Embracing the history of the program

[2nd Degree Gopher]

Whoever the next coach is, and whether he takes over five weeks from now or five years from now, I hope that he is as committed as Tim Brewster seems to be to learning and preaching the history of the program. I have been attending games regularly and following the program closely for 25 years and, to my recollection, no coach in that time has placed as much importance on recognizing the historical accomplishments of the football program and trying to connect with former players. Perhaps Mason, Wacker and Gutey all maintained personal relationships with Warmath, Bell, Dungy, et al., but I don’t recall hearing about it. There is a proud history to this program. Yes, unfortunately, most of it is ancient history, but it is still our history and I am pleased to celebrate it. I have learned a lot about the program during the last 3 ½-4 years that I didn’t already know and, while the information was always out there somewhere, Brewster’s enthusiasm for that history provided me the motivation to seek it out. I’ll always respect and appreciate that.

[I am not suggesting that this be a hiring requirement for the next coach, nor do I believe that knowledge of the program’s history ensures or even indicates a likelihood success on the field. Indeed, some of the former players I have spoken to share the same, ahem, "skepticism" about the direction of the program that many have expressed in this forum. But the appreciation for the past successes of the football program is something that I hope the next coach and the athletic department try to maintain in some manner. Inclusion of the Hall of Fame at TCF seems like a step in that direction.]

 

[ruralgopher]

Brew has a lot of great qualities, and his trying to connect the present and past are near the top.

 

[50PoundHead]

Agreed. This is one thing Brewster has done right.

 

[13 Lined Ground Squirrel]

Hopefully he'll be so committed to the old school that he'll make the Gopher's 1960 throwback uniforms (with higher quality jerseys) permanent.

 

[Seany]

Yeah, Brewster does do some things very well. He's a pretty tireless advocate for the program, and I also like the way he's reached out to high school coaches in Minnesota, making it a goal to meet every single one of them. That kind of positive engagement is what is needed to start building from the ground up, and it's telling that under the Mason regime the vast majority of in-state high school coaches never heard a single word from either Mason or his staff.

 

[BleedGopher]

Great post and I totally agree. I love the history of the program and have been very impressed with the way Brew continues to keep it alive.

Go Gophers!!

 

[BarnBoy]

Hear. Hear. Give the man credit where credit is due.

 

[Gopher Bandanna Guy]

Terrific post, and something I agree with wholeheartedly. Brewster helped restore a little pride to my being a fan of the Gophers in these lean years, by reminding me that even if our great history is decades behind us, its still OUR history, and there's nothing wrong with being proud of it!

I think Mason and his predecessors who seemed to ignore our history might have taken the whole 'those who forget history are doomed to repeat it' notion to seriously, perhaps thinking if they didn't acknowledge the history, it would somehow take us to the Rose Bowl again.

 

[imthewalrus]

The history of Golden Gopher Football:

All-time Big Ten winning percentage: .484*

All-time overall winning percentage: .576*

This is our history. These, therefore become the standards. Do NOT forget the history. DEMAND that we retain coaches who meet the standards. Recall the glory moments. Be realistic with expectations. We are who we are. And respect who we are. Be honest about what it means to compete in the Big Ten Conference.

* Thanks to Eric Thrall for this information that can be found on his website re: Golden Gopher Football.

 

[2727Gopher]

All-time Big Ten winning percentage: .484*

One quick note - that is actually our winning percentage against Big Ten teams, not our conference winning percentage. Subtle difference. It includes games played before the conference existed and also games against teams that were not conference members at the time. For example, we have played Michigan 5 times (with a 2-3 record in those games) in non-conference games. Our 1892, 1893 and 1895 meetings were before the conference had been created, and our 1909 and 1910 games happened after Michigan left the conference and before they returned a few years later.

Also, that percentage will get a minor boost after the season when Nebraska becomes part of the conference, meaning we will gain 29 wins, 20 losses and 2 ties in our winning percentage against Big Ten teams. I've considered changing the pages to reflect that difference, but decided it would make the whole thing more complicated and difficult to look at.

 

[metrolax]

Lou Holtz also did the same thing during his short tenure at the U. From the beginning, he
made references to Pug Lund and Bernie Bierman, and talked about national championships.

One thing he did that I really liked was when he was assembling his staff, he wanted to have a
good "Minnesota" guy. He believed that this was very important. That's why he had
Butch Nash continue with the school.

Brew basically whitewashed everything to bring in his own people. He wanted no reference
whatsoever to any previous regime, especially Mason's. Shame, he could have retained
a darn good OC in Browning (who would still be here now, I believe) as well as one of
the very best OL coaches anywhere in Shaw.

Harry Callahan said that "A Man has got to know his limitations". As a coach, Holtz
succeeded by knowing exactly what his were and what he needed to overcome them.
Brewster didn't seem to acknowledge that he had any whatsoever.

 

[AhliBobwa]

Whoever the next coach is, and whether he takes over five weeks from now or five years from now, I hope that he is as committed as Tim Brewster seems to be to learning and preaching the history of the program. I have been attending games regularly and following the program closely for 25 years and, to my recollection, no coach in that time has placed as much importance on recognizing the historical accomplishments of the football program and trying to connect with former players. Perhaps Mason, Wacker and Gutey all maintained personal relationships with Warmath, Bell, Dungy, et al., but I don’t recall hearing about it. There is a proud history to this program. Yes, unfortunately, most of it is ancient history, but it is still our history and I am pleased to celebrate it. I have learned a lot about the program during the last 3 ½-4 years that I didn’t already know and, while the information was always out there somewhere, Brewster’s enthusiasm for that history provided me the motivation to seek it out. I’ll always respect and appreciate that.

[I am not suggesting that this be a hiring requirement for the next coach, nor do I believe that knowledge of the program’s history ensures or even indicates a likelihood success on the field. Indeed, some of the former players I have spoken to share the same, ahem, "skepticism" about the direction of the program that many have expressed in this forum. But the appreciation for the past successes of the football program is something that I hope the next coach and the athletic department try to maintain in some manner. Inclusion of the Hall of Fame at TCF seems like a step in that direction.]

(Thunderous Applause)