BleedGopher
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A long article from Marcus:
http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_15926571?nclick_check=1
Entering Tim Brewster's fourth season, Gophers athletics director Joel Maturi still won't judge his football coach on wins and losses.
"I've never seen anyone have us higher than 10th in the conference, and most thought of us as 11th," Maturi said. "Who knows what that will mean in wins and losses in the end? I think we're poised to surprise some people. Obviously, that's our goal. But it's in the eyes of the beholder. It's how you win and how you lose. The competitiveness of the wins and the losses all determine what's impressive and what's not."
# Entering Year 1, it was about Brewster recruiting more talent, attracting more fans and generating more support for a new campus stadium.
# Entering Year 2, it was about Brewster's players believing they could win coming off a program-worst 1-11 season.
# Entering Year 3, it was about Brewster's team facing adversity better after five straight losses ruined a 7-1 start in 2008.
Now, Brewster is at a crossroads as his team prepares for Thursday night's season opener at Middle Tennessee State. After finishing 6-7 with a second straight midlevel bowl game loss last season, the Gophers put him in a higher risk-reward situation.
They gave him a contract extension, adding two years and incentives to Brewster's original five-year deal, to extend him to 2013 and make recruits more comfortable about his future. But, Maturi said, "obviously we protected ourselves" by rewriting the buyout.
Instead of having to pay Brewster the entire remaining base salary on his contract if he is fired, the university will have to pay only $200,000 per remaining year, half his base.
"It gives you some wiggle room to make a decision on a guy," Big Ten Network analyst and former Northwestern player Chris Martin said. "I think it does speak to the fact, let's be obvious, that they've got their eye on him. He's got to step up to the plate. The reason they did that is to say we're not happy with just getting to a bowl. We want to get this thing to the next level. They don't just want a .350 hitter at the plate. They want a guy who is going to knock the ball out of the park."
Sure, Brewster could give himself instant credibility with a home run win this season over Southern Cal or Ohio State in Minnesota's second year at TCF Bank Stadium. Winning a trophy game against Wisconsin, Iowa or Penn State also would help his cause. Brewster, who in three years has a 14-24 record, 6-18 in the Big Ten, has never beaten a rival (0-9) or a ranked opponent (0-8).
"Obviously, when you beat an elite team, it's an indication that your program is competitive, that your program has the ability to compete at the highest level," Maturi said.
Maturi said, as always, he'll evaluate his head coach this year on how his players respond to him on and off the field (especially after a slew of legal incidents last season) and how his staff responds to him (especially after so much turnover). And, most important, for the second straight year, how his team handles adversity.
Maturi was as disappointed as anyone when he walked into the locker room after Minnesota's 14-13 Insight Bowl loss to Iowa State last year. Three years earlier, he decided to fire Glen Mason after a 44-41 overtime loss to Texas Tech. But he had a different feeling about Brewster's team.
"It was a good feeling for the AD to be in the locker room and know how much the kids cared," Maturi said. "If they didn't care, that would have been a concerning sign for me. It's a sign that they bought in. It's also a sign that they believed, and put their heart and soul into the game. They felt tremendously bad that they weren't successful. That's the way it's supposed to be. That was an instance, in a difficult time, that was a good sign for me."
And there could be even more adversity this season.
Outside expectations are low for Brewster's team this year because he returns the Big Ten's worst offense and another new coordinator, with a talented but young defense that could feature 11 new starters, and with a schedule that ranks as the toughest in the Big Ten and the fifth-hardest in the nation, according to Phil Steele's College Football Preview magazine and website.
"How exactly improving our team vs. the type of schedule we have equates to number of wins, I don't know," Brewster said. "But I do know this. We will continue to be an improved football team. I think, without question, we'll be a better football team than we were last year. And that's what programs need to do."
BEST STAFF, SYSTEM
Brewster has replaced eight people since assembling his original staff at Minnesota. He is on his second offensive line coach, second director of football operations, third wide receivers coach, third offensive coordinator and third defensive coordinator. But Big Ten Network analyst and former Indiana coach Gerry DiNardo said he has seen that type of turnover before with a first-time head coach who eventually had great success.
DiNardo said he witnessed 12 staff member changes in the first three seasons when he was an assistant to Colorado coach Bill McCartney in the 1980s. McCartney eventually won a national title, in his ninth season, in 1990.
Like Brewster, McCartney was a rookie coach who needed time to figure out his staff and philosophy. DiNardo said Brewster has his best staff yet, especially with veterans Kevin Cosgrove (defense) and Jeff Horton (offense) as his coordinators.
"It's just something you have to anticipate because you don't know how your staff is going to mesh," DiNardo said. "You don't know how the coordinators are going to respond to the head coach's leadership. This isn't that unusual. It's the same thing with the change in systems. What made it really unique in Minnesota's case is that Tim wasn't an offensive or defensive coordinator, so he didn't necessarily bring a system with him."
For the first time in his tenure, Brewster welcomes back the same defensive coordinator for a second straight season, after losing Everett Withers and then Ted Roof before hiring Cosgrove last season.
The defense was more complex at first under Withers, a former NFL assistant. But the attacking style that struggled under Withers made a turnaround under Roof with simpler schemes. Cosgrove had a more conservative approach, but he also kept things simple to allow players to do less thinking and more reacting on the field.
The offense also went through an evolution, starting with a wide-open spread attack under veteran Mike Dunbar for two years. Then came a mix of the spread and pro style under then-32-year-old Jedd Fisch last season, but that offense was even less effective, partly because Fisch had no experience as a coordinator.
Simple is also what the offense is trying to be now, with a run-oriented, pro-style system under former Wisconsin and Detroit Lions quarterbacks coach Horton, who joined the Gophers after Fisch left to be the Seattle Seahawks' quarterbacks coach.
"I think (the offense) reflects his personality and what I think he believes needs to be done at Minnesota," Maturi said about Brewster.
Well, sort of. Brewster's personality has appeared different from when he was hired three years ago. He's more often calm and reserved. He's not constantly in your face with his lofty expectations.
Brewster arrived with an over-the-top, high-energy bravado and an offense to match that was supposed to excite the fan base and bring in top recruits at every position.
Maturi said his coach has grown, because his overall plan now is simpler.
"Quite frankly, I agree with it," Maturi said. "I think you need to run the ball at Minnesota. I think you need to play solid defense in the Big Ten. I think that's his mind-set. I think he's recruited to that mind-set. I think that's the direction we're headed."
BEST TALENT
Brewster had a chance to make a big statement this year, to validate his reputation as a super recruiter from his days as a Texas assistant, if he could have landed the nation's top recruit, Cretin Derham-Hall offensive tackle Seantrel Henderson.
It didn't happen.
In fact, his staff broke a minor NCAA rule in the recruitment process, the second time in as many tries that Brewster has struck out with an elite local player. First was former Cretin Derham-Hall and current Notre Dame receiver Michael Floyd.
But Brewster has done better than Mason in landing a majority of the state's top high school players. He's also done a better job recruiting nationally, especially on defense.
And now those players are in significant roles.
Nine defensive starters are gone, and there could be an entirely new starting defense this season. Senior safeties Kim Royston (leg) and Kyle Theret (suspension) would be the only returning starters, but they're iffy for Middle Tennessee State.
The Gophers had five defensive starters last year who were rated at fewer than three stars by Rivals.com or Scout.com out of high school. But all of Minnesota's defensive starters this season likely will have been at least three-star recruits, including three former four-star players.
"He's done really well in-state (overall), and the high school coaches seem to really like him," CBS College Sports recruiting expert Tom Lemming said. "The same thing happened at Wisconsin and Iowa; their recruiting was good, not great, until they got to the top. It takes awhile to build up, but what you do is do good evaluating, picking guys and just good recruiting like Brewster. He's an incisive recruiter to the point he's probably not sleeping."
Senior cornerback Ryan Collado likely will be the only starter on Minnesota's defense for the opener who wasn't recruited by Brewster and his staff. Brewster is expected to start two freshmen (safety James Manuel and defensive end Ra'Shede Hageman) and four sophomores.
So that lack of experience calls for patience.
"It's a lot easier when you have good talent to mold," Cosgrove said. "We're very fortunate that way. But we just have to keep on coming. It's still a work in progress."
On offense, five of Brewster's probable starters for the opener were recruited by Mason, including senior quarterback Adam Weber and junior tailback Duane Bennett. Those players could be a better match to Horton's offense.
Another key factor is the impact of former four-star quarterback and All-American MarQueis Gray, now a sophomore. He's the best offensive recruit Brewster has brought to Minnesota. Gray is Weber's backup for now, but he is expected to have a larger role in the offense than last year, even if it's at receiver.
"When you look at your team and who your explosive players are, MarQueis is definitely one of them," Horton said. "It's up to us to figure out a way to get him on the field enough in different ways where it's fair to him and helps us win."
BEST SEASON? NOT LIKELY
Even though Brewster says this is his best team, the record likely won't indicate that. This could be the program's toughest schedule in almost two decades.
Of course, the schedule seemed brutal entering last season, too, and turned out to be mediocre at best. This time, though, the schedule has a better chance to match the hype.
Based on preseason rankings, Minnesota could end up playing five ranked opponents. That hasn't happened since coach John Gutekunst played six ranked teams and went 2-9 in his last season of 1991. Before that, Joe Salem played five ranked teams in his last season, going 1-11 in 1983.
The Gophers play at Wisconsin this year, but four of the games against other currently ranked opponents (Southern Cal, Ohio State, Penn State and Iowa) will be at TCF Bank Stadium. If those teams are all still ranked when they play here, it will be the first time the program hosted four ranked teams.
"I know it sounds good for the fans to see all of these great teams, but I would take my (easier) games at home when I'm building a program," DiNardo said. "When you're challenging for the championship, then this is a nice schedule. I don't think that's where Minnesota is right now."
Although the Gophers are expected to fall off this year, Brewster had rebuilt the program to the middle of the Big Ten and midlevel bowls the previous two years — the same place it was in Mason's last few years.
So when does the program take the next step?
"Our goals haven't changed," Brewster said. "Our goal is to win a Big Ten championship. We're going to win a Big Ten championship. I truly believe that. When exactly is that going to happen? It's when our players are ready to go do that."
Former Gophers All-American and influential booster Bob McNamara said progress is being made. He expects the offense to improve, even without former All-Big Ten receiver Eric Decker, now with the Denver Broncos.
McNamara predicts another bowl season for Brewster. But if that doesn't happen, and the Gophers really struggle, McNamara said, changing coaches isn't the answer.
McNamara said Brewster's staff, system and recruiting point toward the program making a jump sooner rather than later. But it's possible next year's schedule could be tough, as well, especially if Nebraska ends up in the Gophers' division as the Big Ten expands to 12 teams.
"You've got to give the guy a chance," McNamara said. "I know darn well he's done a good job recruiting — better kids and better athletes. But unfortunately, it takes time. Everyone wants instant success. But that's not going to happen."
Go Gophers!!
http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_15926571?nclick_check=1
Entering Tim Brewster's fourth season, Gophers athletics director Joel Maturi still won't judge his football coach on wins and losses.
"I've never seen anyone have us higher than 10th in the conference, and most thought of us as 11th," Maturi said. "Who knows what that will mean in wins and losses in the end? I think we're poised to surprise some people. Obviously, that's our goal. But it's in the eyes of the beholder. It's how you win and how you lose. The competitiveness of the wins and the losses all determine what's impressive and what's not."
# Entering Year 1, it was about Brewster recruiting more talent, attracting more fans and generating more support for a new campus stadium.
# Entering Year 2, it was about Brewster's players believing they could win coming off a program-worst 1-11 season.
# Entering Year 3, it was about Brewster's team facing adversity better after five straight losses ruined a 7-1 start in 2008.
Now, Brewster is at a crossroads as his team prepares for Thursday night's season opener at Middle Tennessee State. After finishing 6-7 with a second straight midlevel bowl game loss last season, the Gophers put him in a higher risk-reward situation.
They gave him a contract extension, adding two years and incentives to Brewster's original five-year deal, to extend him to 2013 and make recruits more comfortable about his future. But, Maturi said, "obviously we protected ourselves" by rewriting the buyout.
Instead of having to pay Brewster the entire remaining base salary on his contract if he is fired, the university will have to pay only $200,000 per remaining year, half his base.
"It gives you some wiggle room to make a decision on a guy," Big Ten Network analyst and former Northwestern player Chris Martin said. "I think it does speak to the fact, let's be obvious, that they've got their eye on him. He's got to step up to the plate. The reason they did that is to say we're not happy with just getting to a bowl. We want to get this thing to the next level. They don't just want a .350 hitter at the plate. They want a guy who is going to knock the ball out of the park."
Sure, Brewster could give himself instant credibility with a home run win this season over Southern Cal or Ohio State in Minnesota's second year at TCF Bank Stadium. Winning a trophy game against Wisconsin, Iowa or Penn State also would help his cause. Brewster, who in three years has a 14-24 record, 6-18 in the Big Ten, has never beaten a rival (0-9) or a ranked opponent (0-8).
"Obviously, when you beat an elite team, it's an indication that your program is competitive, that your program has the ability to compete at the highest level," Maturi said.
Maturi said, as always, he'll evaluate his head coach this year on how his players respond to him on and off the field (especially after a slew of legal incidents last season) and how his staff responds to him (especially after so much turnover). And, most important, for the second straight year, how his team handles adversity.
Maturi was as disappointed as anyone when he walked into the locker room after Minnesota's 14-13 Insight Bowl loss to Iowa State last year. Three years earlier, he decided to fire Glen Mason after a 44-41 overtime loss to Texas Tech. But he had a different feeling about Brewster's team.
"It was a good feeling for the AD to be in the locker room and know how much the kids cared," Maturi said. "If they didn't care, that would have been a concerning sign for me. It's a sign that they bought in. It's also a sign that they believed, and put their heart and soul into the game. They felt tremendously bad that they weren't successful. That's the way it's supposed to be. That was an instance, in a difficult time, that was a good sign for me."
And there could be even more adversity this season.
Outside expectations are low for Brewster's team this year because he returns the Big Ten's worst offense and another new coordinator, with a talented but young defense that could feature 11 new starters, and with a schedule that ranks as the toughest in the Big Ten and the fifth-hardest in the nation, according to Phil Steele's College Football Preview magazine and website.
"How exactly improving our team vs. the type of schedule we have equates to number of wins, I don't know," Brewster said. "But I do know this. We will continue to be an improved football team. I think, without question, we'll be a better football team than we were last year. And that's what programs need to do."
BEST STAFF, SYSTEM
Brewster has replaced eight people since assembling his original staff at Minnesota. He is on his second offensive line coach, second director of football operations, third wide receivers coach, third offensive coordinator and third defensive coordinator. But Big Ten Network analyst and former Indiana coach Gerry DiNardo said he has seen that type of turnover before with a first-time head coach who eventually had great success.
DiNardo said he witnessed 12 staff member changes in the first three seasons when he was an assistant to Colorado coach Bill McCartney in the 1980s. McCartney eventually won a national title, in his ninth season, in 1990.
Like Brewster, McCartney was a rookie coach who needed time to figure out his staff and philosophy. DiNardo said Brewster has his best staff yet, especially with veterans Kevin Cosgrove (defense) and Jeff Horton (offense) as his coordinators.
"It's just something you have to anticipate because you don't know how your staff is going to mesh," DiNardo said. "You don't know how the coordinators are going to respond to the head coach's leadership. This isn't that unusual. It's the same thing with the change in systems. What made it really unique in Minnesota's case is that Tim wasn't an offensive or defensive coordinator, so he didn't necessarily bring a system with him."
For the first time in his tenure, Brewster welcomes back the same defensive coordinator for a second straight season, after losing Everett Withers and then Ted Roof before hiring Cosgrove last season.
The defense was more complex at first under Withers, a former NFL assistant. But the attacking style that struggled under Withers made a turnaround under Roof with simpler schemes. Cosgrove had a more conservative approach, but he also kept things simple to allow players to do less thinking and more reacting on the field.
The offense also went through an evolution, starting with a wide-open spread attack under veteran Mike Dunbar for two years. Then came a mix of the spread and pro style under then-32-year-old Jedd Fisch last season, but that offense was even less effective, partly because Fisch had no experience as a coordinator.
Simple is also what the offense is trying to be now, with a run-oriented, pro-style system under former Wisconsin and Detroit Lions quarterbacks coach Horton, who joined the Gophers after Fisch left to be the Seattle Seahawks' quarterbacks coach.
"I think (the offense) reflects his personality and what I think he believes needs to be done at Minnesota," Maturi said about Brewster.
Well, sort of. Brewster's personality has appeared different from when he was hired three years ago. He's more often calm and reserved. He's not constantly in your face with his lofty expectations.
Brewster arrived with an over-the-top, high-energy bravado and an offense to match that was supposed to excite the fan base and bring in top recruits at every position.
Maturi said his coach has grown, because his overall plan now is simpler.
"Quite frankly, I agree with it," Maturi said. "I think you need to run the ball at Minnesota. I think you need to play solid defense in the Big Ten. I think that's his mind-set. I think he's recruited to that mind-set. I think that's the direction we're headed."
BEST TALENT
Brewster had a chance to make a big statement this year, to validate his reputation as a super recruiter from his days as a Texas assistant, if he could have landed the nation's top recruit, Cretin Derham-Hall offensive tackle Seantrel Henderson.
It didn't happen.
In fact, his staff broke a minor NCAA rule in the recruitment process, the second time in as many tries that Brewster has struck out with an elite local player. First was former Cretin Derham-Hall and current Notre Dame receiver Michael Floyd.
But Brewster has done better than Mason in landing a majority of the state's top high school players. He's also done a better job recruiting nationally, especially on defense.
And now those players are in significant roles.
Nine defensive starters are gone, and there could be an entirely new starting defense this season. Senior safeties Kim Royston (leg) and Kyle Theret (suspension) would be the only returning starters, but they're iffy for Middle Tennessee State.
The Gophers had five defensive starters last year who were rated at fewer than three stars by Rivals.com or Scout.com out of high school. But all of Minnesota's defensive starters this season likely will have been at least three-star recruits, including three former four-star players.
"He's done really well in-state (overall), and the high school coaches seem to really like him," CBS College Sports recruiting expert Tom Lemming said. "The same thing happened at Wisconsin and Iowa; their recruiting was good, not great, until they got to the top. It takes awhile to build up, but what you do is do good evaluating, picking guys and just good recruiting like Brewster. He's an incisive recruiter to the point he's probably not sleeping."
Senior cornerback Ryan Collado likely will be the only starter on Minnesota's defense for the opener who wasn't recruited by Brewster and his staff. Brewster is expected to start two freshmen (safety James Manuel and defensive end Ra'Shede Hageman) and four sophomores.
So that lack of experience calls for patience.
"It's a lot easier when you have good talent to mold," Cosgrove said. "We're very fortunate that way. But we just have to keep on coming. It's still a work in progress."
On offense, five of Brewster's probable starters for the opener were recruited by Mason, including senior quarterback Adam Weber and junior tailback Duane Bennett. Those players could be a better match to Horton's offense.
Another key factor is the impact of former four-star quarterback and All-American MarQueis Gray, now a sophomore. He's the best offensive recruit Brewster has brought to Minnesota. Gray is Weber's backup for now, but he is expected to have a larger role in the offense than last year, even if it's at receiver.
"When you look at your team and who your explosive players are, MarQueis is definitely one of them," Horton said. "It's up to us to figure out a way to get him on the field enough in different ways where it's fair to him and helps us win."
BEST SEASON? NOT LIKELY
Even though Brewster says this is his best team, the record likely won't indicate that. This could be the program's toughest schedule in almost two decades.
Of course, the schedule seemed brutal entering last season, too, and turned out to be mediocre at best. This time, though, the schedule has a better chance to match the hype.
Based on preseason rankings, Minnesota could end up playing five ranked opponents. That hasn't happened since coach John Gutekunst played six ranked teams and went 2-9 in his last season of 1991. Before that, Joe Salem played five ranked teams in his last season, going 1-11 in 1983.
The Gophers play at Wisconsin this year, but four of the games against other currently ranked opponents (Southern Cal, Ohio State, Penn State and Iowa) will be at TCF Bank Stadium. If those teams are all still ranked when they play here, it will be the first time the program hosted four ranked teams.
"I know it sounds good for the fans to see all of these great teams, but I would take my (easier) games at home when I'm building a program," DiNardo said. "When you're challenging for the championship, then this is a nice schedule. I don't think that's where Minnesota is right now."
Although the Gophers are expected to fall off this year, Brewster had rebuilt the program to the middle of the Big Ten and midlevel bowls the previous two years — the same place it was in Mason's last few years.
So when does the program take the next step?
"Our goals haven't changed," Brewster said. "Our goal is to win a Big Ten championship. We're going to win a Big Ten championship. I truly believe that. When exactly is that going to happen? It's when our players are ready to go do that."
Former Gophers All-American and influential booster Bob McNamara said progress is being made. He expects the offense to improve, even without former All-Big Ten receiver Eric Decker, now with the Denver Broncos.
McNamara predicts another bowl season for Brewster. But if that doesn't happen, and the Gophers really struggle, McNamara said, changing coaches isn't the answer.
McNamara said Brewster's staff, system and recruiting point toward the program making a jump sooner rather than later. But it's possible next year's schedule could be tough, as well, especially if Nebraska ends up in the Gophers' division as the Big Ten expands to 12 teams.
"You've got to give the guy a chance," McNamara said. "I know darn well he's done a good job recruiting — better kids and better athletes. But unfortunately, it takes time. Everyone wants instant success. But that's not going to happen."
Go Gophers!!
