Frank Beamer's interesting start at VT

[btowngopher]

I found a similar post to this on a Purdue board as they are becoming restless with coach Hope.

Year 1 2-9
Year 2 3-8
Year 3 6-4-1
Year 4 6-5
Year 5 5-6
Year 6 2-8-1

It wasn't until 1993 that he made his first bowl game...and has made one every single year since. I found it pretty interesting to see the patience that was shown with Beamer, might have been easier at VT as they were an independent until 1991. I don't know if this would ever be done nowadays. The win in 3 yrs model seems to be the expectation now. It's not until the 6th year basically that every single person on the team is there because coach chose them to be there. I don't know how you could possibly wait that long though without having some strong evidence that a turnaround will happen. What that evidence would be I have no idea.

 

[HopHead]

Times have definitely changed. With today's culture, I don't think there is any Beamer survives year 6.

 

[beavergopher]

Times have definitely changed. With today's culture, I don't think there is any Beamer survives year 6.

Yup. Too much $ involved and TV exposure. Coaches will get about four years to turn the ship or will be canned.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Yup. Too much $ involved and TV exposure. Coaches will get about four years to turn the ship or will be canned.

The scary part is 4 years isn't even a guarantee anymore. We essentially canned Brew after three years, Turner Gill was canned after 2....the win now mentality is so strong these days that coaches are getting less and less time to get the job done every year. It is why I have cringed when Kill mentiones needing 6-7 years, you just don't get that kind of time these days. It is why I also think Kill needs to show significant strides forward by year 4 or he will be out the door.

It has to make Kill nervous that the new AD is making attendance a big issue because no matter what NT does the only way more fans are going to show up is if the team is winning consistently and things are moving in the right direction in terms of our place in the conference.

 

[dpodoll68]

We essentially canned Brew after three years

Huh?

 

[Breakin' The Plane]

Huh?

The leash got awfully short after they barely beat SDSU and got shutout for the second year in a row against Iowa at the end of year 3. His goose was essentially cooked two games into the 2010 season.

 

[dpodoll68]

The leash got awfully short after they barely beat SDSU and got shutout for the second year in a row against Iowa at the end of year 3. His goose was essentially cooked two games into the 2010 season.

Yes. He was fired because of his performance in the 4th season, not the 3rd. There's no "essentially" about it. Coaches at Minnesota coming off bowl game appearances don't get fired. Had Brewster made it to a bowl game in the 4th season, he would certainly not have been fired.

 

[stevedave23]

It's very interesting to see things like this. Division II coaches often have much longer tenures and many of them do not "turn the corner" until 4+ years.

But as others have said coaches at the top level get 3 years to show significant progress or else. Heck, after less than 1.5 years into the Jerry Kill era Jim Souhan proclaimed we haven't seen any signs that the gophers would be returning to even Mason era success...despite the fact Kill's record at the time the column was written was exactly the same as Mason's at the same point in his tenure.

 

[Breakin' The Plane]

Yes. He was fired because of his performance in the 4th season, not the 3rd. There's no "essentially" about it. Coaches at Minnesota coming off bowl game appearances don't get fired. Had Brewster made it to a bowl game in the 4th season, he would certainly not have been fired.

Mason got fired coming off a bowl game season.

 

[mnsports1]

The scary part is 4 years isn't even a guarantee anymore. We essentially canned Brew after three years, Turner Gill was canned after 2....the win now mentality is so strong these days that coaches are getting less and less time to get the job done every year. It is why I have cringed when Kill mentiones needing 6-7 years, you just don't get that kind of time these days. It is why I also think Kill needs to show significant strides forward by year 4 or he will be out the door.

It has to make Kill nervous that the new AD is making attendance a big issue because no matter what NT does the only way more fans are going to show up is if the team is winning consistently and things are moving in the right direction in terms of our place in the conference.

Yeah, right! This is a joke right?

 

[mnsports1]

It's very interesting to see things like this. Division II coaches often have much longer tenures and many of them do not "turn the corner" until 4+ years.But as others have said coaches at the top level get 3 years to show significant progress or else. Heck, after less than 1.5 years into the Jerry Kill era Jim Souhan proclaimed we haven't seen any signs that the gophers would be returning to even Mason era success...despite the fact Kill's record at the time the column was written was exactly the same as Mason's at the same point in his tenure.

Amen!

 

[dpodoll68]

Mason got fired coming off a bowl game season.

Touché.

 

[mnsports1]

Yes. He was fired because of his performance in the 4th season, not the 3rd. There's no "essentially" about it. Coaches at Minnesota coming off bowl game appearances don't get fired. Had Brewster made it to a bowl game in the 4th season, he would certainly not have been fired.

This.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Yes. He was fired because of his performance in the 4th season, not the 3rd. There's no "essentially" about it. Coaches at Minnesota coming off bowl game appearances don't get fired. Had Brewster made it to a bowl game in the 4th season, he would certainly not have been fired.

As someone else pointed out Mason was fired after a bowl game. As for Brew he knew he was fired long before the Purdue game, hell there were newspaper stories about how he was going to be fired before we even played that game. The decision to get rid of him was made long before the team was even eliminated from the possibility of getting to a bowl that year it was just a matter of when Maturi would actually pull the trigger.

My point was he wasn't even given 4 full years. He got 3 full seasons and a couple of games in his 4th.

 

[Monty519]

Mason got fired coming off a bowl game season.

Haha, I was thinking the same thing. But yeah, I do agree if Brew had been on bowl game pace in Year 4, he's not fired. He was fired cause people didn't like him, and the team looked like it was going in the toilet.

 

[dpodoll68]

My point was he wasn't even given 4 full years. He got 3 full seasons and a couple of games in his 4th.

Yes. Not "essentially 3 seasons". He was fired because he had multiple bad losses in the 4th season, not the 3rd.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Yes. Not "essentially 3 seasons". He was fired because he had multiple bad losses in the 4th season, not the 3rd.

The wheels had started in motion to get rid of him during year three. Guess I should have said he was given 3.25 years, maybe that would have flown better than "essentially". I know some will say he was given 3.5 years since he was fired after game 6 but anyone who was paying any attention at all that years knows the decision was made well before the purdue game. I guess if we want to quibble more about exact wording it might have been closer to 3.33 or 3.35 years.

My point was he was give 3 FULL years to get the job done. He was then fired part way into year 4. In MY opinion a coach should get a minimum of 4 FULL years to prove they can get the job done however my point was that it is not the case in a lot of places anymore and we are one of those schools that has gotten rid of a coach prior to him getting 4 FULL years.

 

[gophmeister]

The Brewster tale is far more complex than just he got fired because of this loss or that season. He wasn't well liked, there were high profile player issues and he couldn't keep a staff together. He did a lot of stupid things and treated people like crap and no one liked him and he got fired.

 

[koppco1]

People are often fired because they aren't well liked rather than just because they are incompetent. This is true in college football and the business world. Many of us can point to coworkers who are basically incompetent but are well liked by the boss. These people don't get fired (or it takes longer before they are eventually fired). Brew just happened to be both incompetent and disliked so his time was up relatively quickly.

 

[corcoran1]

The Brewster tale is far more complex than just he got fired because of this loss or that season. He wasn't well liked, there were high profile player issues and he couldn't keep a staff together. He did a lot of stupid things and treated people like crap and no one liked him and he got fired.

This is exactly right. Once they found out what a clown he really was, and that he was so inept he could not possibly turn the program around it was a no brainer. Year four was only allowed to happen to prove to people outside the school that he was clueless, including potential new coaches who would not be happy being completely judged in three years
My take is that Kill has a lot longer than three years, at least six given his contract and Kaler's desire to see stability and progress, and the quality of program in our division.

 

[pharmacygopher]

Yes. Not "essentially 3 seasons". He was fired because he had multiple bad losses in the 4th season, not the 3rd.

I think he was fired because he had multiple bad losses in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th season...

 

[MNVCGUY]

This is exactly right. Once they found out what a clown he really was, and that he was so inept he could not possibly turn the program around it was a no brainer. Year four was only allowed to happen to prove to people outside the school that he was clueless, including potential new coaches who would not be happy being completely judged in three years
My take is that Kill has a lot longer than three years, at least six given his contract and Kaler's desire to see stability and progress, and the quality of program in our division.

If after 4 years we are still just a 2 win Big Ten team and the fans are not coming to the games you will see the New AD and the New President hand pick "their guy" to come in and run the program. I honestly believe Kill will get 4 full seasons to prove he is moving things in the right direction but if tangible results are not there by the end of year 4 in terms of a program that is at least flirting with a .500 record in the conference we will have a new coach. These guys didn't hire Kill, don't underestimate how important that fact is to the people in charge of the department.

 

[dpodoll68]

I think he was fired because he had multiple bad losses in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th season...

His only loss as a favorite in 2009 was to Illinois, which was nonetheless still a Big Ten game. There were other factors, but losing to USD in his 4th (not 3rd) season was the tipping point.

 

[Killjoy]

This is exactly right. Once they found out what a clown he really was, and that he was so inept he could not possibly turn the program around it was a no brainer. Year four was only allowed to happen to prove to people outside the school that he was clueless, including potential new coaches who would not be happy being completely judged in three years
My take is that Kill has a lot longer than three years, at least six given his contract and Kaler's desire to see stability and progress, and the quality of program in our division.

+1 It amazes me that we are still having this conversation though. Brewster and Kill are at polar opposites. Brewster had no experience and was here on an internship hoping to learn how to become a head coach while Kill is a experienced and successful head coach with a seasoned intact coaching staff. They are now in their second year of implementing a well thought out program/process to change the football culture here as they have done elsewhere. What is surprising is that there is still some here who don't seem to understand this. That shouldn't be too surprising since these same people are upset that the players haven't gotten older fast enough. To these people I have one word of advice: PATIENCE!