I was part of an interesting conversation this evening with a person who is close to the Gopher football program. I am only a casual acquaintance of this guy, but my really good friend is a good friend of his, so I was mostly a listener in the conversation between those two. And, please note, my intent isn't to pile on Tim Brewster, but to simply offer this guy's belief on the Brewster era. And, this is only one man's opinion, so take it for what it is worth. I found it fascinating, so that's why chose to post it.
This person who is close to the program made an interesting commentary that: 1) I found interesting and telling; 2) I had never given a thought to (nor have I seen it or heard it anywhere else).
First of all, this guy didn't have a lot of good things to say about Brew. Said it was clear he was in over his head from day one. Lots of sizzle, not much steak. He said the only short-term success that Brewster experienced came in 2008 and was mostly due to Ted Roof. 2008 was Roof's only year at MN. This guy's contention seemed to be that Brewster was utilizing Roof and Roof's experience as a previous head coach. Brew was asking Roof for help in calling a lot of the shots in running the program, practice plans, organizational decisions, game management decisions, etc. It was a good combo and mostly do to Roof's coaching, we got to 7-1 and ranked in the Top 25 that season. Then, this contact said when Brewster chose to go for the win late in the Northwestern game and Weber threw the pick 6 and they lost, that Brewster lost Roof that day and the team didn't win a game the rest of the year. Roof was apparently telling Brewster to not risk a mistake late and play for OT from deep in your own territory. And, Brewster went macho on him and said "we're going to win it here." When they lost, Roof and Brewster had it out and it was never the same. In Roof's mind, Brewster confirmed himself to be an idiot and Roof believed it to be hopeless. It was at this point that Roof emotionally changed and began to immediately look for other jobs for the following season. He was physically in the building and physically at practices and physically at the games, but emotionally, he was checked out. With Roof worn out and fatigued by Brewster, the practices suffered, the game plans weren't the same, and we didn't win another game that season. At that point, Brewster never really got it going again. Roof went off to Auburn and has them No. 1 in the nation. Brewster hired Cosgrove and there was no head coaching experience on the staff again and the team has looked like a poorly coached unit since.
Not sure how much stock to put in it, but this guy is definitely close to the program and seems to have a firm opinion that this is where it went wrong for Brewster - losing Roof's confidence killed him. I had never thought of that before, but the timeline seems to make sense. I always thought the continual changing of offensive philosophies and overhype was Brew's downfall, but this guy was adamant that he thought it was losing Roof's confidence and thus, losing Roof's experience and expertise.
I do specifically remember a couple of occasions where Roof on his own called timeouts from the sidelines that year, which I found interesting. And, I absolutely remember Ted Roof looking skyward and in complete disbelief after that Northwestern game.
This person who is close to the program made an interesting commentary that: 1) I found interesting and telling; 2) I had never given a thought to (nor have I seen it or heard it anywhere else).
First of all, this guy didn't have a lot of good things to say about Brew. Said it was clear he was in over his head from day one. Lots of sizzle, not much steak. He said the only short-term success that Brewster experienced came in 2008 and was mostly due to Ted Roof. 2008 was Roof's only year at MN. This guy's contention seemed to be that Brewster was utilizing Roof and Roof's experience as a previous head coach. Brew was asking Roof for help in calling a lot of the shots in running the program, practice plans, organizational decisions, game management decisions, etc. It was a good combo and mostly do to Roof's coaching, we got to 7-1 and ranked in the Top 25 that season. Then, this contact said when Brewster chose to go for the win late in the Northwestern game and Weber threw the pick 6 and they lost, that Brewster lost Roof that day and the team didn't win a game the rest of the year. Roof was apparently telling Brewster to not risk a mistake late and play for OT from deep in your own territory. And, Brewster went macho on him and said "we're going to win it here." When they lost, Roof and Brewster had it out and it was never the same. In Roof's mind, Brewster confirmed himself to be an idiot and Roof believed it to be hopeless. It was at this point that Roof emotionally changed and began to immediately look for other jobs for the following season. He was physically in the building and physically at practices and physically at the games, but emotionally, he was checked out. With Roof worn out and fatigued by Brewster, the practices suffered, the game plans weren't the same, and we didn't win another game that season. At that point, Brewster never really got it going again. Roof went off to Auburn and has them No. 1 in the nation. Brewster hired Cosgrove and there was no head coaching experience on the staff again and the team has looked like a poorly coached unit since.
Not sure how much stock to put in it, but this guy is definitely close to the program and seems to have a firm opinion that this is where it went wrong for Brewster - losing Roof's confidence killed him. I had never thought of that before, but the timeline seems to make sense. I always thought the continual changing of offensive philosophies and overhype was Brew's downfall, but this guy was adamant that he thought it was losing Roof's confidence and thus, losing Roof's experience and expertise.
I do specifically remember a couple of occasions where Roof on his own called timeouts from the sidelines that year, which I found interesting. And, I absolutely remember Ted Roof looking skyward and in complete disbelief after that Northwestern game.
