Brewster to Tulane?

[Johnny Olson]

Brewster did take us to a couple of Bowls in a short period of time. Most people say that Mason left him with nothing. He did leave a big mess for Coach Kill.

 

[imthewalrus]

The biggest roadblock for Monson was the sanctions, loss of scholarships and the destruction of the "spirit" that used to exist in the Barn. Of course, after the mussleman NCAA problems, the "madison/mitch lee, et al loss of institutional control and then finally the haskin's scandal, there really wasn't much "spirit" left with the fan-base, the student section and/or the corporate passion for the BARN EXPERIENCE. Lack of really competing in the Big Ten really hurt as well.

b(s)jm and prexy b were willing to pay Tubby more than twice as much as they were willing to stpend on a football coach...and...their foolishness in doing that hurt both the football program/the opening of TCF BANK STADIUM and they didn't create enough buzz in the BARN to sell out or generate the kind of excitement that the revenue sports need to make the BARN or the hockey palace or the new stadium THE place to be...THE event that can NOT be missed...THE toughest ticket in town.

My position is that the mobbing/bashing group of fans didn't appreciate just how severe the haskin's cheating scandal had been and how much it did to take the Men's Hoops Program to a "near-death" status. This program still has NOT rejuvinated it's very soul and still suffers a kind of lethargic lack of energy and intensity.

I blame b(s)jm for brewball. However, I also believe that the brewster clown arrived with a great deal of "lack of" everything needed to succeed as a Big Ten Football Coach.


That's the deal rodentrampage. That's the way it looks to me...

; 0 )

 

[imthewalrus]

When that brewster started running out of Mason's players...HE got fired...didn't he johnny olson...

; 0 )

 

[Mick Turition]

Brewster came here with ZERO years head coaching experience and ZERO years Coordinator experience. He would start at Tulane with 4 years head coaching experience in the Big10. Big difference.

Glad he's gone; wish him good luck in Tulane.

 

[STPGopher]

The main reason Brewster failed miserably at MN is the same reason I expect Kill to be successful:

Continuity

I much prefer the coach and staff that the Gophers have now but there's little doubt in my mind that if Dunbar and Withers remained as Coordinators (or Roof for that matter), Brewster would still be coaching the Gophers today. Changing coaches is bad enough. Changing entire systems and Offensive and Defensive philosophies is a train wreck waiting to happen.

People put way too much stock into the actual "coaching" of the head coach. There are complete idiots and morons coaching all over the country, many successfully, because they have surrounded themselves with good people.

I'm sure Brew learned a lot in his time with the Gophers. He could probably be successful somewhere else. Look at Dan Monson at Long Beach State.

I agree that change of coordinators was an issue, but asside from Dunbar, it appears that the bigger issue is Brewster finding the best guys that aren't looking for "greener" pastures.

Withers (wanted to run a defense based on top notch speed, compilicated coverages, etc. Got offered same position with Butch Davis at UNC. Lack of speed problem solved and is now HC. Not sure Brewster wanted him to leave.

Roof was a HC at Duke. Roof came in and ran a simplied version of Withers Defense with emphasis on creating turnovers. *Note that Withers D scheme started to click due to symplification and familiarity. Roof was offered same position DC at Auburn, so he left. Although Brewster knew this was a possibility, he did not appear at all happy that Roof bolted so soon.

Up to this point, retention seemed to be the issue.

Cosgrove, seemed like the best Brewster could get at the time. One season out from being run out of Nebraska. Was with Brewster till the end. His Defenses were okay at times, but much like Mason's defenses post Mark Snyder and David Gibbs, gave up too much yardage, and produced few 3 and outs. In otherwords, bent and broke. Lost the majority of his talent after his first season(09').

Offense:

Dunbar(two full seasons)- It appeared that He and Brewster had too many differences, especially the second season, to make it work. IIRC Brewster pushed him out.

Jedd Fisch-One year wonder, who made drastic changes and relied too much on Decker to save the day till Decker got hurt.

Horton- Never really got a chance to get going before Brewster was sacked. Maybe he should have been the first hire as OC.

Anyway,

I think Tulane could work. Like Texas, Plenty of potential recruits right out the front door. Southern fans wouldn't be so put off by a coach with that talks up his team/ program.

 

[WHB Brewer]

At least with all the cajun spices, we know he could get his chili hot......

 

[Replacement Gopher]

I'm a Tulane grad, and as much as Brew was in over his head with the Gophers, he HAS to have learned from his mistakes. If Tulane could be decent if they can keep the LA kids who are skipped over by the SEC. Tommy Bowden did some great things there. The school really messed up by not hiring Rich Rod (who was Tommy's OC) after Tommy quit for Clemson. Then again, it's not like Bob Toledo was inexperienced and he bombed out. Off campus stadium, the Superdome of all places, and higher academic standards than the competition offset the in-town recruiting advantages.

 

[lakesbison]

How is this bum allowed to coach anywhere?

absolutely horrible, no one in minnesota should walk across the street to throw water on him if his chili is too hot.

just embarassing.

 

[Johnny Olson]

I was being somewhat sarcastic, I believe Mason left the program in a little better shape then he gets credit for.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

When that brewster started running out of Mason's players...HE got fired...didn't he johnny olson...

; 0 )

Not really....

I would take the time to break it down for you, but I doubt you would read it and simply break into one of your famous rants.

Speaking of which, cue Wren rant in 4....3.....2.....1

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

I was being somewhat sarcastic, I believe Mason left the program in a little better shape then he gets credit for.

It wasn't Mase's fault, but the program was in every bit as bad of a position when Brew took over as it was when Kill took over. It was partially not Mason's fault, but the program was in shambles when Brew took over.

 

[Great Plains Gopher]

If that turns out to be true, we need to schedule them.

Bravo!

 

[EG#9]

Really confused why Brewster gets such poor treatment here. The guy only preached positivity and never pulled the "can't win at Minnesota" crap of his predecessor who we gave 10 years and a much better contract to. He took over a program void of talent and won 7 games in his second year and 6 in his third. When he was fired halfway through his 4th season coming off two "bowl" seasons, he stayed quiet for months. Now we have a new coach and some seem willing to give him multiple years just to get back to where Brewster was in years 2 and 3. If you read some of the posts on the board, you would get the feeling that Brewster was to the Gophers what Les Steckel was to the Vikings.

 

[oak_street1981]

Brewster was every bit as inept as Les Steckel if not more so.

And stop with the lie that the program was in shambles due to Mason.

If Mason was HC in 2007 they would have won all of the NC games and squeezed out two or three more wins.

Mason beat Indiana 55-7, then won at Michigan State 31-16 and beat Iowa before blowing a 38 7 lead to Graham Harrrell and Mike Leach's system. (did anyone notice that SoCal had a 38-14 lead on Oregon at one point, these things do happen in CFB)

I do not think his system would have been overwhelmed by Miami of Ohio, BGSU, FAU, Indiana and similar teams in 2007. We would have seen a few 38-10 games.

Mason actually had a lot of players coming back in 2007. He would not have squandered players like the returning left side of the O line, the Ohio group, Pinnix and Valentine, ect. History proved that he would have been a able to pound the poor teams on the schedule.

Brewster ran a loose ship and the players knew it. Say what you want about Mason, but the situation in the spring of '07 may not have happened or it may have happened but we will never know. Those players would have made a difference for Mason. A linebacker who ended up all Big 10 at MSU might have made a difference as well.

More importantly he would not have been running that Dunbar spread crap, and Webber would have flourished.

Stop the lies about 2007 under Mason.

 

[EG#9]

Brewster was every bit as inept as Les Steckel if not more so.

And stop with the lie that the program was in shambles due to Mason.

If Mason was HC in 2007 they would have won all of the NC games and squeezed out 2 or three more wins.

Mason beat Indiana 55-7, then won at Michigan State 31-16 and beat Iowa before blowing a 38 7 lead two Graham Harrrell and Mike Leach's system.

I do not think his system would have been overwhelmed by Miami of Ohio, BGSU, Indiana and similar teams in 2007.

Mason actually had a lot of players coming back in 2007. He would not have squandered players like the returning left side of the O line, the Ohio group, Pinnix and Valentine, ect. History proved that he would have been a able to pound the poor teams on the schedule.

Brewster ran a loose ship and the players knew it. Say what you want about Mason, but the situation in the spring of '07 may not have happened or it may have happened but we will never know. Those players would have made a difference for Mason. A linebacker who ended up all Big 10 at MSU might have made a difference as well.

More importantly he would not have been running that Dunbar spread crap, and Webber would have flourished.

Stop the lies about 2007 under Mason.

This is the type of post that personifies a Masnoite. The Ohio players wouldn't have gotten in trouble if Mason was the coach? How can you even suggest such garbage? Why did you fail to mention the Gophers were 0-5 in the Big Ten with a senior QB in Mason's tenth year before winning their final 3 games? Why did you fail to mention that Indiana's coach had passed away or that the Michigan State program had become a disaster and would hire D''Antonio at the end of the year? How about that Mason FINALLY beat Iowa to end the year after a record tying 5 straight losses to the Hawkeyes? The group that Mason left Brewster was made up ENTIRELY of classes ranked between 10-11 in the Big Ten. On the entire roster of players left by Mason, only three (THREE!) were ever drafted by NFL teams in D.Barber, Tripplett, and Decker.

I'll just use records and facts, you can continue to say that a coach that was almost 20 games below .500 in his own conference was somehow acceptable.

 

[matt]

Really confused why Brewster gets such poor treatment here. The guy only preached positivity and never pulled the "can't win at Minnesota" crap of his predecessor who we gave 10 years and a much better contract to. He took over a program void of talent and won 7 games in his second year and 6 in his third. When he was fired halfway through his 4th season coming off two "bowl" seasons, he stayed quiet for months. Now we have a new coach and some seem willing to give him multiple years just to get back to where Brewster was in years 2 and 3. If you read some of the posts on the board, you would get the feeling that Brewster was to the Gophers what Les Steckel was to the Vikings.

Did you even read the thread?

 

[wdgold]

If he's hired, his opening statement will be that he is taking the Green Nation to the conference championship next year.

 

[STPGopher]

Brewster was every bit as inept as Les Steckel if not more so.

And stop with the lie that the program was in shambles due to Mason.

If Mason was HC in 2007 they would have won all of the NC games and squeezed out two or three more wins.

Mason beat Indiana 55-7, then won at Michigan State 31-16 and beat Iowa before blowing a 38 7 lead to Graham Harrrell and Mike Leach's system. (did anyone notice that SoCal had a 38-14 lead on Oregon at one point, these things do happen in CFB)

I do not think his system would have been overwhelmed by Miami of Ohio, BGSU, FAU, Indiana and similar teams in 2007. We would have seen a few 38-10 games.

Mason actually had a lot of players coming back in 2007. He would not have squandered players like the returning left side of the O line, the Ohio group, Pinnix and Valentine, ect. History proved that he would have been a able to pound the poor teams on the schedule.

Brewster ran a loose ship and the players knew it. Say what you want about Mason, but the situation in the spring of '07 may not have happened or it may have happened but we will never know. Those players would have made a difference for Mason. A linebacker who ended up all Big 10 at MSU might have made a difference as well.

More importantly he would not have been running that Dunbar spread crap, and Webber would have flourished.

Stop the lies about 2007 under Mason.

Granted We will never know what Mason would have done if he coached in 07', but I'm not sure I agree that he didn't squander Pinnix. Especially in 06' Valentine and Pinnix should have both played at Cal in 06' instead of the Alex Daniels at RB experiment. This and putting Pinnix( a very good student, back and team player) in his doghouse were key factors in the Cal game and a few others in 06'

 

[Johnny Olson]

A horrible Coach such as Brewster wins 13 games in year two and three with mostly Mason players who are part of a bare cupboard.This is the ultimate paradox.
Good debate on both sides.

 

[STPGopher]

If he's hired, his opening statement will be that he is taking the Green Nation to the conference championship next year.

Maybe one shouldn't say it publically, but that should be the goal of every team.

BTW Brewster never said Rosebowl right away. He said sooner than later.

 

[TrueLiz]

From Tulane's perspective, they can say they are hiring a former Big Ten coach (albeit a very unsuccessful one), but if Brewster spent more time just focusing on developing his system & sticking with it, and less on talking big, he might have some success at the FBS level. Might. Although some time as an assistant might be a better plan.

But comparing Brewster to Monson? C'mon. Brewster had no head coaching experience. Monson had just finished a Cinderella run at Gonzaga (who hasn't missed an NCAA tourney since then). Brewster took over a team that had a habit of blowing leads in big games, which is not exactly the same as taking over a program in shambles after the scandal. Sure, the sanctions were gone by the end of Monson's tenure, but MN was never at a UNC or UCLA level. Just because the sanctions were gone didn't mean kids were lining up for the chance to play here. I agreed it was time for Monson to move on, but I appreciated the fact that he cleaned up a big mess, and it's been nice to see him do the same at LBSU, while winning too. Doesn't make sense to compare Monson & Brewster.

 

[Go4Broke]

A horrible Coach such as Brewster wins 13 games in year two and three with mostly Mason players who are part of a bare cupboard. This is the ultimate paradox.

Mason's last three recruiting classes (2004, 2005, and 2006) were easily the worst of Mason's career in Minnesota. Only Indiana had worse recruiting classes in the Big 10 during that period of time. And the pathetic 2007 class was mostly on Mason as well because Brewster was hired with only three weeks before the February signing date.

After the fiasco of 2003 Mason had stopped trying for all practical purposes. He was more interested in blaming the students and fans and making excuses for why he couldn't win in Minnesota. The reason Bruininks and Maturi didn't fire Mason earlier was because they didn't want it to interfere with getting the new stadium approved.

I had season tickets through Mason's entire career and it was a very happy day for me when he got fired. And even through all the losing the Gophers have done since that time I can truly say I have not missed Glen Mason for even one second. After 2003 his horse's ass attitude and lack of recruiting effort and poor coaching took all the enjoyment out of Gopher football for me.

 

[MNfootballfan]

Brewster ran a loose ship and the players knew it. Say what you want about Mason, but the situation in the spring of '07 may not have happened or it may have happened but we will never know. Those players would have made a difference for Mason. A linebacker who ended up all Big 10 at MSU might have made a difference as well.

More importantly he would not have been running that Dunbar spread crap, and Webber would have flourished.

A couple of things I disagree with here. So Brewster is on the job for 2-3 months and the players turn into felons? It doesn't matter how strict or loose the coach is when it comes down to an action like this. It is an individual decision that was going to be made regardless who was head coach. It isn't fair to blame Brewster for that and it isn't fair for blame to be placed on Mason.

Also with the spread. Weber had some good years in the spread. His second year with Dunbar I think he was 2nd team all conference. My memory isn't 100% though.

 

[50PoundHead]

Here we go again.

Anyway, it's important to remember that Pinnix was injured/hobbled all of 2007 with turf toe and unless Mason had Benny Hinn on speed dial, that problem would have been there. The rest of it can't be proved or disproved. Who knows whether or not the Ohio kids would have gotten in trouble? Problems happen at programs that run nearly air-tight ships (or what appear to be air-tight ships), so I'm not going to assume anything one way or the other. No question that it hurt.

Mason would have won more games in 2007 than Brewster did. Bowl eligible? Probably not, but again that simply cannot be proven. But we were going to be down in 2007 from where we were in 2006 (and it's also important to remember that we were a fingernail away from not being bowl eligible in 2006).

Overall, I don't think that's the point. One of my critiques of Mason is that he ran his teams in what I term "cycles" in that (except for the running back position) he seemed to stick guys in early in their careers and play them nearly exclusively for the rest of their careers. I always thought that didn't do much in terms of developing quality depth. The depth issue for the Gophers preceded Mason and it has lived beyond his tenure. It's still, in my estimation, the biggest problem facing the team.

But this Brewster/Mason thing has gotten so passe (and yet I've contributed to the conversation yet again). Time to get past it.

 

[imthewalrus]

Mason HAD to sell the NEED for the stadium on campus eg9...and you KNOW that. Without that, NO TCF BANK STADIUM ever would have been built.

ALSO, badger(stinking)joelmacturi and prexy b let Mason's contract run down for a number of years, then needed Mason to stay on board and signed him to a MULTI-YEAR extension...then, fired him a bit less than a year later and had to spend MILLIONS buying him out.

You brewster apologists are all the same...and you have gotten EXACTLY what you deserve.

Thank you to Mason for taking on the NEED for the on campus stadium that brewster benefited from and b(s)jm has NOT been able to fill...even with Nebraska, wisky and iowa all coming to town during this 2011 season...

This contrast is in direct response to that eg9 apologist's totally unbalanced and unfair rant...

; 0 )

 

[RodentRampage]

What Brewster apologists? Thinking that he MIGHT do ok somewhere else doesn't make one an apologist. After all, he won't be working for Maturi...

 

[Killjoy]

Hey wren

Mason HAD to sell the NEED for the stadium on campus eg9...and you KNOW that. Without that, NO TCF BANK STADIUM ever would have been built.

ALSO, badger(stinking)joelmacturi and prexy b let Mason's contract run down for a number of years, then needed Mason to stay on board and signed him to a MULTI-YEAR extension...then, fired him a bit less than a year later and had to spend MILLIONS buying him out.

You brewster apologists are all the same...and you have gotten EXACTLY what you deserve.

Thank you to Mason for taking on the NEED for the on campus stadium that brewster benefited from and b(s)jm has NOT been able to fill...even with Nebraska, wisky and iowa all coming to town during this 2011 season...

This contrast is in direct response to that eg9 apologist's totally unbalanced and unfair rant...

; 0 )

You forgot to mention that Mason invented the internet.

Your last sentence above pretty well sums you up, i.e. an unbalanced ranting apologist for Mason. I expect Mason would find your obsession with him both funny and scary. I am also sure he really doesn't need or want you to defend him. If you haven’t noticed, he is doing quite well without you.

You might take a cue from your hero and move on. He realizes that it is 2011 now. You might do the same.

 

[Killjoy]

RodentRamapage

What Brewster apologists? Thinking that he MIGHT do ok somewhere else doesn't make one an apologist. After all, he won't be working for Maturi...

wren suffers from the inability to comprehend what people are saying here. When anybody mentions one of his obsessions he goes on autopilot and begins ranting. It would be nice if he actually took the time to comprehend what is being said before he starts ranting but he doesn’t seem to be capable of doing that.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

A horrible Coach such as Brewster wins 13 games in year two and three with mostly Mason players who are part of a bare cupboard.This is the ultimate paradox.
Good debate on both sides.

In terms of talent and depth of talent, Mason did leave a pretty bare cupboard.

Look at the amount of really young players and JuCo's that played signficant minutes on those 08 and 09 teams (non-Mason players).
Simoni Lawrence, McKinley, Simmons, Brock, Collado, Theret, Small, Eskridge, Stoudermire, Salamon, Whaley, McKnight, Tinsley, B. Green, B. Smith, Wills, Carufel, Royston....

I agree, the best players on the 08 and 09 teams were probably still Mason guys, but that's to be expected (they were older). Just like if we are a 6 win team next year, that team will get significant contribution from a ton of Brew players (Gray, Green, almost our entire OL, Hageman, Vereen, Cooper, Rallis, Wilhite, KGM, Kirkwood, Lamonte Edwards, etc.). That doesn't mean that Brew left a lot of talent here, it's just natural that the older players will be better.

 

[Killjoy]

Thanks Bob

It is nice to see that somebody can make an object analysis and comment on this subject.