Why I support Brewster

[dpodoll68]

The reason that it's so difficult to go from a have-not to a have in college football is that, generally speaking, you must win before you can start to recruit really well. In other words, your coach must win with substandard talent (something incredibly difficult to do), and then be able to convince good players to come there based on your recent success.
I am convinced that Brewster is not a very good gameday coach. He will be outcoached by the other sideline more often than not. Nonetheless, I am a steadfast supporter because he does something that very few coaches can do: he outrecruits (by a large margin) the on-field success of his team. Granted, he is doing things out of order by recruiting first and then (hopefully) winning later, but for a team in our standing, this is exactly what we need. When we start winning consistently, his top-25 and top-30 recruiting classes will turn into top-10 and top-15 recruiting classes. We can still win on the basis of superior talent, despite our lack of solid gameday coaching.
Being an ardent follower of athletics for decades has led me to one indisputable truth: it is far easier to win with superior athletes and poor coaching than with great coaching and mediocre athletes. You will never convince me otherwise. For evidence, see the 2009 Minnesota Vikings. Childress has never been a good coach, but suddenly he is extension-worthy because he has something better than a cadaver at QB.

 

[BleedGopher]

The reason that it's so difficult to go from a have-not to a have in college football is that, generally speaking, you must win before you can start to recruit really well. In other words, your coach must win with substandard talent (something incredibly difficult to do), and then be able to convince good players to come there based on your recent success.
I am convinced that Brewster is not a very good gameday coach. He will be outcoached by the other sideline more often than not. Nonetheless, I am a steadfast supporter because he does something that very few coaches can do: he outrecruits (by a large margin) the on-field success of his team. Granted, he is doing things out of order by recruiting first and then (hopefully) winning later, but for a team in our standing, this is exactly what we need. When we start winning consistently, his top-25 and top-30 recruiting classes will turn into top-10 and top-15 recruiting classes. We can still win on the basis of superior talent, despite our lack of solid gameday coaching.
Being an ardent follower of athletics for decades has led me to one indisputable truth: it is far easier to win with superior athletes and poor coaching than with great coaching and mediocre athletes. You will never convince me otherwise. For evidence, see the 2009 Minnesota Vikings. Childress has never been a good coach, but suddenly he is extension-worthy because he has something better than a cadaver at QB.

You make some good points here, but you can't just cherry-pick a single example and have that as fact. On the flip side, good coaching got UW to the Final Four in 2000 or whenever it was...heck, they had Minnesota's own John Bryant leading them in the Tourney, but that was definitely an example of great coaching and mediocre athletes. The same could have been said for Tubby's first year at Minnesota, Northwestern's football this year and when they went to the Rose Bowl, etc. There are many examples of each.

That being said, in college sports you gotta be able to recruit.

Go Gophers!!

 

[GoGophers2005]

Outcoached?
I think the people that believe this need to watch more college football. I don't think there is a coach out there that has brain farts once in a while.

I personally think Brew is right on pace for his coaching ability. I think his teams have consistantly come out and play better in the second half of games and they make adjustments (something that Mason never did). His teams are more aggressive, thus more penalties (which I will take any day of the week).

You can't pin Brew when Weber throws pic sixes for touchdowns (If anything its Fisch Not Brew). You can't pin bad punting on bad coaching.

 

[KoolAid]

You make some good points here, but you can't just cherry-pick a single example and have that as fact. On the flip side, good coaching got UW to the Final Four in 2000 or whenever it was...heck, they had Minnesota's own John Bryant leading them in the Tourney, but that was definitely an example of great coaching and mediocre athletes. The same could have been said for Tubby's first year at Minnesota, Northwestern's football this year and when they went to the Rose Bowl, etc. There are many examples of each.

That being said, in college sports you gotta be able to recruit.

Go Gophers!!

Looking at Dpo's points, I think you have to separate Football and Basketball. I think he's right to a certain extent about coaching.

Brewster can recruit, we know this. But you who else could recruit? Zook - yeah I'm sorry for bringing up the Zook example, but watching him the last couple of years has troubled me. Brew is the same coach as Zook.

Now I recognize the importance of recruiting and I support Brew as well, but honestly, you've got to prove it on the field at some point. I was happy when I heard Maturi was going to extend Brew's contract because it means he understands how college football programs are built - recruiting.

I don't think there is enough time in the day for me to talk about recruiting and its importance. If you ever doubt it's importance, call Mack Brown and ask him.

I think we all have our theories on what the Gophs should do X's and O's wise, so I'll save that for another day as well.

One question for you Dpo, When Boise beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, was it because of superior athleticism or brilliant coaching? There are good coaches out there and THEY DO make a difference.

 

[diehard]

Our biggest problem in the Brewster era has been stability at the coordinator positions. This has to stop long enough to get the athletes into a system for at least a couple of years. It's really pretty simple unless you just lack the patience to become a winner. You also need patience to allow for the recruited talent to mature physically and mentally to the level that it is reaching its potential. If Cosgrove and Fisch stay for several years as Brewster recruited talent matures and get some depth, we will be a winner. No doubt. Our fans lack football sense, patience, and maturity. That may come in time, but I'm not so sure.

 

[dpodoll68]

One question for you Dpo, When Boise beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, was it because of superior athleticism or brilliant coaching? There are good coaches out there and THEY DO make a difference.

When you're talking about one game, all bets are off. For the most part, anything can happen. I do think that you're shortchanging Boise St., though. They've had six guys (so far) in that game who have earned NFL paychecks, and four who have actually made active rosters. I say so far because there are still players from that team who are seniors in 2009-10. Six NFL players on one team is pretty damn good, especially for a non-BCS school.

I don't mean to diminish coaching. Of course it is effectual (for better or worse), but it is only marginal. To quote Red Auerbach, "You can't make chicken salad out of chicken sh*t." Coaching is important, but talent far more so. You could give Tim Brewster Florida's roster, and Urban Meyer Minnesota's roster, and Brewster will win 99 times out of 100.

 

[Dr.Don]

I support Brewster because he is our Head Coach, he knows more than I know, he recruits better than I could. But then again, like Sgt. Schultz... "I know nutting!!!"

Go Gophers!

 

[Ole]

Our biggest problem in the Brewster era has been stability at the coordinator positions. This has to stop long enough to get the athletes into a system for at least a couple of years. It's really pretty simple unless you just lack the patience to become a winner. You also need patience to allow for the recruited talent to mature physically and mentally to the level that it is reaching its potential. If Cosgrove and Fisch stay for several years as Brewster recruited talent matures and get some depth, we will be a winner. No doubt. Our fans lack football sense, patience, and maturity. That may come in time, but I'm not so sure.

This is a fact I'm becoming more and more aware of every day. Read the Pioneer press article replies to the contract extension for Brewster for perfect examples of how absolutely stupid Minnesota fans are.
Here's the deal with Brewster, he's not the classic stoic, passive aggressive, aw shucks, little engine that can, downplay all success, coach most Minnesotans love.
Match that with early failures(07), lack of rivalry wins, last years late season losing streak, and this year's late season offensive woes and you have a s@$%storm of people who can't see past any of that.

A few great nuggets most smart college football fans can see:
Recruiting obviously, there are simply more big time athletes on the team now than at any point in the last 100 years.

Team speed, watch tape from 07 and tell me how fast our defense was, team speed has increased every year under Brewster, next year will be another upgrade.

3rd and 4th quarter effort, even in defeat we've seen the team play until the final snap under Brewster, this wasn't the case under the previous regime, and it wasn't the rule in 08 or 09, we've seen comebacks and effort down to the wire, to me this is the difference between Brewster and Zook, for those that like to bring that analogy up, Zook's teams are uninterested and uninspired when the chips are down, I loved the effort we saw late in games this year.

Team Emotion, this has been a double edged sword, but I'll take it any day. It makes the game more fun, it gets the crowd going, and it ups the tempo of games.

Finally what impresses me most about Brewster is his unreal work ethic towards improving the popularity of the program, it may be "fake" or overdone to some, but he works tirelessly to promote and foster support from everywhere. I even saw him at a frickin Swarm game one night last year. The program was stale as a 10 day old tortilla when he got here, nobody cared. People do care now, not everyone likes the direction of the program, but they talk about it.

Ultimately whether Brewster succeeds or fails is to be seen in 2010 and hopefully 2011.
I will never doubt his work ethic towards building the program, and I can see his plan coming together. If it works he'll silence his critics, if it fails he'll move on and we'll have someone else here.

 

[Maximus]

Outcoached?
You can't pin Brew when Weber throws pic sixes for touchdowns (If anything its Fisch Not Brew).

You can pin Weber going from 2nd team all big ten to one of the worst qbs in the country (statistically) on Brew. And if you retort with that's Fisch, that just proves it's 100 percent on Brew since the TE coach hired a WR coach to run the offense.

 

[KoolAid]

When you're talking about one game, all bets are off. For the most part, anything can happen. I do think that you're shortchanging Boise St., though. They've had six guys (so far) in that game who have earned NFL paychecks, and four who have actually made active rosters. I say so far because there are still players from that team who are seniors in 2009-10. Six NFL players on one team is pretty damn good, especially for a non-BCS school.

I don't mean to diminish coaching. Of course it is effectual (for better or worse), but it is only marginal. To quote Red Auerbach, "You can't make chicken salad out of chicken sh*t." Coaching is important, but talent far more so. You could give Tim Brewster Florida's roster, and Urban Meyer Minnesota's roster, and Brewster will win 99 times out of 100.

I should have gone a little more in depth with my Boise example. Of course the one game example is poor etiquette on my part, but their whole program and that whole season is more what I was aiming at.

Take a look at their Rivals recruiting classes to see who would have made up that roster. Those classes are significantly worse than anything Mason did here. Of course my logic could be flawed by using Rivals as my basis for argument, but take it for what it's worth.

Now how did those 2 and 3 star recruits make it onto NFL rosters? I would say good coaching and player development.

For the record, I think there is a lot of talent on the Goofs roster. If Urban Meyer was running the show, they would be pretty damn good. He dominates the X's and O's stuff on offense. How he would do against Timmy and Florida would be a good debate. Is Fisch going with Timmy? Let's see him call 5 step play-action drops for Tebow! Yeah that'd be interesting.

 

[Ogee Ogilthorpe]

Our biggest problem in the Brewster era has been stability at the coordinator positions. This has to stop long enough to get the athletes into a system for at least a couple of years. It's really pretty simple unless you just lack the patience to become a winner. You also need patience to allow for the recruited talent to mature physically and mentally to the level that it is reaching its potential. If Cosgrove and Fisch stay for several years as Brewster recruited talent matures and get some depth, we will be a winner. No doubt. Our fans lack football sense, patience, and maturity. That may come in time, but I'm not so sure.

Bingo, bingo, bingo...

I have to be honest though, this doesn't surprise me that much so it doesn't bother me that much. In my line of work, I've come to one brutally harsh realization; the general public, by and large, is pretty f'n stupid when it comes to a lot of things. It never ceases to amaze me.

Ole hit the nail on the head with a number of items as well. I do love the fact that Brew has a tireless work ethic, that he has infectious enthusiasm, and is just flat out an amazing recruiter. I also think it has gone largely unnoticed that the team has for the most part played VERY good second half football, attributed to coaching and halftime adjustments. Sure, sometimes they have come out flat and you can argue that is lack of coaching but I'd rather be known as a team that finishes well than one that starts well and cant' close the deal.

Most fans on this board are passionate fans that will show they care regardless of how things are. What most on here don't realize about Brew is that he's gotten the AVERAGE fan more interested and excited about Gopher football than folks have been in a while.

I don't know if he's the guy for the next 10-15 years or not, time will tell. But I'm happy with the direction things are going at this point.

Also have to agree with Doc; I support Brew because he is the coach, plain and simple. Bitching about him and his perceived shortcomings isn't going to make me feel any better about the program and the future, but apparently that works for some of you.

 

[station19]

Thanks for some common sense from Ole and O O.

 

[GoGophers2005]

And Brew has also taken guys like walk on Marcus Sherels and DL Lee Campbell and put them into positions to become better players and starters.
As far as Weber goes he was just as painful in his 1st year as he was last year to watch. If I EVER have to watch Weber run the ball again I will cut out my eyeballs.

 

[Dr.Don]

GG2005...be careful of your promise. If you don't stop, you'll go blind!

 

[Gopher Bandanna Guy]

Our biggest problem in the Brewster era has been stability at the coordinator positions. This has to stop long enough to get the athletes into a system for at least a couple of years. It's really pretty simple unless you just lack the patience to become a winner. You also need patience to allow for the recruited talent to mature physically and mentally to the level that it is reaching its potential. If Cosgrove and Fisch stay for several years as Brewster recruited talent matures and get some depth, we will be a winner. No doubt. Our fans lack football sense, patience, and maturity. That may come in time, but I'm not so sure.

Could not agree more diehard. You've stated exactly how I feel. And your points on our fans lacking patience, and maturity is spot on.

And once we get some coordinator stability, the team will start to develop an identity, as the players become more comfortable within the system. I think we're going to see this on defense first, as I'm still skeptical of Fisch's system.

 

[Maximus]

Team Emotion, this has been a double edged sword, but I'll take it any day. It makes the game more fun, it gets the crowd going, and it ups the tempo of games.

Team emotion?

2009 Illinois: Not showing up to play against a two-win team while you're playing for the biggest bowl in 40 plus years.

2009 SDSU: Brew guaranteed the team would play better following the Illinois game. They looked thoroughly bored.

2008 Iowa: Enough said.

2008 Michigan: Playing the worst Wolverine team in history? Chance to redeem yourselves from the Northwestern game. Improve to 8-2? Nope, looked uninterested.

 

[porscheboxster]

You can pin Weber going from 2nd team all big ten to one of the worst qbs in the country (statistically) on Brew. And if you retort with that's Fisch, that just proves it's 100 percent on Brew since the TE coach hired a WR coach to run the offense.

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Jedd Fisch serve as an assistant QB's coach in Baltimore for a number of years including before going to Denver? Also wasn't there rumors that Peyton Manning wanted him to go to Indianapolis to be the QB's coach there?

Will Fisch turn out to be a good college O.C.? Can't say for sure but looking at Fisch's previous resume I wouldn't bet against him as other people have brought up I want to see stability on offense as I think many of the problems (not all) were due to a new scheme. After all wasn't it a big deal that the Vikes ran the West Coast offense when Favre was deciding to come to the Vikes as that's what he's been used to? (Note: not comparing Weber to Favre just saying QB's may struggle at first when switching schemes). Thanks.

 

[WAGopher]

This is Jedd Fisch's coaching resume:
2008: Denver Broncos Wide Receivers
2007: Baltimore Ravens Assistant Quarterbacks
2005-06: Baltimore Ravens Assistant Quarterbacks/Wide Receivers
2004: Baltimore Ravens Offensive Assistant
2002-03: Houston Texans Defensive Quality Control
2001: Houston Texans Offensive/Defensive Assistant
1999-2000: Florida Graduate Assistant
1998: New Jersey Red Dogs (AFL) Wide Receivers/Quality Control
1997-98: P.K. Yonge High School Defensive Coordinator

Gophersports.com also lists this quarterback coaching highlight:
- Worked with quarterback Steve McNair during 2006 season, when McNair was named to the Pro Bowl and set a franchise record for completion percentage (.630, 295-of-468).

 

[91 CLA Grad]

This is a fact I'm becoming more and more aware of every day. Read the Pioneer press article replies to the contract extension for Brewster for perfect examples of how absolutely stupid Minnesota fans are.

I post on those threads mostly for my own amusement since few people are interested in a rational discussion there. You are correct that the PP comment threads have more toolboxes than your average Home Depot.

 

[wdgold]

This is a fact I'm becoming more and more aware of every day. Read the Pioneer press article replies to the contract extension for Brewster for perfect examples of how absolutely stupid Minnesota fans are.
Here's the deal with Brewster, he's not the classic stoic, passive aggressive, aw shucks, little engine that can, downplay all success, coach most Minnesotans love.
Match that with early failures(07), lack of rivalry wins, last years late season losing streak, and this year's late season offensive woes and you have a s@$%storm of people who can't see past any of that.

A few great nuggets most smart college football fans can see:
Recruiting obviously, there are simply more big time athletes on the team now than at any point in the last 100 years.

Team speed, watch tape from 07 and tell me how fast our defense was, team speed has increased every year under Brewster, next year will be another upgrade.

3rd and 4th quarter effort, even in defeat we've seen the team play until the final snap under Brewster, this wasn't the case under the previous regime, and it wasn't the rule in 08 or 09, we've seen comebacks and effort down to the wire, to me this is the difference between Brewster and Zook, for those that like to bring that analogy up, Zook's teams are uninterested and uninspired when the chips are down, I loved the effort we saw late in games this year.

Team Emotion, this has been a double edged sword, but I'll take it any day. It makes the game more fun, it gets the crowd going, and it ups the tempo of games.

Finally what impresses me most about Brewster is his unreal work ethic towards improving the popularity of the program, it may be "fake" or overdone to some, but he works tirelessly to promote and foster support from everywhere. I even saw him at a frickin Swarm game one night last year. The program was stale as a 10 day old tortilla when he got here, nobody cared. People do care now, not everyone likes the direction of the program, but they talk about it.

Ultimately whether Brewster succeeds or fails is to be seen in 2010 and hopefully 2011.
I will never doubt his work ethic towards building the program and I can see his plan coming together. If it works he'll silence his critics, if it fails he'll move on and we'll have someone else here.

Your kidding about the 100 yr statement right! Especially with the offense.

 

[RodentRampage]

I support the Gophers. I don't concern myself too much with extending or firing the coach, because what I think won't make a bit of difference. My biggest concern is the radical changes, especially on offense. Going from the run offense we had to the spread was a radical change. But moving to a pro-style offense after only two years of the spread may have been too radical a change. It seems to show a lack of vision: if Brewster really wanted the spread, he could have hired another spread coach. I hope this offense can be made to work, because yet another radical change in the offense will just set us back again. It's a tough enough offense for pro players, it may be asking too much for a college players to run.

 

[littlebigboy]

This thread actually is what this GH is about. Actual thought and not blind no mind comments!! GREAT!

I agree that Brew. should begiven until at least 2011, unless there is a complete disaster next yr. He is building the program the right way. He and Fisch are both learning on the job, we will have to hope they are learning enough to get the wins. TB has brought in some very good coaches, some pretty young but they know how to teach football. As much as I wanted to puke a few times this yr, I'd rather have them try trick plays and open things up, than watch the Childress play calling of running into 9 or 10 guys because we are a running team. We just need to let the recruits grow and mature, and ignore all the idiots, that don't understand that on a whole FR. can't compete with JR & SR.

 

[gopher pops]

Major college Coaching

A major college coach is responsible for a few very important things

1 the direction of the program

2 selling the program

3 putting the right assistants in place to carry out the direction of the program

if you don't think a coach is only as good as his assitants you are sadly mistaken

All you have to do is set your sights to the west of the mighty U.S.C. trojans who we play next fall

Same Head Coach

Defensive C.O gone took key assistants with him

Offensive C.O gone took key assitants with him

result U.S.C. in the emerald bowl

Baltimore Ravens

D coordinater rex ryan gone

Last year ravens in the afc championship game this year fighting for the play offs
i can go on and on.

So if you want to talk coaching job
Brewster offensive c.o gone
Defensive c.o gone
and he held par returns to the college play offs which is the bowl season
just throwing it out there

 

[Ole]

Team emotion?

2009 Illinois: Not showing up to play against a two-win team while you're playing for the biggest bowl in 40 plus years.

2009 SDSU: Brew guaranteed the team would play better following the Illinois game. They looked thoroughly bored.

2008 Iowa: Enough said.

2008 Michigan: Playing the worst Wolverine team in history? Chance to redeem yourselves from the Northwestern game. Improve to 8-2? Nope, looked uninterested.

Note I said double edged sword, however you are right, there have been a few games we come out flat. Those are probably the top 4 I can remember. We've also let emotional wins or defeats carry over into the next week, see NW 08 to Michigan 08, You could also see the toll the 08' wisky loss took on the team in the dome against the squakeyes.

I was more talking about the overall attitude the players have on the field, a bit of edge to them, a bit of cockiness, a little swagger. This is something most Minnesotans don't like to see in their athletes but it is an aspect of the team I like.

As for the best athletes in 100 years comment, yes I will stand by that.
Best ATHLETES, not best football players. It's a good place to start, if these top notch athletes Brewster has brought in can learn how to play Big Ten football, we'll win alot of games.

 

[Doogie]

gopher pops -- Baltimore is 2nd in the NFL in points given up per game (16.5) and is top-seven defending the pass and run. They thought they would have Rolle in August, but never got him, and Ngata has played hurt this year. I would say they compensated quite well for losing Ryan. By the way, Bart Scott was a much bigger loss.

As for USC, last year's seniors: Maualuga, Matthews, Cushing, Moala, Moore, Ellison and Harris -- was a once in 20 years group. They were the heart and soul of the No. 2-ranked defense in all of college football last season. The Trojans allowed only 221 yards per game and gave up an NCAA-low 14 touchdowns in 13 games. Southern California finished first in the nation in scoring and pass defense and fifth in run defense.
They dropped off considerably, but that had a lot more to do with the talent drop-off, not the change in coaches, even at USC.

I saw you insulted Maximus in a previous post for his perceived idiotic takes. If he wants to go back at you, here is his ammo.

 

[wait!what?]

Leach in trouble at TT.....he is a coach i would bounce Brew for.

 

[porscheboxster]

gopher pops -- Baltimore is 2nd in the NFL in points given up per game (16.5) and is top-seven defending the pass and run. They thought they would have Rolle in August, but never got him, and Ngata has played hurt this year. I would say they compensated quite well for losing Ryan. By the way, Bart Scott was a much bigger loss.

As for USC, last year's seniors: Maualuga, Matthews, Cushing, Moala, Moore, Ellison and Harris -- was a once in 20 years group. They were the heart and soul of the No. 2-ranked defense in all of college football last season. The Trojans allowed only 221 yards per game and gave up an NCAA-low 14 touchdowns in 13 games. Southern California finished first in the nation in scoring and pass defense and fifth in run defense.
They dropped off considerably, but that had a lot more to do with the talent drop-off, not the change in coaches, even at USC.

I saw you insulted Maximus in a previous post for his perceived idiotic takes. If he wants to go back at you, here is his ammo.

While I agree that USC lost some great players (think you might be wrong on that once in 20 years group but you're allowed your opinion). That said while losing those players may have set them back, they still had more talent and NFL talent (I believe one of their DE's already declared for the NFL and Taylor Mays is a beast) then their results showed so in my humble opinion and I do mean humble you're mistaken on USC's so called lack of talent and that Gopher Pops may have a some validity to it.

 

[Doogie]

allowing 14 TDs in 13 games ... to me, that is once every 20 years, but we can disagree. I noted that they dropped off considerably, but I have a hard time believing it has more to do with the coaches than the talent.
Mays was hurt in Sept., missed their loss at Washington, and was said to never be close to 100% the rest of the season. And if Everson Griffen is so good, why wasn't he a full-time starter until this year?

 

[porscheboxster]

tell you what you can have USC's defense from last year and I'll take the 2001 Miami Hurricanes that consisted of Antrel Rolle, Mike Rumph, DJ Williams, Ed Reed, Sean Taylor, Phillip Buchanon, John Vilma, Jamal Green, Vince Wilfork, William Joseph, and Jerome McDougle. I'll like my odds even though I can't coach a lick haha.

Also are you stating that Griffen isn't a good player because he didn't start last year as Sophomore? I never stated that USC's defense wasn't talented last year I was just saying that they still have plenty of talent and I think that Griffen going to the pro's early help's support my opinion as I think there are a few players currently on the USC roster that will eventually play at the next level. Again that's just my opinion thanks.

 

[maxwellsmart]

You can pin Weber going from 2nd team all big ten to one of the worst qbs in the country (statistically) on Brew. And if you retort with that's Fisch, that just proves it's 100 percent on Brew since the TE coach hired a WR coach to run the offense.

When are some of you going to pin responsibility for poor QB performance where it most belongs? I'm willing to factor in the coaching / systems instability, but can't neglect the guy who won't (doesn't even want to) audible at the line more than a couple times a game, needs a go-to receiver for a crutch (it didn't take him long to start grooming Green for the position once Decker went down this year) and cannot throw with consistent accuracy. Oh for crying out loud, let's be honest, the guy has a tough time hitting an open receiver ten yards downfield when he's not being hurried.

I have no personal axe to grind with Weber nor do I have a reason to favor him over another option. He's just not a good QB for many reasons, some of which you can put down to the variety of systems he's absorbed, but most of which have to do with his limited vision, athleticism and penchant for unforced errors.

For those here who see him as one of the best QB's in the B10, well, you are bound to be forever disappointed, regardless of coaches or systems. A guy either sees the field and can throw it where he wants it or he can't. Hope I'm proven to be horribly wrong, but we're 3 years into this guy's career and it is what it is.