What does this say about Brewster?

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wdgold

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Was Brewster really that close to putting it together or did Horton show that he is a better coach with the talent that was there with that awesome win. For me, I don't see what happened the last 2 games happening with Brew still around.
 

Agreed. I thought that the team played very tight the first half of the season. I think Horton did a better job of mentally preparing them for games and keeping the atmosphere relaxed.
 

It is hard to know what it says about Brew but I think it proves once and for all we waited too long to fire Mason's ass.
 

Brew brought in some talent, he struggled with the coaching aspect of the job though. He was rightfully let go.
 

Not much. It shows that a good x&o coach (Horton) with good players at his disposal can pull out an unexpected win once in a while.
 


Agree with YOTG.

IMO, it's hard to play for a coach who's catching as much heat as Brewster.

If you like him, you're tight.

If you're neutral, it's all a distraction.

If you don't like him, you're not going to be enthused.

Whichever camp you're in, you're going to know players in the other two - team chemistry suffers.

Get off to a bad start (like the Gophers did this year) and the pressure builds.

Letting Brewster go released the pressure. Horton gave them a better goal - play for each other, let's have fun.

The best part of what Horton did??? He got the kids to buy in - it would've been easy for them to just mail it in for the rest of the year, but Horton won over enough of them that the oars started rowing in the same direction.
 

The media and the fans created an atmosphere that had the team playing and coaching tight all year. Once Brew got the boot then the players could just play football. I would have kept Coach Brewster, the players like him, the parents like him, but the media has to make lemons out of lemonade.

The “We hate Iowa” chant going in my section after we won and an idiot running around with a sign saying “Iowa girls are ugly” is not right. I like Iowa and the two Iowa’s I came with are cool, better in maroon and gold but black and yellow works for me too.
 

About Brewster

I think what it says about Brewster is that he did recruit enough talent to be .500 team this year as many predicted. After relaxing under Horton, and getting experience for the young guys as the year went on, - we are much better now. If we replayed any games with the way we are currently playing vs. how the competition looks now, - we win the SD, Purdue, and NW games with no problems at all. We possibly beat PennState and USC, and we certainly could beat Michigan and Indiana had we played them. Sometimes it seems like there is a fine line between being bowl eligible and a coach being fired.
I'm not saying we needed to retain Brewster, but I really hoke (hope) we don't get someone even worse?
 

No Question That Horton Is The Better Organizer

wdgold said:
Was Brewster really that close to putting it together or did Horton show that he is a better coach with the talent that was there with that awesome win. For me, I don't see what happened the last 2 games happening with Brew still around.
Click to expand...

It's a shame to let Horton and his staff (reportedly 15 families) leave the state.

Why not give him a two year contract at a bargain price, retain the staff and see what they produce?

Spend the money they will save on Horton on the "recruiting" budget and infuse his contract with a ladder of incentives ($$) if he wins big.

All of these guys are in the big time college football coaching business and realize they can be "let go" after any season.

Actually, I see most Minnesotans supporting Horton and would continue to buy tickets to TCF and spend their money on football games.

Horton would be the "let's support the underdog sort of choice" in terms of fan support.

If Horton were to utterly fail (What's New?) the administration is only into him for two years with a cheap and minimal buyout.

Horton looks like a "no lose" hire to me right now.
 



Overall, this win doesn't say anything good or bad about Brewster. What it says is good things for Horton and the team, and VERY good things about the decision to fire Brewster mid-season. This victory would have been unlikely under Brewster not because Horton is clearly a better coach, but because by now the atmosphere would have been so incredibly depressing that everyone would have just wanted to get 2010 over with.
 

It means close to nothing.

I think it means that Brewster did recruit good enough players to win. It also means the young talent did improve over the year. The last two games the defense was a bit better even though Hageman and Carter were not playing and some hoped they would be major contributers. I think the beginning of the year the inexperience was very clear. Saying all that Brewster needed to go now we have to find who can bring a little bit of what our last two coaches did.

We need a coach who can get the most from the talent he is able to recruit which is something Mason was able to do. We need to find a guy who can recruit the better athletes that Brewster is able to do while also establishing the local connections that Brewster was able to do. If we can get a coach that can do those things without filling us full of hot air we will have a good coach for the U.
 

Wahoo McDaniel said:
It's a shame to let Horton and his staff (reportedly 15 families) leave the state.

Why not give him a two year contract at a bargain price, retain the staff and see what they produce?

Spend the money they will save on Horton on the "recruiting" budget and infuse his contract with a ladder of incentives ($$) if he wins big.

All of these guys are in the big time college football coaching business and realize they can be "let go" after any season.

Actually, I see most Minnesotans supporting Horton and would continue to buy tickets to TCF and spend their money on football games.

Horton would be the "let's support the underdog sort of choice" in terms of fan support.

If Horton were to utterly fail (What's New?) the administration is only into him for two years with a cheap and minimal buyout.

Horton looks like a "no lose" hire to me right now.
Click to expand...

And lose half your season ticket base. NO offense to you Wahoo, but I think the football program needs to be blown up and rebuilt. And IMO, that means a whole new head coach who gets to pick his satff...
 

Jon said:
The media and the fans created an atmosphere that had the team playing and coaching tight all year. Once Brew got the boot then the players could just play football. I would have kept Coach Brewster, the players like him, the parents like him, but the media has to make lemons out of lemonade.

The “We hate Iowa” chant going in my section after we won and an idiot running around with a sign saying “Iowa girls are ugly” is not right. I like Iowa and the two Iowa’s I came with are cool, better in maroon and gold but black and yellow works for me too.
Click to expand...


Who cares if the parents like him?

And I love that chant, it's hardly as offensive as 75% of Iowa fans in general.

Go away, you obviously haven't been around this program and rivalry very long.
 



Lose The Half of The Fanbase?

gopherbadgerman said:
And lose half your season ticket base. NO offense to you Wahoo, but I think the football program needs to be blown up and rebuilt. And IMO, that means a whole new head coach who gets to pick his satff...
Click to expand...

I respect your opinion GBman but clearly the fanbase is weak already and there are no guarantees in life in any situation.

Even with a "Big Name" hire there is no guarantee that the fanbase would stick around to see the results.

Actually, I think I could envision just the opposite of what you speak of...a Big Name comes in and spends 3-4 years working hard to rebuild the program and nothing happens. The Gophers continue to lose.

People will only wait so long for positive results and another expensive Maturi/Bruiniks "F-Up" hire might completely demolish the fanbase.

I'm simply suggesting that it looks like Horton is a very experienced professional football coach who's had a positive impact on this program the last half of this season.

At least we've been exposed to him and the other coaches who, for the most part are also very experienced and pretty well traveled.

I'd vote to give Horton and the current staff at least a two year chance at reasonable salaries without them and their families, having to relocate.

Perhaps Horton has already resurrected his opportunity with other programs needing a head coach in the coming weeks?

If this were true...would he be able to keep this entire staff intact at another location and football program?

Would they win somewhere else?

I really think Maturi and Bruiniks would be making a mistake in not at least giving Horton a reasonable shot as a legitimate candidate as they've already "tried him out."
 

Wahoo McDaniel said:
I respect your opinion GBman but clearly the fanbase is weak already and there are no guarantees in life in any situation.

Even with a "Big Name" hire there is no guarantee that the fanbase would stick around to see the results.

Actually, I think I could envision just the opposite of what you speak of...a Big Name comes in and spends 3-4 years working hard to rebuild the program and nothing happens. The Gophers continue to lose.

People will only wait so long for positive results and another expensive Maturi/Bruiniks "F-Up" hire might completely demolish the fanbase.

I'm simply suggesting that it looks like Horton is a very experienced professional football coach who's had a positive impact on this program the last half of this season.

At least we've been exposed to him and the other coaches who, for the most part are also very experienced and pretty well traveled.

I'd vote to give Horton and the current staff at least a two year chance at reasonable salaries without them and their families, having to relocate.

Perhaps Horton has already resurrected his opportunity with other programs needing a head coach in the coming weeks?

If this were true...would he be able to keep this entire staff intact at another location and football program?

Would they win somewhere else?

I really think Maturi and Bruiniks would be making a mistake in not at least giving Horton a reasonable shot as a legitimate candidate as they've already "tried him out."
Click to expand...

Yeah that worked out great with Gutekunst. Horton did a great job in a difficult situation. Lets just leave it at that and move on.
 

How in the world would Horton and his staff be able to recruit with a two year contract?
 

Wahoo McDaniel said:
It's a shame to let Horton and his staff (reportedly 15 families) leave the state.

Why not give him a two year contract at a bargain price, retain the staff and see what they produce?

Spend the money they will save on Horton on the "recruiting" budget and infuse his contract with a ladder of incentives ($$) if he wins big.

All of these guys are in the big time college football coaching business and realize they can be "let go" after any season.

Actually, I see most Minnesotans supporting Horton and would continue to buy tickets to TCF and spend their money on football games.

Horton would be the "let's support the underdog sort of choice" in terms of fan support.

If Horton were to utterly fail (What's New?) the administration is only into him for two years with a cheap and minimal buyout.

Horton looks like a "no lose" hire to me right now.
Click to expand...


Use

more

carriage

returns.
 

koppco1 said:
Horton did a great job in a difficult situation. Lets just leave it at that and move on.
Click to expand...


I agree, and I don't think we should read too much into this situation, but I do believe Horton didn't hurt his resume at all by winning back the pig.
 

Coaches?

koppco1 said:
Yeah that worked out great with Gutekunst. Horton did a great job in a difficult situation. Lets just leave it at that and move on.
Click to expand...

Are Horton and Gutekunst the same person?

Actually, as far as John Gutekunst goes...a former player on one of his squads told me (in person) that he was caught naked in a locker room shower with a female trainer having sex.

This player told me that she wasn't the "First" and that it wasn't too after this he got "canned."

This little detail was never released and obviously his mind wasn't completely on winning football games.

After he went out East, he eventually got into "trouble" again!

I don't think Horton and Gutey are comparable.
 


Thanks for the free advice!

GopherJake said:
Use

more

carriage

returns.
Click to expand...

Kiss

my

butt!

homerpointbutt.gif
 

wdgold said:
Was Brewster really that close to putting it together or did Horton show that he is a better coach with the talent that was there with that awesome win. For me, I don't see what happened the last 2 games happening with Brew still around.
Click to expand...

Besides saying that Brewster did recruit some players, it says that Brewster at last, was able to put together a decent coaching staff. It also says his bullheaded, stubborn insistence on run, run run without mixing in a pass; his complete refusal to use Gray at QB and his defensive philosophy of a "bend, but not break", "play the corners loose" and try and just "keep the score close" into the Fourth Quarter were all wrong-headed. It works when you have more talent then the other team, like he had in Texas, or when you build a big early lead. He didn't even try and do that this year. This coming from a guy who truly wanted to succeed.

It's not a coincidence that the Gophers started to play much better when Horton finally dumped those things. He started to play Gray. He opened up the Offense. He started to put Weber back into the shotgun, a formation that gave him a lot of success in the past. Horton also mandated and/or allowed Cosgrove to play a more gambling, blitzing defense.

That stuff seemed to start in the MSU game and continued through the last two wins. Horton's Head Coaching resume doesn't lead one to have a lot of confidence that he could turn things around. It would be nice though if there is a spot for him on the new staff.
 


Very Well Stated

Iceland12 said:
Besides saying that Brewster did recruit some players, it says that Brewster at last, was able to put together a decent coaching staff. It also says his bullheaded, stubborn insistence on run, run run without mixing in a pass; his complete refusal to use Gray at QB and his defensive philosophy of a "bend, but not break", "play the corners loose" and try and just "keep the score close" into the Fourth Quarter were all wrong-headed. It works when you have more talent then the other team, like he had in Texas, or when you build a big early lead. He didn't even try and do that this year. This coming from a guy who truly wanted to succeed.

It's not a coincidence that the Gophers started to play much better when Horton finally dumped those things. He started to play Gray. He opened up the Offense. He started to put Weber back into the shotgun, a formation that gave him a lot of success in the past. Horton also started and/or allowed Cosgrove to play a more gambling, blitzing defense.

That stuff seemed to start in the MSU game and continued through the last two wins. Horton's Head Coaching resume doesn't lead one to have a lot of confidence that he could turn things around. It would be nice though if there is a spot for him on the new staff.
Click to expand...

Iceland, I couldn't agree more, although I think that after 22 (?) years of major college and NFL coaching experience perhaps Horton might be finally able to put all of this experience together. Sometimes the solution to life's problems are right under our noses?
 

Two things. Brewster was in a bad, almost untenable position, after last season. And it was his own fault he was there for the most part. He was coaching for his job and that never really works that well. Players were tight. Brewster was squabbling with his assistants. That's just not a good situation.

Brewster's lack of patience really showed through in his first three years. Everything had to be a "kill shot." We finally had a decent offensive staff in place and getting the team transitioned to the kind of balanced offense that would work and he gets canned. Again, largely because it appeared he wouldn't listen to his assistants.

The lesson for me in this is stay away from pro guys with no coordinator level experience at the college level. Brewster has a good eye for talent, but he couldn't get the kids into schemes where that talent could produce consistently. He and Fisch are peas in a pod. They simply expected kids to "get things."
 

50PoundHead said:
Two things. Brewster was in a bad, almost untenable position, after last season. And it was his own fault he was there for the most part. He was coaching for his job and that never really works that well. Players were tight. Brewster was squabbling with his assistants. That's just not a good situation.
Brewster's lack of patience really showed through in his first three years. Everything had to be a "kill shot." We finally had a decent offensive staff in place and getting the team transitioned to the kind of balanced offense that would work and he gets canned. Again, largely because it appeared he wouldn't listen to his assistants.

The lesson for me in this is stay away from pro guys with no coordinator level experience at the college level. Brewster has a good eye for talent, but he couldn't get the kids into schemes where that talent could produce consistently. He and Fisch are peas in a pod. They simply expected kids to "get things."
Click to expand...

Exactly. Mid-season, this was an impossible situation and the players felt it. Everybody was tight, weight of the world on the shoulders of players and staff.

As far as winning the last couple of games, maybe you don't have to read much more into it than the fact that a young and inexperienced defense, after improving over the course of the season, played well for two games and the Gophers won those two games.
 

Iceland12 said:
Besides saying that Brewster did recruit some players, it says that Brewster at last, was able to put together a decent coaching staff. It also says his bullheaded, stubborn insistence on run, run run without mixing in a pass; his complete refusal to use Gray at QB and his defensive philosophy of a "bend, but not break", "play the corners loose" and try and just "keep the score close" into the Fourth Quarter were all wrong-headed. It works when you have more talent then the other team, like he had in Texas, or when you build a big early lead. He didn't even try and do that this year. This coming from a guy who truly wanted to succeed.

It's not a coincidence that the Gophers started to play much better when Horton finally dumped those things. He started to play Gray. He opened up the Offense. He started to put Weber back into the shotgun, a formation that gave him a lot of success in the past. Horton also started and/or allowed Cosgrove to play a more gambling, blitzing defense.

That stuff seemed to start in the MSU game and continued through the last two wins. Horton's Head Coaching resume doesn't lead one to have a lot of confidence that he could turn things around. It would be nice though if there is a spot for him on the new staff.
Click to expand...

That was not Brewster's defensive philosophy it was (and is) Cosgroves's. They tried aggressive defense with Withers and Roof but both coaches moved on to greener pastures.
 

harrys ghost said:
That was not Brewster's defensive philosophy it was (and is) Cosgroves's. They tried aggressive defense with Withers and Roof but both coaches moved on to greener pastures.
Click to expand...

Should have used "mandated" rather then "started". Corrected it now. Though honestly, Brewster talked about how that was the best scheme for this year's young defense. During Cosgrove's tenure as the Defensive Coordinator at Wisconsin he didn't use that style did he? That would make it likely that Callahan and Brewster had as much to do with the scheme as Cosgrove did.
 


Iceland12 said:
During Cosgrove's tenure as the Defensive Coordinator at Wisconsin he didn't use that style did he? That would make it likely that Callahan and Brewster had as much to do with the scheme as Cosgrove did.
Click to expand...

Right. Everyone knows that once a person reaches a certain age it is impossible for them to learn anything new or change the way they do things.
 

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