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charlesbenjamin7

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I must admit, that I never believed Mason should have been fired. Whatever the case, I am wondering: At what point did you know that Brewster had to go? Was it a play? Was it a game? Was it a press conference remark?

For me, I had some deep suspicions when Brewster could not articulate an offensive philosophy in his opening press conference after he was hired. Red flags were waving in my head. I was willing, however to give him the benefit of the doubt. It always bothered me, though: How can you become a head coach without some clear idea what you want to do on offense?

What sealed it for me was the very first drive in the very first game against Bowling Green. The man was hired because of Mason’s lapses on defense. However, in his very first defensive drive as a head coach, he somehow was unable to put a defensive back within 20yds of a receiver. Sheehan carved us up like a hot knife through butter all game long. At that point, I knew that Brewster was in way over his head and that we had made a terrible mistake.
 

charlesbenjamin7 said:
What sealed it for me was the very first drive in the very first game against Bowling Green. The man was hired because of Mason’s lapses on defense. However, in his very first defensive drive as a head coach, he somehow was unable to put a defensive back within 20yds of a receiver. Sheehan carved us up like a hot knife through butter all game long. At that point, I knew that Brewster was in way over his head and that we had made a terrible mistake.
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Ol' Mase would've shut down Bowling Green with Jamal Harris and Desi Steib starting at corner.

P.S. He was hired because Mase couldn't win a conference title in his 20 years as a head coach. Not his fault he was over his head.
 

charlesbenjamin7 said:
I must admit, that I never believed Mason should have been fired.
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His enebriated rantings that 99% of people didn't see at his pep rally press conference in Tempe really articulated the end for Mason. The guy was at the end of the line and seeing that drunk moron at the press conference smack-talking all the press about saying he wasn't making a bowl game that year was all I needed to see.

Then he gives up that game the next day and the rest is history.
 

Well, for me the red flags were waving during the first season when the team hit rock bottom and did not show any improvement as the season went on. Lou Holtz inherited probably the worst team in Gopher history from the year before but you could see the team getting better as the season went on. Still, I gave Brewster the benefit of the doubt because he was adopting new schemes and that takes time and his recruiting was getting better in seasons 2 and 3.

By the end of last season I knew this guy did not have what it takes to be a D-1 Head football coach. I knew going into this season that any more time with Brewster was a waste of time. Maybe the program has to hit absolute rock bottom before they will do anything about it. Hopefully something will be done by the end of the year - this season has the makings of being terrible beyond epic proportions. I am afraid this is going to get a lot worse for Tim Brewster over the next several weeks.......
 

Honestly, for me, it was last night. Even after the USD loss, I was of the opinion of "letting the season play out" to see if it could get turned around. Every game, I come away with things I do like here & there with some of the coaches.

But last night was a sealer. I sum it up best with this: two years ago, we were a little better than Northern Illinois. Two years later, we clearly were not as good as them last night, despite most of the guys being Brewster's players. We've clearly regressed. I don't apologize for being late to the dance though regarding a coaching change. Whoever the next coach is, I will be patient with him as well. I know lots of people here won't be and they'll want him fired after his first decision they disagree with in his first game.

If there's a positive in all of this, it's that we'll only waste 4 years not knowing that Brew wasn't the guy to take it to the next level unlike the 10 years we wasted with Mason.
 



When he hired Fisch and Cosgrove. Also when he changed offensive philosophies.

Then again when he decided that football was a simple game and all you needed to do is ram it up the middle 50 times per game and that would shock the other team into getting on the bus and going home at halftime.
 

FireDaveLee said:
If there's a positive in all of this, it's that we'll only waste 4 years not knowing that Brew wasn't the guy to take it to the next level unlike the 10 years we wasted with Mason.
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Considering where the program was when Mason took over, I don't think the first half of Mason's tenure was a waste. I said in another post a couple of weeks back Mason is the type of coach that's good for a program that's near rock bottom...he'll bring you respectability and some bowl games and for a while fans will be happy with the results but those type of coaches will never get you over the hurdle (Wisconsin '99, Michigan '03, Wisconsin '05) that can define an improving program. Once it's clear those hurdles can't be cleared, you move on. I was ok with dumping Mason but the guy who replaced Mason should have been the guy who took the program to New Years Day bowls and used 6-6/7-5 as a standard for an off year. Unfortunately, it became the replacement's "best" year.

I didn't like the announcement of Brewster's hiring and didn't think he would succeed. The U needed a "name" to replace Mason, not a guy who hadn't been in the college game for a few years and had zero head coaching experience. I hoped for the best, expected the worst, with Brew losing me for good after the Wisconsin choke at Camp Randall in '08.
 

End of last year opened my eyes to Brew's short comings. Losing to the Illini and barely beating the Jackribbits bumped me off the bandwagon.
 



Honestly..the very day he arrived here and held his initial, epic PC. The old adage from grandpa started flashing before my eyes the faster he talked that day: "talkers are NOT doers!"
 

PeanutButterTubbyTime said:
His enebriated rantings that 99% of people didn't see at his pep rally press conference in Tempe really articulated the end for Mason. The guy was at the end of the line and seeing that drunk moron at the press conference smack-talking all the press about saying he wasn't making a bowl game that year was all I needed to see.

Then he gives up that game the next day and the rest is history.
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Both my wife and I were at the pep rally in Tempe in 2006 and neither of us recall Mason being drunk or saying out of line remarks. I'm not saying it didn't happen, just that it was not egregious enough to be obvious.
 

I believed Brewster was unqualified from the second he was hired and have never wavered. All I had to do was look at his resume and see that in 17 years not a single coach or AD deemed him qualified to be a coordinator much less a head coach. His constant staff turnover further cemented my beliefs along with my personal interactions with him. I have met enough slick talking no substance con men in my day to recognize what one looks and sounds like. His crowning moment for me was when he hired Cosgrove, again ignoring the fact that the guy was deemed to no longer be a good coach by two hall of fame coaches.
 

GopherGod said:
His crowning moment for me was when he hired Cosgrove, again ignoring the fact that the guy was deemed to no longer be a good coach by two hall of fame coaches.
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Maybe nobody else would work with him.

I'm just asking.
 



60 Cent said:
Considering where the program was when Mason took over, I don't think the first half of Mason's tenure was a waste. I said in another post a couple of weeks back Mason is the type of coach that's good for a program that's near rock bottom...he'll bring you respectability and some bowl games and for a while fans will be happy with the results but those type of coaches will never get you over the hurdle (Wisconsin '99, Michigan '03, Wisconsin '05) that can define an improving program. Once it's clear those hurdles can't be cleared, you move on. I was ok with dumping Mason but the guy who replaced Mason should have been the guy who took the program to New Years Day bowls and used 6-6/7-5 as a standard for an off year. Unfortunately, it became the replacement's "best" year.
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Fair point.
 

Studwell55 said:
Maybe nobody else would work with him.

I'm just asking.
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If that is true which it could be then that is a major problem itself. I also feel that maturi was trying to help out his old friend who needed a job and didn't have a job and whose phone wasn't ringing off the hook.
 

For me, its been a cumulative thing. There wasn't one "moment."
I hated the hire to begin with, but then was impressed by the recruiting and optimism. I started to have more negative feelings than positive ones beginning with the 55-0 loss to Iowa after which Brew hired Tim Davis to establish OLine dominance and "pound the rock" which is something we excelled at under the previous coach. That began the waffling on, or total inconsistency on, offensive philosophy. For me, the straw that broke the camel's back was USD.
 





There were moment last year where I was concerned about his coaching ability, but I kept the faith and supported Brewster because I wanted him to win. I also thought that he would have a break through at some point and really start turning things around. However, after the So Dak loss I knew it was never going to happen. It was after that loss I called for his firing and I will not change my mind.
 

I could no longer suspend disbelief after the USD game. I wasn't impressed his first year, but became entranced during the 7-1 start in 2008. My hope was he'd recruit himself such good players they wouldn't need him to any more than open the door to the locker room.
 

GO4INLALALAND said:
There were moment last year where I was concerned about his coaching ability, but I kept the faith and supported Brewster because I wanted him to win. I also thought that he would have a break through at some point and really start turning things around. However, after the So Dak loss I knew it was never going to happen. It was after that loss I called for his firing and I will not change my mind.
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That basically sums up how I feel too. I figured this year would give us a look at some progress at least. I feel like I am watching Brewster's first year all over again. I'm starting to feel apathetic towards this season. I just feel really bad for the players, they are trying their hardest, but the coaching staff doesn't seem to have a clue what they are doing.

$50 is a lot to pay for a marching band concert every weekend.
 

Bowling Green in '07 was the worst Gopher offense I had ever seen - or so it seemed, but doubt turned to conviction when the offense collapsed in the late games of last year and Brew wouldn't make changes. Even so, I was for giving him a fourth year. It is clear now that we can't compete with the MAC.
 

Zales04 said:
That basically sums up how I feel too. I figured this year would give us a look at some progress at least. I feel like I am watching Brewster's first year all over again. I'm starting to feel apathetic towards this season. I just feel really bad for the players, they are trying their hardest, but the coaching staff doesn't seem to have a clue what they are doing.

$50 is a lot to pay for a marching band concert every weekend.
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The band was great last night.

I had dinner with an old boss of mine who grew up in South Dakota and played d2 college football He was absolutely stunned the gophers lost. I knew then we were gonna have a tough time winning another game this year.
 

Zales04 said:
I just feel really bad for the players, they are trying their hardest, but the coaching staff doesn't seem to have a clue what they are doing.
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I do too. Last night when I watched Weber come off the field after throwing the INT in the end zone to seal the gopher's fate, I felt really bad for him. I feel bad that he never really experienced any success here. I do not think Weber is a great qb, but I still bad for him as well as all the guys on the team. My empathy will only get deeper as this season unwinds and the Gophers get beat week in and week out. I think the end of the season will not get here soon enough for these guys.
 

The idea that Brewster could somehow be a NYD Bowl game type of Big Ten coach became utterly ridiculous on 11/1/2008.

And it became completely obvious that the Hail-Mary-pass of all coaching hires wasn't going to work out when Iowa won 55-0 at the Metrodome finale. At that point I supported the coach not because I though the would ever exceed what Glen Mason had accomplished here (or even come close to matching it), but because the program was in emergency mode.

Someday, when everyone decides to be honest, they will admit that Glen Mason deserved 2-years to show what he could do with the stadium he helped to get built.
 

For me, things like this is a progression. The first hint I had that Brewster may not be the guy for the job was when Ted Roof was here. The defense was looking good and on the radio Sid asked him something like "And what about that Ted Roof? He seems to be doing a heck-of-a job with the defense." And instead of Brew extolling the very good job Roof was doing, he said something like "Well you know Sid, we have some very good players on defense, they work hard every day and it shows in the games." Brew never mentioned Roof or the coaching when Sid gave him the softball opening to do so. At the time I thought that there must be some conflict between Roof and Brewster and sure enough Roof bolts after just one season.

Over time there were other signs that were tipping the scale against Brewster, but coming into this year, I still had hope that the team would move forward. I somehow could forgive the SD game because I know let downs can happen with a young team. The team was also respectable against USC, but last night shredded all hope I have for Brewster.
 

I had a pretty good idea that he was worthless when he came in, and by hiring Dunbar, announced that he was ignoring the strengths of his existing players and ignoring everything he should have learned about offense from Mike Shannahan.

I was certain of if by the FAU loss in Miami.

I was reminded of it when after blathering about "pound the rock" all year, they lined up in the shotgun on 3rd and 4 and threw a crappy swing or screen pass last night, followed up by a missed field goal.
 

This is it for me with brew. I wanted to stay positive, I wanted to think he would turn things around. Even after the USD debacle, I thought there was a chance after last weeks ok performance. He's just not the guy for the job, and he should be gone by the end of the year, if not earlier.
 

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