Read this and tell me the right coach can't change things here

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AhliBobwa said:
I don't actually think Georgia is going to fire Richt. Not this year. His worst year has been 8-5 and he's gone to 3 BCS bowls. Unless the Dogs completely fall apart he keeps his gig. Plus, I just think Harbaugh either wants to coach at Michigan or stick it to them. But your points are valid. Plus, Stanford didn't jump at the chance to renegotiate Harbaugh last year when he flirted with Kansas, so who says they will do it now?
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Actually Stanford did give him a 3 year contract extension last year through 2014 to make sure they retained him. Harbaugh also had a billionaire Stanford alum spend 50000-70000 to build him a bathroom and shower in his office at Stanford because the other one was to far down the hall. Just an example of the type of booster financial support he can and has gotten at Stanford if he or the school needs it.
 

California is a very different recruiting ground from Minnesota.

I'm not saying it can't be done - get the right guy & the right circumstances and you can win.

Biggest issue, IMO, is an Administration that decides to make a full-out effort to build the program ... that means increasing the football budget to get to "competitive."
 


AhliBobwa said:
They don't disclose but, I did read an analysis from when he was flirting with the Kansas job that made it sound like Harbaugh is making Brewster money currently. Now, as I said, grain of salt thing cause I can't find all the links. One is included just below.

As for why Harbaugh might come here. Two things.

First, he only (I know, only) makes 1 mil a year according to speculation I've read and at least one site called Coaches Hot Seat http://www.coacheshotseat.com/JimHarbaugh.htm

Second, look at the psychology of the guy. This is a guy who took the first head coaching gig offered to him, despite the prospects looking grim, and the fact that other better jobs would have come his way, and then went 29-6 the next 3 years. After that he took the Stanford gig.

While at Stanford he did the following things:

--6 months before he coached a game there he publicly claimed Carroll was leaving USC after the following year. Not only did he say he heard it from Stanford's staff, but he refused to walk away from that statement when Carroll became angry publicly.

--At Pac-Ten media days that same summer, he needled Carroll even further, sarcastically proclaiming that, '"There is no question in my mind that USC is the best team in the country and may be the best team in the history of college football." Harbaugh and the Cardinal went on to beat Carroll that year as 41 point dogs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Harbaugh

--When RichRod was hired at Michigan, Harbaugh was pissed he didn't get the job. He took the opportunity to say publicly, “Michigan is a good school and I got a good education there,” he said, “but the athletic department has ways to get borderline guys in and, when they’re in, they steer them to courses in sports communications. They’re adulated when they’re playing, but when they get out, the people who adulated them won’t hire them.” Remember, guys who played for Bo just don't say that stuff out loud.
http://michiganzone.blogspot.com/2007/05/jim-harbaugh-disses-michigan.html

--Against Pete Carroll last year Harbaugh shamelessly ran up the score, going for 2 after Stanford's 7th (!!) TD to try to get to 50 points. When they got the ball back he made a point of passing downfield and then scoring again to make it 55-21. Afterwards Carroll and Harbaugh had the following exchange.

"What's your deal? What's your deal?" Carroll said, according to two sources near enough to hear.

"What's your deal?" Harbaugh retorted, and that was that. http://articles.sfgate.com/2009-11-...nford-defense-stanford-band-mount-kilimanjaro

--Did I mention during his NFL time he once missed two games when he punched TV analyst Jim Kelly in the face? http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-67853231.html

He randomly quotes Emerson, or Greek philosophers when talking or tweeting about football. This is a smart, highly driven Reckless guy, who has unlimited belief in his own ability, and he has made risky career decisions in the past based on that belief. This guy is also a Michigan guy (he even played for Bo!), who is angry his alma mater didn't interview him for the job. His recklessness is truly impressive--taking the San Diego job, repeatedly going after Carroll before ever playing a game, ripping his alma mater publicly over not giving him a chance, randomly punching former hall of fame QBs in the face.

So here is an overwhelmingly confident guy who knows he can be making more money, a guy who is volatile and vindictive, and just loves picking fights with the biggest kids on the block.

He flirted with Kansas reportedly because they were talking about offering him big money (http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawaka...rbaugh-stays-another-day-tiger-takes-a-break/).

If Minnesota could offer him a big salary (2.5 mil say, more than twice what he makes now), and he took it, he would gain significantly financially, he could have an annual shot to torment the alma mater who made the mistake of angering him, plus he could show the world once again that he could take a struggling program and quickly turn it into a league title contender. Who knows, maybe he'll decide he hates Bret Bielema and make a point of ripping him and the Badgers constantly (who wouldn't love that?)

Harbaugh loves to settle scores with enemies he purposely creates for his own amusement, and was willing to flirt with a program with much less upside than Minnesota (that's another argument, but yes I am saying the Minnesota job is much better than the Kansas job, despite the recent Mangino success. (Remember, Kansas has no shot at a BCS conference if/when the big 12 implodes. They almost got left out in the cold this year.).

Money+Revenge+good Enemies+possible folk hero like prestige=everything Jim Harbaugh has ever wanted. The Big Ten also gets more exposure than the Pac-Ten, and Harbaugh clearly relishes the attention.

So, yeah maybe he wouldn't come here. But if you think there's no chance, I'd suggest you consider the personality and tendencies of Mr. Harbaugh.
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While I believe we won't see Harbaugh coach our Golden Gophers.. I just I just creamed my shorts after reading this.

I agree with some of the others.. Damn you can spin a good web. Now get Mr. Harbaugh in it.
 

AhliBobwa said:
I don't actually think Georgia is going to fire Richt. Not this year. His worst year has been 8-5 and he's gone to 3 BCS bowls. Unless the Dogs completely fall apart he keeps his gig. Plus, I just think Harbaugh either wants to coach at Michigan or stick it to them. But your points are valid. Plus, Stanford didn't jump at the chance to renegotiate Harbaugh last year when he flirted with Kansas, so who says they will do it now?
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If he can't get them to at least 8-4 or 7-5 at worst, I think he's done. They've already lost 3 games and still have to play UF and GT among additional SEC games. It's hard to see them getting 8 wins. And 7 won't be easy.
 


no one will agree with me....

...and i will brace myself for the inevitable abuse you will inflict on me, but let me be the first to say in this thread that while Tim Brewster might not be exactly like Jim Harbaugh, the two have a lot of similarities and more in common than one might think upon first blush. Brewster is a tireless worker. Brewster is a hard nosed guy who grew up with adversity and overcame it. He sets goals and is determined to accomplish them regardless of what anyone else thinks. He is optimistic. He believes in his players, demands a lot from them (despite what it may otherwise look like during games), has the ablility to fire them up and has them believing they can win (even if they rarely do). Despite what many posters believe, Brewster is not just another goofy Jim Wacker.


Brewster is extremely intense and he's passionate about everything football. Unlike Harbaugh, Brew seems to try too hard to be a "nice" guy and probably has a stronger need to be liked. I'm not sure whether it's true of Harbaugh, but Brewster is kind, caring and very compassionate too. (He told me one reason he invited Mangino to the USC game was because Mangino is severely hurting as a human being and he wanted Mangino to know that despite his mistakes, Brewster still cares about him and is not in a position to judge him. Pretty compassionate if you ask me.) Whether that caring and compassion side hurts Brewster or not, I for one have no clue.

All I know about Harbaugh, the man, comes from the article in this thread. But if I had to guess, Harbaugh seems to have the ol' chip-on-the-shoulder/f_ _ k you mentality and maybe that makes all the difference in the world (although Tony Dungy is a clear example of someone who succeeded without that attitude). Suffice it to say, Brewster probably would never say to another coach what Harbaugh said to Carroll, nor would he ever find himself in a situation where another coach would ask him "hey, what's your deal"?

Most of us, including myself, assume Brewster must lack certain fundamental qualities - whether it be the ability to surround himself with the right people, the ability to find, select and/or sign the right players, the ability to bring out the most potential in a player, the ability to accurately see in practice and then fix the flaws and weaknesses of his offense, defense and special teams, the ability to make the right calls during the game or to overrule (when crucial and necessary) the on-field calls of his coordinators.

But, if I may, let me ask you this? Despite the win-loss record to this point and what looks like an obvious step backwards in our program, are we sure we want to fire a man who's more passionate about Gopher Nation than any other head coach I can remember, a man who is more bound and determined to win a Big Ten Championship than anyone I can recall at Minnesota, a man who puts in extraordinary amounts of time and seems to think 24/7 - 365 about how he can put together a Rose Bowl caliber team in Minneapolis/St. Paul? I'll admit to you that this whole Tim Brewster era has me so perplexed and emotional that I've actually been persistent enough to establish a fairly consistent email relationship with Coach Brewster. And let me say that the man has never, ever wavered in his commitment, enthusiasm, determination and vision to get the Golden Gophers to the top. I'm not yet convinced 100% that this bull-dog of a man won't come through for us.

Would love to hear some thoughtful and well-reasoned responses. Go easy on me guys. I love the Gophers just as much as you and, like all of you, would rather be celebrating every fall Saturday for years to come than crying in my beer and kicking my worn out television.
 

Great story.....The coctail mix for success in D1 athletics is to hire the right coach, you must have the right administration, and patience is required to wait for the right time. I suspect this collection of U of M leadership has the patience part figured out. It has been 50 years of futility. Without all the above, we will get the same old results if we simply make a coaching change. Talk to Bob Stein as he has it figured out.
 

BreakTheGopherCurse said:
(He told me one reason he invited Mangino to the USC game was because Mangino is severely hurting as a human being and he wanted Mangino to know that despite his mistakes, Brewster still cares about him and is not in a position to judge him. Pretty compassionate if you ask me.) Whether that caring and compassion side hurts Brewster or not, I for one have no clue.
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If this is true it's very standup, its obvious someone like Mangino does not get to the weight he is at without some mental baggage and his forced departure from Kansas has probably only added to the strain...for Brewster to invite him to the game and keep Mangino engaged in the world of college football deserves major points if true.
 

goldengophers said:
If this is true it's very standup, its obvious someone like Mangino does not get to the weight he is at without some mental baggage and his forced departure from Kansas has probably only added to the strain...for Brewster to invite him to the game and keep Mangino engaged in the world of college football deserves major points if true.
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I'm glad you responded to my post in the way you did. You must be a good man yourself. Whether this information is true or not, I will never know. But I have the email from Brewster himself, to me, in which he very clearly and seemingly sincerely states this. I think Brewster is a good man!
 



He sets goals and is determined to accomplish them regardless of what anyone else thinks.
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He lacks a firm idea of what he wants to do. Moving to the spread was a radical change, but then to abandon the spread dug this team a very deep hole. There were plenty of other spread OCs out there, he could have easily replaced one with another, but his "killer shot" may have killed his time here in Minneapolis.
 

BreakTheGopherCurse~
I've also had some positive interactions with Brew. My wife wanted some additional ideas on gifts for me around Xmas 2 years ago so she e-mailed Brew one morning and asked what would he get the Gopher fan who has everything. He responded within 24 hours and sent her a list (and I loved the gifts from it). It was a small gesture, but a classy one.

I know he’s rubbed a lot of folks the wrong way and I understand why. And I’m certainly not happy with Brew the coach because I’m just not seeing the improvement and I have strong doubts that he could ever do more. But I’ll never question the man’s comittment to the history and tradition of our school. And I’ll never question that he tried his best to win here. That may not mean much to everyone (and I don’t begrudge those folks their feelings), but it means enough to me to make sure that I’ll never “hate” the man, or chant for him to be fired, or boo him.

I’m not saying keep him on. The kind of turnaround they’d need to pull off to make such a thing possible seems much too daunting for that to happen. But there will be a part of me that’s sad that Brew wasn’t able to accomplish what he set out to do.
 

Great thread.

(1) Harbaugh appears to be on his own planet when it comes to intensity. I remember he and Ditka having some great nose-to-nose confrontations when Harbaugh played for him. I seem to remember Harbaugh taunting the Viking bench once as well after a play. Anyway, like I said in an earlier thread, the WWE stuff kind of makes my eyes glaze over, but the guy can obviously coach.

(2) I'd have to go back, but I think it was metrolax who wrote something about consistently higher investment and not depending on blips of energy to bring our program back. That's a big bingo to me. I don't fault Maturi, like some here, for paying attention to the non-revenue sports. Those programs are needed as well. I stopped by the Roy Griak Invitational last Saturday (as I live only six blocks away from the U golf course) and that is one amazing event that somehow isn't promoted at all. D-1, D-2, and D-3 teams from all over the country and high school teams from all over the Midwest. Really impressive.

I think the big problem at Minnesota is that our well-monied boosters get involved, they are usually clumsy about it and we find ourselves getting the ruler applied to our fingers by Sister Mary Elizabeth NCAA. We've had some horrific episodes of misbehavior in our program over the past few decades and I'm sure one of the instructions to Maturi is to watch for that. What we need to do as fans is step up with the $50 and $100 donations and help build up the football program.

(3) Brewster can go overboard (Ya think?), but I've never questioned his sincerity and honest desire to win here. And I do think he's a decent guy and the Mangino invitation is another example of that. This business chews people up and spits them out and for Brewster to bring Mangino up here for an emotional pat on the back really says something about him.

One of the things that I believe has contributed to Brewster's problems is his impatience and wanting to win too badly. The coordinator merry-go-round is part of that in my estimation. Unlike a lot of prospective coaches, I don't think Brewster gave much thought to what kind of coach he wanted to be if he ever got a head coaching job and was a blank slate when he came here. Because Mason wasn't a total wash-out, Brewster likely felt a need to match Mason's record sooner than was feasible if you wanted to turn around the program for the long-term. Hence, playing too many freshmen who should have been red-shirted and throwing schemes and strategies at the wall to see what sticks.

Anyway, great thread. Hope my thoughts measure up to the great stuff that's already been posted.
 

BreakTheGopherCurse said:
...and i will brace myself for the inevitable abuse you will inflict on me, but let me be the first to say in this thread that while Tim Brewster might not be exactly like Jim Harbaugh, the two have a lot of similarities and more in common than one might think upon first blush. Brewster is a tireless worker. Brewster is a hard nosed guy who grew up with adversity and overcame it. He sets goals and is determined to accomplish them regardless of what anyone else thinks. He is optimistic. He believes in his players, demands a lot from them (despite what it may otherwise look like during games), has the ablility to fire them up and has them believing they can win (even if they rarely do). Despite what many posters believe, Brewster is not just another goofy Jim Wacker.


Brewster is extremely intense and he's passionate about everything football. Unlike Harbaugh, Brew seems to try too hard to be a "nice" guy and probably has a stronger need to be liked. I'm not sure whether it's true of Harbaugh, but Brewster is kind, caring and very compassionate too. (He told me one reason he invited Mangino to the USC game was because Mangino is severely hurting as a human being and he wanted Mangino to know that despite his mistakes, Brewster still cares about him and is not in a position to judge him. Pretty compassionate if you ask me.) Whether that caring and compassion side hurts Brewster or not, I for one have no clue.

All I know about Harbaugh, the man, comes from the article in this thread. But if I had to guess, Harbaugh seems to have the ol' chip-on-the-shoulder/f_ _ k you mentality and maybe that makes all the difference in the world (although Tony Dungy is a clear example of someone who succeeded without that attitude). Suffice it to say, Brewster probably would never say to another coach what Harbaugh said to Carroll, nor would he ever find himself in a situation where another coach would ask him "hey, what's your deal"?

Most of us, including myself, assume Brewster must lack certain fundamental qualities - whether it be the ability to surround himself with the right people, the ability to find, select and/or sign the right players, the ability to bring out the most potential in a player, the ability to accurately see in practice and then fix the flaws and weaknesses of his offense, defense and special teams, the ability to make the right calls during the game or to overrule (when crucial and necessary) the on-field calls of his coordinators.

But, if I may, let me ask you this? Despite the win-loss record to this point and what looks like an obvious step backwards in our program, are we sure we want to fire a man who's more passionate about Gopher Nation than any other head coach I can remember, a man who is more bound and determined to win a Big Ten Championship than anyone I can recall at Minnesota, a man who puts in extraordinary amounts of time and seems to think 24/7 - 365 about how he can put together a Rose Bowl caliber team in Minneapolis/St. Paul? I'll admit to you that this whole Tim Brewster era has me so perplexed and emotional that I've actually been persistent enough to establish a fairly consistent email relationship with Coach Brewster. And let me say that the man has never, ever wavered in his commitment, enthusiasm, determination and vision to get the Golden Gophers to the top. I'm not yet convinced 100% that this bull-dog of a man won't come through for us.

Would love to hear some thoughtful and well-reasoned responses. Go easy on me guys. I love the Gophers just as much as you and, like all of you, would rather be celebrating every fall Saturday for years to come than crying in my beer and kicking my worn out television.
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I don't think anyone has ever accused Brewster of being a bad person. They've accused him of being a poor coach. I love his passion and energy for the program, but that's not enough. For all of his passion and intensity, he seems to have no clue how to make what he wants to happen happen.

Unfortunately, this "bulldog of a man" is up against 8 other "bulldogs of men" every Big Ten season, and the ones who will be successful in building their programs are the ones who have more of the necessary coaching qualities than Brewster does -- which includes most of them.

We are not a vocational school for aspiring football coaches. We are a big-time Big Ten program. Normally, the way it works is that a coach works his way through the ranks from graduate assistant to position coach to assistant coach, beginning at smaller schools, over a number of decades before getting a head position at a BCS school -- if they're lucky. We hired Brewster for a job for which he was never qualified, and it's our fault, not his. We underestimated how much learning he would need to accomplish to be successful. However, in 4 years, it's hard to find any evidence that he has learned anything at all.

If all of this is causing him emotional trouble, then all the more reason to part ways with him. If we needed an emotional tampon roaming the sidelines, we would have hired Oprah. It's nothing personal, he's just not a good CFB coach, and is showing no indications of becoming one. We need someone to sit him down and let him go and wish him the best.
 



SickAndTiredOfLosingToWI said:
I don't think anyone has ever accused Brewster of being a bad person. They've accused him of being a poor coach. I love his passion and energy for the program, but that's not enough. For all of his passion and intensity, he seems to have no clue how to make what he wants to happen happen.

Unfortunately, this "bulldog of a man" is up against 8 other "bulldogs of men" every Big Ten season, and the ones who will be successful in building their programs are the ones who have more of the necessary coaching qualities than Brewster does -- which includes most of them.

We are not a vocational school for aspiring football coaches. We are a big-time Big Ten program. Normally, the way it works is that a coach works his way through the ranks from graduate assistant to position coach to assistant coach, beginning at smaller schools, over a number of decades before getting a head position at a BCS school -- if they're lucky. We hired Brewster for a job for which he was never qualified, and it's our fault, not his. We underestimated how much learning he would need to accomplish to be successful. However, in 4 years, it's hard to find any evidence that he has learned anything at all.

If all of this is causing him emotional trouble, then all the more reason to part ways with him. If we needed an emotional tampon roaming the sidelines, we would have hired Oprah. It's nothing personal, he's just not a good CFB coach, and is showing no indications of becoming one. We need someone to sit him down and let him go and wish him the best.
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We must be reading different posts. I think Brewster gets attacked in a very personal way a lot. The whole "used car salesman" thing is a direct shot at his sincerity.

I agree that Brewster has probably run his course here as a coach and, like I said in my earlier post, I think it's due more to the fact that he didn't ever take the time to think about what type of head coach he wanted to be if the opportunity ever presented itself than anything else. If anything, he lacks that certain arrogance that the great ones always seem to have.
 

thailleagle said:
Why would Harbaugh leave Stanford? Seriously?
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Is that a real question? You have the typical Minnesota attitude that every other place is just a notch better than here. It's not. Stanford doesn't pay him particularly well, it's hard to get kids admitted there, he's a big ten guy at heart and would like to stick it to Michigan. Need more?
 

year of the gopher said:
Is that a real question? You have the typical Minnesota attitude that every other place is just a notch better than here. It's not. Stanford doesn't pay him particularly well, it's hard to get kids admitted there, he's a big ten guy at heart and would like to stick it to Michigan. Need more?
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I'm sure Harbaugh would be great if you could get him. But for the record- since 1967 Stanford has had 10 seasons with 8 wins or more. The U of M has 3 seasons with 8 wins plus. The record for futility is far greater and the hill to climb in terms of recruiting is higher.
 

year of the gopher said:
Is that a real question? You have the typical Minnesota attitude that every other place is just a notch better than here. It's not. Stanford doesn't pay him particularly well, it's hard to get kids admitted there, he's a big ten guy at heart and would like to stick it to Michigan. Need more?
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So a grudge against Michigan is your hard sell? Really?
 

It's not the same situation. The U is worse off. Stanford won the Pac 10 in 2000.
 

50PoundHead said:
We must be reading different posts. I think Brewster gets attacked in a very personal way a lot. The whole "used car salesman" thing is a direct shot at his sincerity.

I agree that Brewster has probably run his course here as a coach and, like I said in my earlier post, I think it's due more to the fact that he didn't ever take the time to think about what type of head coach he wanted to be if the opportunity ever presented itself than anything else. If anything, he lacks that certain arrogance that the great ones always seem to have.
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Yes, I agree. On one level, a used car salesman is a scumbag. On another level, he's just trying to feed his family. Brewster gets less criticism here than he would at all but a few BCS programs. Perhaps some of it is too personal. For what he makes, I can't say I have too much sympathy, and I don't think he needs any. That's just par for the course in a BCS head coaching job. He'll be alright.
 

Why would you want Harbaugh? We like the idea of him leaving a good thing hes building at Stanford to come to rebuild Minnesota's football program. But if he has success here he will leave us as well. There isn't any question about it.

Coaches who's sole intention is to make money shouldn't even be considered for this job. I'd hate to feel like Tennessee fans did when Kiffin left after bring a new energy there, or Cincy fans felt when Kelly left.

I hope we get a guy similar to Ferentz, in which he views his only job as being here despite offers from elsewhere.
 

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