The 5 things that concern me about Brewster

[Too Long in the Wasteland]

1.LACK OF PLAYER DEVELOPMENT - Weber is the poster child here. While Brewster deserves credit of developing a respectable (at times) defense, name one player on offense that's gotten better since Brewster arrived? Decker has definitely done well, but he's been hampered by injuries, maybe caused in part by him being overused?

2.LACK OF DISCIPLINE - How many games have we lost because of too many stupid penalties? The Wisconsin game could easily have gone the other way without that moronic 15 yard personal foul when we had them stopped in the first half. Likewise, the two long TD passes Pryor completed yesterday. I'm used to seeing the Gophers getting beat for a TD bomb because our CB belonged at a Mountain West school, not in the Big Ten. Those 2 TD's, though, were just total breakdowns in scheme and coverage. I've seen better pass defense in electric football.

3.POOR 3RD DOWN PERFORMANCE - Under Mason it was excruciating to watch 3rd and long, because you knew the other team was going to convert. At least back then you could attribute it to lack of athleticism. Now one has to wonder if its lack of coaching. And I don't recall any Mason offense after '98 being as inept as what we've seen the past couple of weeks.

4.REVOLVING DOOR OF ASSISTANTS - This was a problem with Mason, too. With Glen, though, I attributed it to him being a dick, or occasionally throwing someone under the bus. Not all the turnover on Brewster's coordinators has been his fault, but one has to wonder. All the changes certainly haven't done Weber any favors.

5.LACK OF IDENTITY - I've seen others mention this. By the 3rd year Mason's teams had a reputation for overachieving, particularly on OL play and running. This led to Glen's glory years with Maroney and Barber. 3 seasons into the Brewster regime, and what's our identity, other than Decker? This goes hand in hand with the lack of a signature win. By this point Mason had beat MSU in '98 (a big W at the time) and PSU.

Now, I'm not a Masonite, and firing him was the smartest personnel move Maturi's made, other than hiring Tubby. One can argue on the timing, but Maturi's hands were tied on S-canning both Mason & Monson until the stadium was a done deal. IMHO the jury is still out on Brewster, and it would be a colossal mistake to kick him to the curb after this season, barring a total meltdown. But unless Brewster starts to address some of the concerns, the buzz is only going to get louder and uglier. I don't know if starting Gray is the answer, but not making any changes or adjustments doesn't seem to be working so well.

 

[chi-town gopher]

1.LACK OF PLAYER DEVELOPMENT - Weber is the poster child here. While Brewster deserves credit of developing a respectable (at times) defense, name one player on offense that's gotten better since Brewster arrived? Decker has definitely done well, but he's been hampered by injuries, maybe caused in part by him being overused?

Eric Decker has improved significantly since Brewster arrived.

I agreed with a lot of your post, but I don't agree that players are not developing. Tripplet, Campbell, Brown, Sherels, McKinley, and others have improved greatly. Its hard to name anybody on offense that has gotten better because there aren't really any juniors/seniors left from Mason's recruiting classes on offense. With the exception of Weber and Decker, most of them are Brew recruits.

 

[Big Play]

Stoudermire and whaley have looked good.

 

[Too Long in the Wasteland]

You make a good point about Whaley, although considering he just made his debut a few weeks ago its hard to judge whether he's improved, which was the point of my post. He does have potential though, provided he can avoid getting his azz lit up by Tasers. As for Stoudemire, he's shown flashes, but what about those 3 balls he put on the ground yesterday? That fumble right after halftime cost us whatever slim chance we had of winning the game. One could argue that the smart coaching decision would have been to bench his butt right after that fumble. Or maybe right after he mouthed off to his coach (although that was a tickytack penalty he got on the punt coverage).

 

[Big Play]

Green has also looked good He is our #2 WR

 

[thailleagle]

LACK OF DISCIPLINE

That's my biggest issue.......

 

[GVBadger]

This quote would concern me. Does he ever look at the standings?

"We've come off the road and played probably the two best teams in the Big Ten," Brewster said. "And we're excited about a three-game homestand. I don't look at it as being a watershed game. I think that's sensational. I look at it as an opportunity for us to play at home. ... We're a 4-4 football team that has done a lot of good things, that has played an extremely challenging schedule. I'm very pleased with our football team and where we're at right now, the direction we're going."

If he is very pleased with his football team, I think Maturi should lock him up for 5 more years right now.

 

[RedPoo]

I agree in part, but I think most of the issues come from: #4.REVOLVING DOOR OF ASSISTANTS...that's the #1 issue with this team, and it leads directly to lack of identity.

The lack of player development concern is, I think, unfounded. Yes, we all get that Weber has regressed in a big way. But a lot of guys have stepped up and looked good.
The discipline thing is an issue, but not a huge one. Of course we'd like to see fewer penalties, but this is a problem that can be fixed, and we're not absolutely horrible anyway (certainly not good, but not abysmal...8th in the Big 10 in penalty yards).

 

[Go Gophers Rah]

Very good post!

My #1 concern is the lack of identity. Most teams, have a "bread and butter" scheme that they can rely on from week-to-week. If that doesn't work for some reason, then the coaches need to figure out a "plan B."

Thus far, we have no "Plan A."

Run the ball up the middle a few times... that didn't work, lets try..
throw a deep ball to loosen the D.... that didn't work, let's try...
run a sweep... that didn't work, let's try...
on and on.

We have Gray running for 6.5 yards per carry, Whaley running for 5.3 yards per carry and Bennett running for 4.4 yards per carry, lets find a way to make that our primary identity.

 

[gopherrising]

Weber

What has changed from Weber's fairly good year last year and progression from 2007?? Only a new QB coach, new OC and new playbook. I can't put all of his inconsitancies on poor play. There are plenty of poor throws, but the kid had to chance his motion and learn a new offense. That is issue number 1. It also contributes to issue with the O-line. Name one school that has success with multiple OC/DC's year after year? Name one team that has a winning record with 3 offense different OC's and philosophies in 4 years? However, there are plenty of performance issues as well. Some of the O-Line play is horrid. Just wiffing on a D-Lineman. Also Weber has had many throws dive at people's feet, even when it is a 6 yard pass. Consistancy in assitant coaches is a critical factor, so players can master a position versus learning it.

 

[NewEngland_Gold]

Reality: With the talent level the Gs have currently...

This quote would concern me. Does he ever look at the standings?

"We've come off the road and played probably the two best teams in the Big Ten," Brewster said. "And we're excited about a three-game homestand. I don't look at it as being a watershed game. I think that's sensational. I look at it as an opportunity for us to play at home. ... We're a 4-4 football team that has done a lot of good things, that has played an extremely challenging schedule. I'm very pleased with our football team and where we're at right now, the direction we're going."

If he is very pleased with his football team, I think Maturi should lock him up for 5 more years right now.

Brew is "very pleased." After all, the Gs played the Bucks to 7-0 at halftime, something few other opponents have done this year. From the beginning of the year, TB has been saying the team is building depth...hello...anyone with any rudimentary fb acuity knows the team has (and historically has had) weak depth in many key areas of the program. To be fair, maybe some Gopher van Winkles on this board are just waking up to that reality and should be given a PC pass.

With a big notch-up in recruiting both in-state and across the country, that is changing rapidly as been documented thoroughly by our talent gurus on this board. All that is much to the chagrin of our BT opponents who have assumed as a given that Minny would continue asleep at the switch basically forever and savor the masochistic identity of a BT bottom feeder. Thank the GH fb gods that Brewster and his bosses have a different vision for the program.

BTW, be careful about the "lock-up" fantasies that seem to be dancing in your head.

 

[thailleagle]

This quote would concern me. Does he ever look at the standings?

"We've come off the road and played probably the two best teams in the Big Ten," Brewster said. "And we're excited about a three-game homestand. I don't look at it as being a watershed game. I think that's sensational. I look at it as an opportunity for us to play at home. ... We're a 4-4 football team that has done a lot of good things, that has played an extremely challenging schedule. I'm very pleased with our football team and where we're at right now, the direction we're going."

If he is very pleased with his football team, I think Maturi should lock him up for 5 more years right now.

Please tell me he didn't really say this.......

 

[grunkiejr]

People that complain about a lack of identity crack me up.

Did Oregon fans complain about the identity of the team when Chip Kelly came in as OC with a spread offense which was much different than the pro-style offense favored by Jeff Tedford years earlier when Oregon went to a BCS bowl?

Did Texas fans complain about the change in offensive identity when they started running a spread offense with Vince Young which was much different than the offense under Simms?

How many different offensive schemes has Penn State run while Paterno has been the coach? I wasn't alive yet but I'm pretty sure PSU wasn't running the spread HD in 1970.

To me the identity crap is just something to complain about because the offense isn't as effective as we would like. Brewster is trying to build a team with a big OL and fast skill players and the offense we run is supposed to find the best way to use those players. If you haven't noticed we still have elements of the spread within the offense and we added power running sets which adds a lot more play-action passes to what we were doing. We are recruiting speed--and generally favoring speed over size--on defense.

Brewster wants to be fast and athletic on offense and defense and that is our identity. It doesn't have to be tied up in individual plays or schemes.

 

[gophermartin]

Wills has improved since the beginning of the season.

 

[calminnfan]

I think points 2-4 have legitimacy, but that is not all Brew's fault. Roof leaving was a huge hit because that came out of no where and I think it caught even Brew off guard. I think he reached with Fisch, but I think the effectiveness of the spread has run its course and defenses have adjusted to it. It was as good as it was going to get and unfortunately Dunbar would not have adapted to the needed changes.

I think the OL coach change needed to happen, but the players need to step it up and get into gear.

some of the positions that have not had the turnover (DL, LB, WR coaches) have been playing very well and have been able to settle in.

As for the identity issue, I think the changes they have made and the direction their offense is going is eventually going to forge an identity, but they need to players with the skills to get it done. Right now they do not have the RBs and the OL still is a work in progress.

Instead of identity, I think some of the players have underperformed and that is where they are really having problems. In the past I have mentioned a player or two, but I guess I don't want to do that anymore simply because...

But the players that do not play up to abilities or expectations have given up big plays that have hurt.

I think whether the current offense will amount to anything needs a few years not a few games. I don't know what has happened to Weber this year other then they tried to change him to much. If Weber is going to try and go pro, however, they needed to change him since his throwing motion would not have translated to the pros well at all.

I think maybe that may be part of the struggle the team may be going through. With Brew and Fisch, they have a couple of coaches who have experience with the pros and know what is demanded on that level, so they are trying to get the players developed to make that transition as well. Given the need to bring in athletes and develop the ones they inherited, it is quite the jump.

To me, the lack of discipline is a big problem is penalties have killed drives, to go along with dropped passes.

 

[GopherGod]

People that complain about a lack of identity crack me up.

Did Oregon fans complain about the identity of the team when Chip Kelly came in as OC with a spread offense which was much different than the pro-style offense favored by Jeff Tedford years earlier when Oregon went to a BCS bowl?

Did Texas fans complain about the change in offensive identity when they started running a spread offense with Vince Young which was much different than the offense under Simms?

How many different offensive schemes has Penn State run while Paterno has been the coach? I wasn't alive yet but I'm pretty sure PSU wasn't running the spread HD in 1970.

To me the identity crap is just something to complain about because the offense isn't as effective as we would like. Brewster is trying to build a team with a big OL and fast skill players and the offense we run is supposed to find the best way to use those players. If you haven't noticed we still have elements of the spread within the offense and we added power running sets which adds a lot more play-action passes to what we were doing. We are recruiting speed--and generally favoring speed over size--on defense.

Brewster wants to be fast and athletic on offense and defense and that is our identity. It doesn't have to be tied up in individual plays or schemes.

The difference between your examples and Minnesota is that those schools changed the offenses slightly to more closely match with the skills of their respective QB's at the time in order to give them the best opportunity to win. If we were doing the same thing then Weber would be taking more snaps in the shotgun and in more spread formations since he has had more success in that type of set.