (which is why JUCOs are more of a gamble if they fail to launch on ignition Pittman). This coming class is crucial if Brewster is going to maintain momentum going into a much more challenging schedule next season and continue to implement a successful transition towards a spread offense.

I worry that this incoming class is going to be a serious step backwards in comparison to the high bar he set last year (perhaps barely panning out to be better than a Mason-era class). That Brewster seems to be struggling recruiting this Autumn despite our better record is deeply troubling. Like many I thought there would be a focus on a smaller, higher quality class this year, and there has been, but he seems to be missing quite a few of his marks. I fear he might struggle recruiting even more next year, because I would be shocked if we don't take at least a small step back in our record and miss a bowl given the increase in quality opposition, and if that leads to the '10 class being poorer yet, than I think we might not ever achieve "later" or even the next step for this program of a top three conference finish and a New Years Day bowl.

For the record I don't parrot anybody. I vent my many frustrations and fears regarding this program, and often raise objections to overly optimistic posts, but I don't parrot anybody. The direction this program has taken in its first two years under Brewster has provided ample concern to come up with my own thoughts and espouse them in my own words.