The frustration of hiring a recruiter to coach

[JPIIGopher]

I imagine if we got together with Illini fans we would have a lot of common frustrations to talk about. Frequent changing of coordinators, a veteran QB who seems to be getting worse, awful play from the offensive line, stupid penalties, and a general choatic feel to the offense. Ron Zook has had more success in recruiting than Brew but as the Illini fans will tell you it hasn't exactly translated to a program headed in the right direction.

After the Penn St. game today the sentiments are similar to those expressed after the Wisconsin game: Adam Weber is terrible, put in Gray, we can't stop the run, no pass rush, terrible Oline play. I share all of those frustrations but I think those are just symptoms of a bigger problem. The problem is with The Plan...or lack there of. It's with the feeling of there being no sensible philosophy behind hiring decisions. Are we really going to try and pound the rock or is this just the offense de jour? Just two years ago Brew was touting the spread but after failing to run the ball with any effectiveness he did an about face...or will it be a face plant?

I guess that remains to be seen, but Brew has really moved all his chips into the pot with the hire of Jed Fisch. 32 years old and zero play calling experience. So to recap, our offense is being implemented by two guys who have no experince doing so, and it shows. From wrong routes, to missed blocks, to bad decisions by the QB. There are always going to be major growing pains trying to teach everyone an entire playbook, not to mention teaching the QB how to dropback and read a defense while doing so. The fact is Weber has lost his confidnece because he is under constant pressure and is relearning an entire offense. It's no surprise he looks more like 2007 than 2008. All of this goes back to Brew's decision to go to the spread in the first place and then abandon ship after a two year stint, leaving us with one of the most touted spread option QB's just waiting to come and in and..drop...back...to..pass. Ugh...

Of course the news isn't all bad as the special teams play has been stellar and the defense is showing signs of improvement despite being under their 3rd coordinator in as many years. As the coaches on the offensive side of the ball learn on the fly, we have to pin our hopes on D and special forces. Can Brew/Fisch develop this offensive in time for 2010? Who knows, but these are the frustrations of following a recruiter learning how to be a coach.

 

[AhliBobwa]

I imagine if we got together with Illini fans we would have a lot of common frustrations to talk about. Frequent changing of coordinators, a veteran QB who seems to be getting worse, awful play from the offensive line, stupid penalties, and a general choatic feel to the offense...
...Brew has really moved all his chips into the pot with the hire of Jed Fisch. 32 years old and zero play calling experience. So to recap, our offense is being implemented by two guys who have no experince doing so, and it shows. From wrong routes, to missed blocks, to bad decisions by the QB. There are always going to be major growing pains trying to teach everyone an entire playbook, not to mention teaching the QB how to dropback and read a defense while doing so. The fact is Weber has lost his confidnece because he is under constant pressure and is relearning an entire offense. It's no surprise he looks more like 2007 than 2008. All of this goes back to Brew's decision to go to the spread in the first place and then abandon ship after a two year stint, leaving us with one of the most touted spread option QB's just waiting to come and in and..drop...back...to..pass. Ugh...'




This hurt because you despite my own hardy optimism and unconditional love for the Gophers, what you say is right on the money. Weber was named 2nd team Big Ten as a Sophomore as a spread QB. Today you mentioned him in the same breath as the recently benched Juice Williams. Both Weber and Gray are athletic guys with big arms and the ability to make plays with their feet (obviously Weber is the QB you inherit, and Gray is the one you prize, but no one can deny Weber was effective last year much of the time). It seemed like a strange choice to abandon the spread, and Cosgrove, I fear, is a bad hire. For some reason I'm optimistic about Fisch, he seems to have a good football mind, and I believe he will learn from his mistakes and apply those lessons to year 2. The O-line, Weber, and Gray will both have to be much better by then

 

[Gold Rush]

Good post and I agree with your sentiments. I feel even after three years under Brewster the offense looks
completely lost and has no direction. Under Mason, our offense had an identity and was extremely successful.
Even the best of rush defenses in the country could not stop it.

Keep in mind that Wacker had a very successful offense while he was here and I was a little sceptical when
Mason wanted to change a good thing. After seeing the results, you can say, "OK, Mason knew what he was
doing, this offense is very fun to watch." That was a Rose Bowl type of offense.

Brewster changed up the offense right away and again I thought, "Why change a good thing?" Then after
remembering the last change, I thought well be patient, Brewster probably has it all figured out.

Well, Brewster does NOT have it figured out. After telling everyone we needed to go to the spread so we can
recruit his type of athletes, the offense bombed. Then we change the offense again after seeing all the
problems. What's up for next year, the triple option??

I do not think Brewster knows what he is doing and the result is the assistant coaching carousel and a
continuous change in philosophies. This team's trademarks are stupid penalties and stupid play calling, poor
tackling, poor blocking, poor rushing and poor passing.

I agree Brewster is learning on the fly but a Big Ten university should not be a testing ground for a coach. I
demand more out of our coaching staff. The people that accept mediocrity should not be surprised with
mediocre results.

Although I admire Tim Brewster for his work ethic, after three years this team looks lost. I think if we took all
his good qualities and all Glen Mason's, we would have a very good coach (well at least until someone hired
him away!) LOL.

 

[GopherGod]

In Brewster's defense it has to be hard to recruit good coordinators when most of them feel more qualified to be the head coach then he.

 

[scalgopher]

How can people watch the game,say our qb. is trash,the ol sucks the oc is worthless when we only had the ball for about 20 minutes.The play calling seemed ok with me,Weber had plenty of time to get his throws off for the most part.The running game wasn"t that hot but Ihave to give credit to PennSt. they were hitting hard and were always well rested giving the fact that that just like every game this season we stink the place up on 3rd down no matter if they need 2yards or 25. It"s impossible to wear down anyones defense or run your offense if you never have the ability to be succesful at getting the other teams offense off the field,even if they go on a 8 minute drive an you only give up 3 points.Your just not going to win games like that.

 

[Khaliq]

How can people watch the game,say our qb. is trash,the ol sucks the oc is worthless when we only had the ball for about 20 minutes.

Well, TOP falls on the offense's shoulders. Going 3/11 on third down conversions is a big factor in why they only had the ball for 20 minutes.

 

[scools12]

ah yes, why can't we just go back to the glory days of mason?

and this "Even the best of rush defenses in the country could not stop it" completey wrong.

where were you guys last week after the win? were you still recalling them good old mason days?

 

[cwilson21]

I imagine if we got together with Illini fans we would have a lot of common frustrations to talk about. Frequent changing of coordinators, a veteran QB who seems to be getting worse, awful play from the offensive line, stupid penalties, and a general choatic feel to the offense...
...Brew has really moved all his chips into the pot with the hire of Jed Fisch. 32 years old and zero play calling experience. So to recap, our offense is being implemented by two guys who have no experince doing so, and it shows. From wrong routes, to missed blocks, to bad decisions by the QB. There are always going to be major growing pains trying to teach everyone an entire playbook, not to mention teaching the QB how to dropback and read a defense while doing so. The fact is Weber has lost his confidnece because he is under constant pressure and is relearning an entire offense. It's no surprise he looks more like 2007 than 2008. All of this goes back to Brew's decision to go to the spread in the first place and then abandon ship after a two year stint, leaving us with one of the most touted spread option QB's just waiting to come and in and..drop...back...to..pass. Ugh...'




This hurt because you despite my own hardy optimism and unconditional love for the Gophers, what you say is right on the money. Weber was named 2nd team Big Ten as a Sophomore as a spread QB. Today you mentioned him in the same breath as the recently benched Juice Williams. Both Weber and Gray are athletic guys with big arms and the ability to make plays with their feet (obviously Weber is the QB you inherit, and Gray is the one you prize, but no one can deny Weber was effective last year much of the time). It seemed like a strange choice to abandon the spread, and Cosgrove, I fear, is a bad hire. For some reason I'm optimistic about Fisch, he seems to have a good football mind, and I believe he will learn from his mistakes and apply those lessons to year 2. The O-line, Weber, and Gray will both have to be much better by then

Agree with everything you said. I did like the spread as Weber played well in that offense but the spread's inability to pick up yards in short-yardage situations (it was more of Dunbar's crap playcalling) such as 3rd and 1 and 4th and 1 really seemed to have pissed Brew off to the point he wanted it scrapped and went back to the traditional pro-style offense. Though I do believe Fisch has potential as a coach and is simply getting experience and learning from them in his first year, I preferred that we kept the spread offense and instead, just added some smashmouth formations to it instead of changing the entire philosophy. It's evident right now that our biggest weaknesses, the running game and offensive line, have severely held us back and are far from reaching the success that we hoped the pro-style offense would bring. Perhaps it's better for the future but our lack of consistent coordinators has really hurt.

 

[Gopherprof]

It's not like Ron Zook is the only coach in college football that recruits well.

 

[JPIIGopher]

It's not like Ron Zook is the only coach in college football that recruits well

True, just thought it was comparable because they were both known as great recruiters, not so much as proven coaches.

 

[Donovan]

Great post, well thought out.

To the poster who said: merging the best qualities of Brewster and Mason = great coach. That made me smile.

I imagine if we got together with Illini fans we would have a lot of common frustrations to talk about. Frequent changing of coordinators, a veteran QB who seems to be getting worse, awful play from the offensive line, stupid penalties, and a general choatic feel to the offense. Ron Zook has had more success in recruiting than Brew but as the Illini fans will tell you it hasn't exactly translated to a program headed in the right direction.

After the Penn St. game today the sentiments are similar to those expressed after the Wisconsin game: Adam Weber is terrible, put in Gray, we can't stop the run, no pass rush, terrible Oline play. I share all of those frustrations but I think those are just symptoms of a bigger problem. The problem is with The Plan...or lack there of. It's with the feeling of there being no sensible philosophy behind hiring decisions. Are we really going to try and pound the rock or is this just the offense de jour? Just two years ago Brew was touting the spread but after failing to run the ball with any effectiveness he did an about face...or will it be a face plant?

I guess that remains to be seen, but Brew has really moved all his chips into the pot with the hire of Jed Fisch. 32 years old and zero play calling experience. So to recap, our offense is being implemented by two guys who have no experince doing so, and it shows. From wrong routes, to missed blocks, to bad decisions by the QB. There are always going to be major growing pains trying to teach everyone an entire playbook, not to mention teaching the QB how to dropback and read a defense while doing so. The fact is Weber has lost his confidnece because he is under constant pressure and is relearning an entire offense. It's no surprise he looks more like 2007 than 2008. All of this goes back to Brew's decision to go to the spread in the first place and then abandon ship after a two year stint, leaving us with one of the most touted spread option QB's just waiting to come and in and..drop...back...to..pass. Ugh...

Of course the news isn't all bad as the special teams play has been stellar and the defense is showing signs of improvement despite being under their 3rd coordinator in as many years. As the coaches on the offensive side of the ball learn on the fly, we have to pin our hopes on D and special forces. Can Brew/Fisch develop this offensive in time for 2010? Who knows, but these are the frustrations of following a recruiter learning how to be a coach.

 

[Section2]

ah yes, why can't we just go back to the glory days of mason?

and this "Even the best of rush defenses in the country could not stop it" completey wrong.

where were you guys last week after the win? were you still recalling them good old mason days?

please revisit 2005 Penn State game where Maroney was totally shut down despite our All Big 10 line. Please, this thread is fail.

 

[RedPoo]

I agree with the premise of this thread, but it really does look like the staff is starting to get it. No one would mistake these guys for an NFL coaching staff, but after last season they seem to recognize the need for stability. I think both of these guys (Cosgrove and Fisch), for all their shortcomings, look like they will stick around a few years if you let them. I think the defense has played well this season, so we just have to hope that Fisch gets the hang of it pretty quickly.

Also, this team plays with a lot of fire, and they never seem to give up on a game or on Brewster. For the time being, at least, that's a huge difference between Brew and Zook.

 

[NewEngland_Gold]

A plus...

Seems like there should be a fair amount of stability with this staff for the next several years...who would want to hire them away with the bi-polar W/L performances?

 

[RedPoo]

Seems like there should be a fair amount of stability with this staff for the next several years...who would want to hire them away with the bi-polar W/L performances?

Yeah, I get it...but there's actually something to be said at this point for a coach that might give us a few years while both he and the team grow into his system, instead of a coach that will put a few new ideas out, make a small step forward, then take off for greener pastures in the offseason.

I'm not saying I'd rather have a bad coach for 3 years than a good coach for 1 year, but there is some upside. And we don't know that either of our coordinators (or Brew) are bad coaches.

 

[bankonit]

"Coaching" is vastly overrated. When your players are good, you win. When your players suck, you lose. Weber sucks and we lose. Pretty simple. head coaches need to recruit and sell the program, nothing more, nothing less.

 

[WAGopher]

"Coaching" is vastly overrated. When your players are good, you win. When your players suck, you lose. Weber sucks and we lose. Pretty simple. head coaches need to recruit and sell the program, nothing more, nothing less.

Are you kidding? I've felt that without preparation, game plan, and in game changes we wouldn't have had a chance against any of the teams we've played so far. The coaches have put the players in a position to make plays and win games, but for one reason or another they players didn't execute. The one area that I think the coaches could do a better job with is on defense against third downs. The soft zone doesn't work when we can't get pressure on the QB.

 

[bankonit]

I should clarify, I mean a Head Coaches "coaching" is vastly overrated. You need good coaching from Coordinators but little more than pep talking and signing great athletes by your head coach. Do you think JoPa is actually coaching anything?

 

[KD6-3.7]

I should clarify, I mean a Head Coaches "coaching" is vastly overrated. You need good coaching from Coordinators but little more than pep talking and signing great athletes by your head coach. Do you think JoPa is actually coaching anything?

agree, HCs need to hire good coordinators, be inspiring and be good recruiters.

i am not sure that we can label brewster as a "recruiter" rather than a coach. to do that one would have to ignore his time as a COACH in the NFL, in which recruiting ability has no bearing on performance.

 

[NewEngland_Gold]

Whatever JoePa is doing...

find out and emulate it!

 

[WAGopher]

I should clarify, I mean a Head Coaches "coaching" is vastly overrated. You need good coaching from Coordinators but little more than pep talking and signing great athletes by your head coach. Do you think JoPa is actually coaching anything?

I agree with your clarification. For the major programs today, a head coach is more a program manager than a hands on coach.

 

[Maximus]

Can we drop the myth that the defense is improved?