Positives for 2010

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maxwellsmart

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I've spent a fair amount of time this evening commiserating with my son and posting complaints on this board. I won't leave '09 behind and embrace 2010 in this state of mind. So, the positives I see for the upcoming season. Of course, this is not an attempt to cover every valid point, so if any of you feel the need to look on the hopeful side, here is an opportunity.

First, I'm looking forward to a decent recruiting class coming on board in a little more than a month. Then comes spring and a chance to see if there has been a shift in philosophy regarding QB and some other things I'm concerned with. Personally, I think that by the overall level of play in tonight's bowl game that we're starting to see the difference between young players and mature ones. Did anyone else feel like the RBs were less content to hit a pile and get knocked down, that they both, especially Eskridge, were more creative and patient trying to find open space?

Gray has star potential and we saw a flash of it tonight. He also has AP's problem, but we can't know for sure until he gets regular time on the field. The WR corp is developing into something special. The OL has pass blocked very well a good share of the time and tonight gave our passers as much time as any I've seen in the bowl games. Love the defense in many ways.

Next season? More experience, maturity, developed talent. My hope is that by this time next year I'll finally have complete trust in the coaching staff. Hmmm . . . not too articulate, but as positive as I can master right now. Happy New Year!
 

The staff is what it is. Two guys in way over their heads at head coach and offensive coordinator and a grizzled old vet at defensive coordinator. Not pretty. This team has little to build on going into 2010 compared to our competition.
 

There is athleticism on the field. Winning breeds winning and losing breeds attitude. Brewster has the Wacker enthusiasm, his offensive coordinator tried this year to put a square peg into a round hole. The defense was the highlight of the team, which has its positives, but they lose their best linebackers this year. A lot of the players will fall tired of the coaches "positive" without the results. Losing to Iowa State does not help the cause.
 

Unfortunately, we don't have much data to indicate there will be many positives in 2010. The defense graduates several stars, and the offense is so putrid that even substantial improvement would raise it to merely bad.

Now that the season is over, I look back and remember a thought I had WAY back in September right before the game w/ Syracuse. I remember being excited for football season, but then sitting back to try and quantify what I expected from the Gophers. I recall being fairly distressed that I wasn't at all sure that they were any better than in 2008. The Syracuse game that day, and the season in general, bore out that feeling of unease.

Unfortunately, I don't even have to wait until Sep '10 to go through the same analysis. I simply can not understand what quantifiable positives people have seen in the past 4 or 5 games that would lead them to believe next year will be better. The defense is improved, but we lose our strongest players. Many posters here insist the offense will improve. Well, they've been insisting that all season and the offense ended the season worse than it started it! Many folks were convinced that with 15 extra practices the Gophs offense would roll all over ISU. I just didn't see it. And I remain unconvinced I'll see it next year.
 

Da'Jon McKnight - 7 catches for 124...hopefully he can continue this next year.

Cooper, Carter, and Tinsley - They all need to have breakout seasons for our defense to be competitive.
 


Well, if you can't see positives then you can't see them. Sorry, but I disagree and think there are plenty of them. Coaching? You know what, it occurs to me that as a kid I hardly knew coaches existed and yet seemed to get along just fine with football. I'm thinking paying attention to players and ignoring coaches might be a healthy thing in 2010. Again, Happy New Year to all of you.
 

Max, I agree I think they are building a program the right way, I just hope that Brews. love of Weber doesn't take it down. The coaches put the players in the right positions to win tonite, but due to 5, for sure, miss throws we did not score, otherwise we win big and everybody is on the bandwagon.
 

There's one big positive going into next year:

The most talented player on the field last night (and it wasn't close) was a true freshman of ours.
 

It's difficult building a program. You really can't beat teams consistently until your consistently better than them. Otherwise it's just luck. Next year we're better, but are we better than the teams we hope to beat that we haven't been able to. I think the answer is still no. And if your thought processes stop there it can be difficult to be a gopher fan. However if you allow yourself to see into the future and see the trendlines in talent and play, you'll be able to see that overall we are actually a better program this year than last, and the year before that. If we continue to improve we will eventually be better than the teams we hope to beat.

To maintain sanity you have to remain focused on the question of improvement. focus on inputs rather than outputs. The lag of input to output in college football is a three to four year process. It can be a rather frustrating wait. Which is why you can't ride the roller coaster of wins and losses along the way. You're bound to end up puking.
 



Close ...

One of the co=Def coordinators is quite young and being groomed for the full load.

The OC in this case I think was trying to put to big of a round peg into too small of a hole that most of the time could have accepted a smaller round peg.

The biggest single mistake this year - relying too much on Weber.

nukedwedges said:
There is athleticism on the field. Winning breeds winning and losing breeds attitude. Brewster has the Wacker enthusiasm, his offensive coordinator tried this year to put a square peg into a round hole. The defense was the highlight of the team, which has its positives, but they lose their best linebackers this year. A lot of the players will fall tired of the coaches "positive" without the results. Losing to Iowa State does not help the cause.
Click to expand...
 

Schnoodler's take on building programs generally reflects my own. I'm interested in lasting improvement across the board and a football program to be proud of, not just a trip to the Rose Bowl as fast as we can get there. IMO that's for undisciplined fans who value Saturday football for what it might provide in the way of an emotional high and feelings of superiority. Where's Colorado these days, or Kansas State or SMU or, well you know, the list extends quite a ways. What is the value of one or two great seasons, a trip to the Rose Bowl, followed by the ignominy which has beset Illinois' program? Right now we're part way through the Brewster experiment. It's not pretty, but neither is it so homely it can't be tolerated. Improvement as a trend and potential are there if you look and are willing to see them. I'm not a "Brewster supporter", I'm a Gopher fan and am not about to throw this team and program into a dumper because we didn't have a winning season. We still have an improved team over last year and the depth to continue that trend into the future. If we don't, then there is plenty of time to go coach shopping.
 


Next year (and really every year) you have to look at how the team played not on wins and losses. It is possible to play better but play teams that are also playing better, that could still end up as a loss. So, next year:

1. Do we see better play at QB? more accuracy, more TDs, less sacks?
2. Is there improvement in the OL? less sacks given up, actual holes opened up in the run game.
3. Can the WRs get open and make a catch when they are open?
4. Do RBs hit the hole with speed and break tackles?
5. Can we get a pass rush from our DEs?
6. Can our DBs get off of blocks on "bubble screens" and make tackles?

I want to see improvement in those areas rather than be concerned about number of wins.
 



STPGopher said:
Who?
Click to expand...

Well it's either Gray or Allen, considering we're talking about Studwell I'm thinking Allen. Although I really liked what I saw out of Gray myself outside of the devestating game losing fumble.
 

forestlaker said:
Next year (and really every year) you have to look at how the team played not on wins and losses. It is possible to play better but play teams that are also playing better, that could still end up as a loss. So, next year:

1. Do we see better play at QB? more accuracy, more TDs, less sacks?
2. Is there improvement in the OL? less sacks given up, actual holes opened up in the run game.
3. Can the WRs get open and make a catch when they are open?
4. Do RBs hit the hole with speed and break tackles?
5. Can we get a pass rush from our DEs?
6. Can our DBs get off of blocks on "bubble screens" and make tackles?

I want to see improvement in those areas rather than be concerned about number of wins.
Click to expand...

The sacks killed us. For this reason alone, I think if there's anyway Gray is ready to take over, and can show enough to allow the coaches to make the decision he becomes the starter next year.
 

And here I thought it was obvious. Shows what I know.

Mr. Gray....in a landslide.

He's the purest talent we've had since Larry.
 

He is crazy talented. Hopefully he's ready for the reigns.
 

Fact is, Brewster is currently at the point of "make or break" time. Assuming no extension (or one with a clause), he has next year to prove him self or move on. If he has any intelligence, that'll force him to put all his weapons out there, including true freshmen.
 

magpie -- In many ways, he had that thought process this year (I have to win or else attitude) ... he decided to go with experience.
 

True freshmen? Weapons or liabilities?? If they were ready they'd be playing. The fact is they don't come in ready and all you do to get them in the game is give up a year of eligibility. It's worth the sacrifice if you have a depth problem. So you might see one or two at the CB position, or maybe of the D line if they are exceptional. If one of our RB's are exceptional in that they can push a pile better they might get in. But if you think Brewster is going to hang his future on a freshman, you'll probably be dissapointed. Or if you think he's going to think he gains an edge this year by playing one and sacrifice the future again you'll be dissapointed. There is no pay off. The move is all risk.
 

Perfect example of how to build a program with patience is wake forest. There was a great article in ESPN the magazine about how they play a max of 3 true freshman per year and redshirt the rest. It has worked pretty darn well for them considering their academic circumstances.

In my opinion, if you constantly recruit good high school players that aren't necessarily blue chippers but buy into and fit your system and preach patience and hard work, your program will succeed. The key though is patience and I think Brew is doing this to some extent. The next few years will tell but it's going to be key to find your identity on offense and defense and recruit to your strengths.
 

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