I think 2010 will tell the tale. It's difficult to gauge whether a coach's recruiting efforts have improved a team's talent when the vast majority of his players have not seen the field. To Schood's point, Brew has maintained the philosophy of redshirting and/or working younger guys into the system slowly. On paper, the athletes in the pipeline should be an improvement over many of this year's mainstays. At some point, we need to see some of that potential come to fruition.
I won't go into every player from the relatively highly ranked (read: classes ranked well above where Minnesota should be/have historically ranked) 2008 and 2009 classes, but here's my sense of what we could see next year. I'm only going with the non-JUCOs. (This is all in my opinion, so please feel free to bash them and rip me to shreds where I err):
Keanon Cooper (2008) 4*: Redshirted for the 2008 season and a redshirt sophomore next year. Showed a lot of athleticism and big-play ability this year. Likely starter next year. Has legitimate all Big Ten potential.
Jewhan Edwards (2008) 3*: Played in 12 of 13 games as a true freshman in 2008. Cycled in with starters Brown and Small in both 2008 and 2009. Likely starter next year. Hard to say what his ceiling is, but I've generally been impressed with his performance thus far.
MarQueis Gray (2008) 4*: Academically ineligible for 2008 and played sparingly as true freshman in 2009. Seems to be an amazing athlete, but the jury is still out on whether he can be an effective QB. I hoped we'd see more of him this year than we did but, if a system can be designed around his talents, would appear to have all of the skills necessary to be a highly-effective, dynamic QB.
Brandon Green (2008) 4*: Played in 12 of 13 games as a true freshman in 2008 and as a sophomore in 2009. Has a solid skill set and has shown big-play ability, but hasn't had a breakthrough game. From watching him this year, he seemed to be open with regularity, but the ball was not thrown his way. Could be great, could be average...we need more consistent QB play for his talents to shine, in my opinion.
Brandon Kirksey (2008) 3*: See Jewhan Edwards above. Only difference (I'm not a DT expert, so I don't have a lot of color to add here) is he played in 11 rather than 12 games in 2008.
Eric Lair (2008) 3*: Played in 11 games as true freshman in 2008, primarily on special teams. Used sparingly at TE this year. My only recollection of him from 2009 was a horrifically dropped pass against OSU. Not sure it's fair to pass judgment on a player on one play, but it is what it is. Could be great, could be average...we'll find out next year.
Sam Maresh (2008) 4*: Sat out 2008 season due to heart defect. Redshirted as true freshman last year.
Dajon McKnight (2008) 2*: Played sparingly as true freshman in 2008. Came on strong following Decker's injury this year. Big and reasonably fast, he could be the steal of the Skyline 4.
Spencer Reeves (2008) 3*: Uh, grayshirted in 2008, I believe. Don't recall any significant time in 2009. Has fantastic measureables. I would expect we'll see a lot more of him in 2010.
Gary Tinsley (2008) 3*: Played on special teams as true freshman. Played a reasonable amount of time in 2009 and looked good. Swings a 2x4 like it's his job.
D.L. Wilhite (2008) 3*: Redshirted in 2008. Played extensively in 2009, primarily on passing downs. Has a gang of potential to be a true, speed-rushing DE. Like this kid a lot.
Bryant Allen (2009) 3*: Played in every game as a true freshman, primarily on punt return. Really, really fast. Remains to be seen what his true potential is, but he has a ton of upside.
Michael Carter (2009) 4*: Unsure of the number of games he played in, but is clearly talented based on his playing time at CB as a true freshman. Will be a shutdown corner for us for the next few years.
I could be wrong here, but I believe the remainder of the 2009 class redshirted this year. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
So, long story longer, there just haven't been many of Brew's recruits that have seen the field. Consequently, you can criticize his philosophy of giving playing time to younger players, but really can't knock his recruiting yet. 2010 will begin to tell the tale as to whether his recruiting has resulted in more talent on the field.