6-6 against the 11th toughest schedule in the county. The 2008 team was better than the 2009 team. The 2009 team is better than the 2008 team. How has progress not been made?
Reusse: Fairness dictates one more year for Brewster
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6-6 against the 11th toughest schedule in the county. The 2008 team was better than the 2009 team. The 2009 team is better than the 2008 team. How has progress not been made?
Who cares about game management right now? Talent is what makes or breaks programs. Talent is what wins games. Once the talent level has been elevated, then you can bitch about game management.
Apparently you didn't see the SDSU game...our talent is most likely way better than SDSU. What made that game frustrating was our terrible game management. Talent without coaching is wasted. Additionally, at this point can't we at least agree that we have more talent or that at the very least we are elevating the talent?
I might agree with you. Unfortunately, as I have stated before, the most frustrating thing about 6-6 this season was the way we got there. I am speaking of the digression at the end of the season. Those games were not progress.
With respect to SOS I saw at CBS we were 16th, I get your point, however SOS is misleading. Only 5 teams in the top 25 had SOS better than the Gophers. I'd trade places with any of them. A good thread might be the ol' SOS of schedule debate.
One thing is certain, in the last few years and with the finalization of the next 5 years of schedules we certainly are bringing better opponents to Minnesota.
GO GOPHERS!
Let's break the 2010 schedule down. But not from where we actually stand now, but from where we hoped to be when Brewster was hired in Jan 2007.
Here's my take. Basically trying to do the impossible and bring my mindset back to what it was in Jan 2007. I was excited about Brewster, and if he were to meet what I consider realistic expectations four years down the road I believe I would have expected:
Middle Tennessee State: Blowout victory. 1-0
South Dakota: Blowout victory. 2-0
USC: A loss anyway you cut it. Hopefully we play tough and feel good about the program. 2-1
Northern Illinois: Blowout Victory. 3-1
Northwestern: Win. 4-1
Wisconsin. Win (YES. WIN. By year 4 I would expect us to be even with Sconi). 5-1
Purdue. Win. 6-1
Penn State. Loss. 6-2
Ohio State. Loss 6-3
Michigan State. Win. 7-3
Illinois. Win 8-3
Iowa. Win. 9-3
Now obviously those teams haven't remained static. OK, so turn the Iowa win to a loss. 8-4. However, I also expected we'd at least have a chance to steal one from PSU or Ohio State by then (they're both home games).
Then let's just assume a team has one clunker game every year (say, against MSU) to give them homers more excuses. 7-5. Worst case.
Any way you slice it, the only way 6-6 is a success next year is by buying into excuses and reduced expectations. That's sad, and as another poster pointed out, EXACTLY the same phenomena that started to sprout with Mason.
dpodoll68
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Apparently you didn't see the scoreboard at the end of the SDSU game. In case you didn't notice, WE WON. How we got there is irrelevant - scoring more points than the opposition is all that matters. And Schnoodler's point is simple - how many games will Vegas favor us in next year? Five, or maybe six at best. Expecting us to win 8 or 9 games is anticipating 2 or 3 upsets while we are not upset ourselves even once. If you want to call that a referendum on Brewster, go right ahead, but it's not realistic. Not even close.
That don't mean squat. Ask yourself WHY WOULD THEY BE CONSIDERED UPSETS?
The only reason Vegas won't favor us is because we haven't met the expectations (REALISTIC expectations) many fans have. If we were 'better' we'd be favored in more games, get it?
At my job we set expectations at the beginning of the year, and measure my progress at the end. I don't get to say, "hey boss, I've really screwed up the first 6 months of the year, so we need to go back and set lower expectations for my next review."
Costa Rican Gopher
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Apples and oranges. 1) Mason had a decade+ and never got beyond "good". Brewster's had less than 3 seasons. 2) Mason left the cup board dry & forced Brewster into a rebuilding project. 3) Mason' schedule set the bar pretty low. Brewster could likely have taken the low road and scheduled cupcakes to beef up his record, instead he's added better teams. Going 6-6 with Cal, Air Force, Syracuse & SD St is harder than Toledo & Ohio U.
Costa Rican Gopher
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Apples and oranges. 1) Mason had a decade+ and never got beyond "good". Brewster's had less than 3 seasons. 2) Mason left the cup board dry & forced Brewster into a rebuilding project. 3) Mason' schedule set the bar pretty low. Brewster could likely have taken the low road and scheduled cupcakes to beef up his record, instead he's added better teams. Going 6-6 against Cal & Air Force is harder than Toledo & Ohio U.
Costa Rican Gopher
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Double Post, Coach sux at internet....
Ski U Mah 55
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If we go 6-6 including losses to both Iowa and Wisconsin next year, and Brewster continues to display little skill in game management he should be booted.
maxwellsmart
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For the same reason you don't move furniture into a half-built house and expect it to stay dry in the snow and rain. Sheesh! Some of you really don't get it do you?
maxwellsmart
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At this point we can't agree on a darn thing if you continue to expect championship performance during the construction phase. I've become convinced that if we ever have an undefeated national title year there will be a bunch of you pixies hitting the keyboards hollering that our average margin of victory was too small. Of course your creative solution will be firing the coach.
Gold Rush
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I really can't disagree with anything Pat Reusse said in that article. You have to give Brewster at least one more year to prove that he can elevate the program. For him to stick around after that, we need to see substantial improvement in the offense next year. I don't care so much about the wins, I just need a reason to believe that Tim Brewster can coach at this level. So far, I have not seen that, but I am patient enough to realize these things take time. You can't go around firing your coach every three years unless you really have someone like a Kragthorpe or RichRod that is ruining your team.
I remember Mason's last year when there were a lot of people demanding him to be fired. I thought his firing was inevitable. I went on record saying that if you gave him one more year like some people wanted you would be firing him next year anyways because with the returning talent you knew the program was going to take a step back. At this point, if the offense does not get better next year, it won't matter what anyone on here says, Brewster will get fired. I feel this is just as inevitable as Mason's last year was. The only difference is Brewster still has a chance to rebound nicely because he does have some talent on offense and with most starters returning and an extra year with the schemes, there really aren't too many excuses anymore. They SHOULD get better.
If you took almost any coach amongst the BCS teams and three years in they had our offensive output, #110, the natives would be getting a lot more restless than they are here. Our offense would get just about any coach fired. The reason why you have to give Brewster another year is because he does bring some positives to the table. The defense continues to improve, even with three different coordinators in three years and that is a very, very good thing after watching Mason and Wacker's teams. Brewster can still recruit very well but that will drop off if the team heads southward next year. That is why I agree you have to give him another year. Again, if the Gophers go 6-6 next year but I see their offense starting to get better and the defense holds its own, I would say keep him around because I would still have faith in him that things will get better but if that offense stays the same as it was this year you have to eventually say we need to get someone in here who knows how to run an offense.
I honestly do not know at this point if Brewster will be around a year from now. It's really up in the air, but I get the feeling it will be a no-brainer by the end of the next football season.
I remember Mason's last year when there were a lot of people demanding him to be fired. I thought his firing was inevitable. I went on record saying that if you gave him one more year like some people wanted you would be firing him next year anyways because with the returning talent you knew the program was going to take a step back. At this point, if the offense does not get better next year, it won't matter what anyone on here says, Brewster will get fired. I feel this is just as inevitable as Mason's last year was. The only difference is Brewster still has a chance to rebound nicely because he does have some talent on offense and with most starters returning and an extra year with the schemes, there really aren't too many excuses anymore. They SHOULD get better.
If you took almost any coach amongst the BCS teams and three years in they had our offensive output, #110, the natives would be getting a lot more restless than they are here. Our offense would get just about any coach fired. The reason why you have to give Brewster another year is because he does bring some positives to the table. The defense continues to improve, even with three different coordinators in three years and that is a very, very good thing after watching Mason and Wacker's teams. Brewster can still recruit very well but that will drop off if the team heads southward next year. That is why I agree you have to give him another year. Again, if the Gophers go 6-6 next year but I see their offense starting to get better and the defense holds its own, I would say keep him around because I would still have faith in him that things will get better but if that offense stays the same as it was this year you have to eventually say we need to get someone in here who knows how to run an offense.
I honestly do not know at this point if Brewster will be around a year from now. It's really up in the air, but I get the feeling it will be a no-brainer by the end of the next football season.
This is the essence in one sentence. Some talk all day about 'showing improvement', etc., and the folks that say that aren't being stupid, I just think they are naive. Sure, we might win a game we shouldn't, or lose one we should have locked up, but you don't really take that into account when projecting results. You basically look at a schedule and pick the games you should win. Anyone saying the Gophers could go successfully go 6-6 next year is already baking in losses to WI and IA. In year 4, it's unacceptable that we should go into a season assuming those are losses.
Brewster should get one more year. However, 6-6 w/ losses to WI and IA gets him fired. That would NOT be a successful season.
Are there intangibles? Of course, if the Gophers play great against WI & IA but a couple refs make blatantly wrong calls on touchdowns that clearly cost us both games to go 6-6, of COURSE that can't be pinned on Brewster. But you don't ASSUME that when projecting a season's results & setting expectations, you assume stuff like that evens out.
WAGopher
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Absolutely. Our defense seems to be the best we've had in about 10 years, and the special teams are better than we've been used to. The offense is what is holding the team back, and if Fisch can't deliver, Brewster's seat will be very hot come this time next year.
WAGopher
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It's not if we lose, it's how we lose that will determine Brewster's future. Right now, Iowa is clearly better than Wisconsin, and it's not even close. Wisconsin is closer to our level of play than they are to Iowa's. We had a chance to win the last two games we played against Wisconsin, but not Iowa. (Yes, if we would have had pulse on offense against Iowa this year, we could have won). Next year, we'll have a good shot at beating Wisconsin, but if we beat Iowa it will be a moderate upset.
If Brewster gives us a good chance to win in 9 of the games we play, and still only wins 6, I think he comes back another year. And we could still catch USC, OSU or PSU sleeping for a big upset. That will all depend on how the offense plays. I think NU will be better next year and Purdue will be much improved. MSU may be worse next year if they can't fix the bad attitude they seem to have.
I have to tell you all, looking at this program from outside of MN, it is an almost impossible task to coach & recruit for this school. The fan base is one of the most disspirited I have ever witnessed. The writers are on a mission to destroy this program, they do nothing to encourage good feelings, or support for the team. It is very difficult to recruit top players when they can leave the "Ice Box" and attend schools in the SEC, ACC, Big 12, or the PAC 10. The media makes all this much worse by bad mouthing the coach, and the team. The best thing you all could do is... blow up the Star Tribune, with all it's mickey mouse writers.
Gold Rush
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I would agree with that statement as well as WAGopher's comments on this one. The pressure is really going to be on that offense next year. I would expect that defense to take a small step back next year as they are losing a lot of good players and the offense will be forced to pick it up or next season could be a disaster. If the offense plays the way they did at the end of the year we will be fortunate to win 3-4 games, even with three fairly easy teams in nonconference play.
This was extremely foolish to schedule USC in his make or break season, but if he were to pull off an upset, it would be monumental for his future as a football coach. If I were in his shoes, I would not have done it. You wait until you get up to Iowa or Ohio St.'s level to schedule someone like that. There are plenty of other good teams he could have scheduled that would have been an upgrade - you do not have to get waxed 56-7 by someone to say you have a better schedule.
I think Brewster knows his back is to the wall and he will try to pull out all the stops with the offense next season. This means if Weber falters again, we may finally see Gray take over the offense. I would urge Brewster as others on here have done to simplify the offense so the team can understand it and execute it properly without committing 15 penalties a game. We don't need more trick plays - we need to work on executing a basic offense and then you can branch out from there. A lot of the problems we had on offense were football 101 - false start penalties, hitting the right hole, basic blocking techniques, understanding the offense etc. These can all be easily corrected if the coaches know how to coach. Brewster has probably learned a lot from coaching over the last three years but this is the Big Ten and not really the right place for a guy to learn how to coach a football team. He needs to prove that he and his staff can coach by next season or we need to find someone who can.
Fisch had better be able to figure this out fast or both he and Brewster will be looking for new jobs at this same time next year. Time will tell.
hyaluronic
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I felt 7-5 would be adequate progress in year four after I saw year one. That assumed we had four easy non-conference opponents, and not USC. USC effectively lowered my bar by one game. That said, it is a soft goal. Brewster deserves five years. After year five, we'll see where we are.
station19
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Interesting post. What brings you to Gopherhole?
CWCWCW
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This is my least favorite excuse. I understand it takes a while to get used to new coaches, but I've heard this too many times. Looking back, it was said that Wacker left the cupboard bare for Mason. In Year 3, Mason had one of his best teams led by Billy Cockerham. Billy Cockerham!
I've seen on this board that Brewster is responsible for the play of Tripplet, Decker, Tow Arnett and Campbell. Maybe so, but does he also take responsibility for Tavale, Ruckdashel, Bennett, Weber, Stommes, etc.?
Brewster is our guy for 2010. He's the coach of my favorite team, so I want him to turn it around. But, no more time for excuses. Get it done.
Has anyone ever accused Reusse of being classy? Ever? That seems like the most unlikely circumstance I could ever imagine.
Maybe when other people say 'talentless bitter hack sports writer' he hears 'classy'
I get your point, but the interesting thing is you see Fortune 500 companies do that to investors all the time. Furthermore, they give the guy in charge a public vote of confidence all the way to the end.
Moving right along. Giving Brewster five years (barring a total collapse) to work his plan is only fair. IMO Maturi owes that to him. I was under the impression that Maturi was looking for a coach that would bring in more talent and promote the program. So far I see evidence of that.
Due to budget constraints it appears that Maturi went with a guy that could bring in talent and promote the program, while gaining experience as a head coach, rather than go after an established winner that could draw in talent/ depth based on reputation. It appears he went that route because said individual would have been cost prohibitive if available.
With that said, it is my opinion that this current plan should be given time and support to play out. Depth, even if individual talent is debated has improved. Interest in the program has increased, and by many accounts the current staff is viewed in a more positive light by HS coaches than the previous head coach. If Maturi wasn't willing to give Brewster five years and a public vote of confidence, he shouldn't have hired Brewster in the first place.
BTW If the program didn't have the money to hire an experienced winner then, how could that be done now?
dpodoll68
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This is one of the most oft-repeated (and incorrect) mantras espoused by Brewster haters.
Mason fielded 14 future NFL players in 1999. Nine of them were Wacker recruits.
How many future NFL players recruited by Mason did Brewster field in 2009?
CWCWCW
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It's not the NFL. Greg Eslinger is the most dominant Gopher in recent history. He's an NFL bust. Anthony Montgomery had a so-so career with the Gophers yet has made a living in the NFL. Also, if these future NFLer's were so good in '99, how come Wacker only got 3 wins out of them?
dpodoll68
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So...guys who never play in the NFL are better than guys who do? Just so we're clear.
And the reason that Wacker never had success with these guys is because they were all Fr/RFr/So when he was fired. Sound familiar?
harrys ghost
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Actually, Tyrone Carter was probably the most dominant player in recent history. He was a Wacker recruit and is still playing in the NFL.
I hope that one day I can find an article about Anthony Montgomery. In the article it discusses the lack of coaching he received and that he was never really motivated to play hard. Mason and his staff were correct that he was a diamond in the rough. What they didn't do is coach him up. They had him for his entire career. Lack of depth most likely didn't help. Nobody to push him or give him a break. Montgomery and Losli probably had to play somewhat passively because they knew they had to play the entire game.
Another lack of depth moment was the Micron PC bowl. All I remember from that game was Tellis Redmond, totally gassed, looking toward the sideline for relief. There was no back on the sideline to come in. Well no one that the coaching staff trusted anyway.... Four seasons in and no depth at RB.
The issues with the Gopher program may not be as simple to solve as we think they are.