While Brewster has certainly made mistakes along the way, I am not yet ready to throw in the towel. Sure, we are 1-5; and, yes, we lost to USD and Northern Illinois. However, this team has not quit on him and is still playing hard - no small feat for a head coach with a 1-5 team that has suffered the losses we have.
So, why am I not yet on the "fire Brewster" bandwagon? For the following reasons:
1) One of the mistakes Brew made was not to install the current offensive scheme in year one. Had he done so, we would be further along today. That said, we now have implemented the most effective scheme for the U to win in the B10. I do not want to go back to the spread. This dove-tails into #2;
Agreed, most here do, however, this is still a mistake Brewster made, it's his to own up to, it's not simply a forgiven point because he realized it later
2) Simple - continuity. With the hurdles the U has internally (see Vingo's post earlier today in a different thread re: central administration, etc.), it takes longer than normal (ie. longer than Ferentz in IA or Alvarez in WI) to turn this program around. In the past, firing/changes coaches has not made a difference and led to the success we all wish to see. I feel strongly that changes need to be made at the administrative level at the U;
Agreed, continuity IS very important, changes at the administration level here are more critical than anything, but harder to institute, we get a shot when Joel and Bruininks retire.
It still doesn't forgive the season we are having in year 4. You don't lose to FCS opponents in year 4. Brewster made several key mistakes to get to this point, none can simply be forgiven or discounted due to administration incompetence
3) Brew takes a lot of heat for his optimism and rose-colored glasses. While I will grant that he has said some things he should not have, I appreciate his enthusiasm and commitment. With the negativity in this town, and the uphill battle this program faces, those qualities in a head coach are much needed;
His personality is PERFECT for the U, the fact it rubs alot of old codger cynics and pessimistic fatalist minnesotans wrong is IMO a good thing, we need that here every once in awhile.
I really hope the next coach does the same thing, and makes a rose bowl win, recruiting, and some form of Gopher Nation the battle cry on day 1, However, he needs to know how to scheme and coach techniques, which is a big problem for Brewster
4) Recruiting ability. I know this has been debated at length and many feel the "talent" has not yet panned out, but I do feel we are more athletic than in recent memory. I would like to see how the underclassmen develop in the next 1-2 years. Sadly, however, the current negativity generated by some fans and local media may drastically affect the current recruiting class; and
We are MUCH more athletic a team than in 07' when Brewster took over, there are seriously some freakish athletes on this roster. They will continue to develop regardless of who is the coach, and IMO many other coaches could put them in positions/schemes to maximize those athletic talents. This will be Brewster's legacy, and to his credit. He will not be able to reap their talents however, due to his other mistakes(FCS losses, rivalry losses, embarrassing losses, etc)
The current class will actually be better if we get a new coach early enough to recruit and the new coaches class next year will be tops. There is really no program that recruits as poorly as we did before Brewster anymore, the recruiting level will remain high regardless, we just might have 20 new names in Feb than the ones we have now
5) In basically a summary point, I believe we are better off waiting another year or two to see if Brewster can turn this thing around than starting over at square one again. If we make a coaching change, we are almost guaranteed a minimum of 3-5 years of ineptitude, as we change schemes, the new coach brings in "his" players and we wait for them to develop. Given that alternative, I am not yet ready to throw in the towel on Brew.
