Doogie: Not Play 4 Brew, but Pray 4 Brew

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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Doogie's column:

Seems strange to say this, but Middle Tennessee State should be embarrassed.

How did they lose to the Gophers? For five straight home games, and counting, the Gopher faithful have chanted "Fire Brewster!" Why? Because the Gophers own a 7-15 record in their last 22 games. Why? Because this year the Gophers have lost three straight non-conference home games, including losses to perennial powerhouses South Dakota and Northern Illinois. Why? No wins in rivalry games (0-9), no wins against ranked opponents (0-9), a losing record at TCF Bank Stadium (4-6), and a losing record against Dakota schools (1-2).

The line was used by a handful earlier in the week, but it applies more than ever now: If wide receiver Troy Stoudermire can be suspended for "conduct detrimental to the team," then can't some Gophers coaches be suspended for "coaching detrimental to the team?" All Stoudermire did was voice his opinion. Was he wrong?

For those who think that this is piling on, it is duly-noted, but when you become the first coach to lose three non-conference home games since 1898, after telling us in August that the program was "light-years" ahead of when you took it over, and that this was your most athletic team, it begs for a response.

Here is my opening from my 1500espn.com preview on Thursday:


What could've been: Bo Pelini, the head coach of No. 6 Nebraska, desperately wanted to interview for the Gophers job after Glen Mason was fired. He never had the chance. USC coach Lane Kiffin got an interview, but was told he wasn't worthy. Fourth-ranked TCU's coach, Gary Patterson, was reportedly offered a monster contract but eventually said no.

A powerbroker in the college coaching business, but far from a household name, agent Gary O'Hagan of Minneapolis turned Brewster into an idiot savant, capable of executing a solid enough interview to convince athletics director Joel Maturi, associate athletic director Marc Ryan and others to hire him.

I had a first-hand visual to the vitriol against Brewster in the game against USC (section 211), and people think I'm negative.

If Brewster loses to another opponent -- Northern Illinois -- that he's supposed to beat, former All-American Bob Stein won't be the only luminary who will go on the record with his disdain for the direction of the program. In other words, to halt the bitterness and backbiting, Saturday is a must-win.

Two years ago, the Gophers were barely good enough to beat Northern Illinois. That was with mostly Glen Mason's players. Last night, with 98 percent of the personnel his, Brewster got destroyed by Northern Illinois. He is now 4-6 at the new, beautiful stadium. All built-in excuses are gone. In spite of what you've read elsewhere on this site in the last few weeks -- a story made-up by someone, hmmm -- the Gophers spend plenty of money on the football program. Do they spend as much as Ohio State, Penn State, or Michigan? No, but they spend more than enough to succeed.

Keeping a lame-duck coach around accomplishes nothing. The notion suggested that letting him go now ruins your chances with some recruits is mind-boggling. These high school juniors and seniors are well aware of the situation. If they're not, an opposing coach will tell them about it. Plus, can these recruits play? Look at the players Brewster has brought in. What makes you believe that this next class is the one that will lead this team anywhere?

This isn't personal. The few interactions I've had with Brewster have been pleasant. I can’t imagine that anybody would ever want to see someone get fired. But with his coaching connections, he'll land an assistant coaching job somewhere. He will also get a very nice check when he goes away. The ones to truly feel sorry are his assistants who won’t be able to find jobs for a while (Kevin Cosgrove, etc.)

It is time to start researching some of the potential candidates to take over: Air Force coach Troy Calhoun, Houston coach Kevin Sumlin, Vikings offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, and Alabama coordinators Kirby Smart and Jim McElwain are just a few of the names that make sense. Georgia coach Mark Richt is the ultimate dream. Former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach will coach again somewhere. But would president Bob Bruininks and athletics director Joel Maturi take a chance on him?

This much is known: hiring another coach with no previous head coaching or coordinator experience won't, or at least shouldn't, happen again.

http://www.startribune.com/yourvoic...yqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUKcOy9cP3DieyckcUsI

Go Gophers!!
 

Nice work, Doogie! I think that Brewster's agent should have his rep damaged by having packaged a suspiciously qualified candidate to appear as a savior to a program.
 

Clever title Doogie.

Quoted from the Big Ten Blog on espn.com a couple of weeks ago:

As colleague Bruce Feldman tweeted, "After losing to another Dakota school, maybe its time Tim Brewster changes from Play4Brew to Pray4Brew."
 

Solid article but why would he mention Lane Kiffin? What has he done as a head coach so far in his career? Bad example.
 

Finally somebody standing up to the idiots that say the football program is run on a shoestring. With TCF stadium the facilities, practice fields included are top notch. The amount spent on the football program and the administration support it gets is not the issue, it is competitive with other Big Ten schools.
 


VarmintKong said:
Clever title Doogie.

Quoted from the Big Ten Blog on espn.com a couple of weeks ago:

As colleague Bruce Feldman tweeted, "After losing to another Dakota school, maybe its time Tim Brewster changes from Play4Brew to Pray4Brew."
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Great minds must think alike, although not mine... Actually borrowed it from a Hubbard broadcasting intern who chooses to remain nameless. He/she had it as a banner on an August preview of the team we did.
 

jovs;267528[B said:
]Finally somebody standing up to the idiots that say the football program is run on a shoestring[/B]. With TCF stadium the facilities, practice fields included are top notch. The amount spent on the football program and the administration support it gets is not the issue, it is competitive with other Big Ten schools.
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It's not an easy balancing act. The featured opinions around here seem to be that you have to castigate Maturi and Bruininks for not spending enough money on football while denying that it has any effect on Brewster's lack of success.
 

Just giving you a hard time Doogie.

I enjoyed the blog entry. Our record over the past 22 games (7-15) was a pretty telling statistic. Time to move on. I'm sick of this. Tried to be patient with Brewster, but it's become glaringly obvious that he is WAY in over his head.
 

Tremendous article. Again, you nailed everything right on the head. I don't think we'll make the mistake of hiring someone without at least coordinator experience again. Like you said after the USD loss - what will happen eventually should happen now. The admin probably doesn't have the guts, but Brewster is an idiot if he thinks the pressure on his job security is the same now as when he was hired.
 



How is it possible that Bo Pelini was denied an interview? Is there any more info on that? Where did that info come from? If true, that alone is reason enough for Maturi to be gone.
 

FreakyDeke said:
How is it possible that Bo Pelini was denied an interview? Is there any more info on that? Where did that info come from? If true, that alone is reason enough for Maturi to be gone.
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It is true
 

Didn't the U compile its list of candidates based on the findings of a search committee?
 




They did use a search firm, if I recall correctly.
 

great post, Doogie, I couldn't agree more. Get him out of here now, another year just makes him a lame duck coach and it will be a total waste of a year, kinda like what we're seeing now and what we saw when Monson was brought back for a "partial" year.
 


Good work Doogie. It's the type of coverage we have been asking for. No unnecessary cheap shots, but not glossing over the warts on the program right now. I don't want rah-rah articles, I just want fair information, and you provided it.

Like I've said before, I think you work better on radio than print, but I can see that your efforts are paying off.

And for all the crap you take here (almost as galvanizing as Brew bashing) I appreciate that you keep coming here. I know that you are a fan of the program and want it to start going the right way.

Keep it up.
 

The Doogie butt kissing on here is disgusting. Doogie, why is Mark Richt the ultimate dream? Don't we already have a salesman who does less with more?
 

Section2 said:
The Doogie butt kissing on here is disgusting.
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Doogie did a very nice job with this article and deserves kudos for it. I haven't agreed with everything that he says or writes, but I'll give credit where credit is due.
 

I think Pelini is a great coach, but he has tremendous institutional support in Tom Osborne. Having Dr. Tom around his first couple of seasons really helped him navigate the rough spots to where he can be more his own man (minus the sideline tantrums) now.

Pelini may have succeeded here and he is a very good football coach. But there are a lot of good football coaches out there that need to be in the right situation. I don't know if the Minnesota situation would have been the right one for Pelini.
 

Unregistered User said:
Doogie did a very nice job with this article and deserves kudos for it. I haven't agreed with everything that he says or writes, but I'll give credit where credit is due.
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It's not that good of an article. It's basically a conglomeration of posts from the hole and GI. There is no original thought. Look, it's a fine article, worth my time to read, but the butt kissing is way over the top.
 

Butt kissing, or not, although would rather receive praise compared to some of the stuff from the past... but a healthy portion of those on here, and we're all die-hards, realize that there is a problem... we all want nothing more than to see our favorite football team play in Pasadena, or a New Year's Day game... it won't happen under this regime. Doubt they finish 1-11... can beat NW, Pur., and Ill. ... but even if they finish 3-5 in Big Ten play... does that solve anything? Never like to see numerous people lose their job... but most should be able to land somewhere... and most are already, I bet, at least planting some seeds with their friends. The time is now to move on.
 

Doogie said:
Butt kissing, or not, although would rather receive praise compared to some of the stuff from the past... but a healthy portion of those on here, and we're all die-hards, realize that there is a problem... we all want nothing more than to see our favorite football team play in Pasadena, or a New Year's Day game... it won't happen under this regime. Doubt they finish 1-11... can beat NW, Pur., and Ill. ... but even if they finish 3-5 in Big Ten play... does that solve anything? Never like to see numerous people lose their job... but most should be able to land somewhere... and most are already, I bet, at least planting some seeds with their friends. The time is now to move on.
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Doogie...realistically, what are the chances something happens before the end of the season?

I would say not good, but damn, it would be nice to make the change now, start actively recruiting coaches for next year and at least put a stop to the fire Brewster chants.
 

Doogie said:
Butt kissing, or not, although would rather receive praise compared to some of the stuff from the past... but a healthy portion of those on here, and we're all die-hards, realize that there is a problem... we all want nothing more than to see our favorite football team play in Pasadena, or a New Year's Day game... it won't happen under this regime. Doubt they finish 1-11... can beat NW, Pur., and Ill. ... but even if they finish 3-5 in Big Ten play... does that solve anything? Never like to see numerous people lose their job... but most should be able to land somewhere... and most are already, I bet, at least planting some seeds with their friends. The time is now to move on.
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Do you mean that you advocate a mid season firing?
 

Section2 said:
The Doogie butt kissing on here is disgusting. Doogie, why is Mark Richt the ultimate dream? Don't we already have a salesman who does less with more?
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Can you explain to me how averaging 10 wins a year in the SEC is doing less with more?
 

GoAUpher said:
Can you explain to me how averaging 10 wins a year in the SEC is doing less with more?
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We need a coach who has won the national championship every year he has coached, don't you realize that?
 

MBAGuy said:
Doogie...realistically, what are the chances something happens before the end of the season?

I would say not good, but damn, it would be nice to make the change now, start actively recruiting coaches for next year and at least put a stop to the fire Brewster chants.
Click to expand...

If they lose to NW, then get beat badly in Madison (2 TDs or more), could see a move being made on Sun. Oct. 10... otherwise, Sun. Nov. 28 or Mon. Nov. 29.
 

josh087 said:
We need a coach who has won the national championship every year he has coached, don't you realize that?
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Yes... we want the perfect coach. Until then we make due with what we have. [/sarcasm] :rolleyes:
 

50PoundHead said:
I think Pelini is a great coach, but he has tremendous institutional support in Tom Osborne. Having Dr. Tom around his first couple of seasons really helped him navigate the rough spots to where he can be more his own man (minus the sideline tantrums) now.

Pelini may have succeeded here and he is a very good football coach. But there are a lot of good football coaches out there that need to be in the right situation. I don't know if the Minnesota situation would have been the right one for Pelini.
Click to expand...

Very good point. One of the big issues at the UofM is the quality of support given to the HCs and the football program in general.

Nebraska does have Osborne who knows football very well and what is needed there. Given the importance of college football in Neb. and the hole they were trying to climb out of, Pelini was entering in to a great situation.

I have never been a Brew basher since there are qualities he has I felt were desperately needed in MN (Positive attitude and hard worker) to name a couple. At the same time, his hire was a sign at the amount of support the football program had at the time and the resources available.

In all fairness, Mason's buyout along with the Haskin's mess had probably hamstrung the Athletics dep. to some degree. That was a whole lot of cash going out the door and the roled the dice on a guy they could get relatively cheep, had some recommendations (Shanahan to name one), who had some things going for him and was willing to forgo some of his salary to hire Asst. coaches.

To be real, Maturi sees the budget and available resources in front of him every day and probably is reminded of it on a regular basis. He also hears the behind the door garbage that most fans are in no wise privy to.

Fans want the team to go from point A to point Z in results, but we sometimes are not sensitive to the journey it takes to get there. What is seen on the field is the results of the decisions made by people hire up then Maturi, not the result of his tenure.

I think also a reality is that if they (UofM) powers that be want to see the football program return to the elite status it once had before many on this board were even born, it needs to prioritize it in such a way they budget more money for its continued operation (not just the splash of a new stadium), trim out some of the non-revenue sports that absorb some of the Athletic department resources yet give some glory to the U in other ways, or increase fund raising for the Ath. Dep. yet not adjust the U's budget according to what comes in.

for ex. suppose a donor gives 10 mill., the U may look at that and say because that donation came in, we can trim the same amount from the budget. That may help the rest of the u, but does nothing to help the ath., dep.

Anyway it is sliced up, if the U is wanting to succeed in football and be on the same level or greater as the other schools, it needs to take a hard look at how it approaches the game. This is far more involved than who the coach and ath. director are and has little to do with the state.

Other schools prioritize the football program because they know it is their bread and butter. That shows on the field.
 

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