Brewster = vastly over-rated recruiter?

[ConferenceChamp]

With all the talk about Brewster, and his 'renouned' recruiting ability, :rolleyes: I searched for an objective way to measure his performance for this current recruiting class. Scout and Rivals seem to get most of the acclaim when it comes to college football recruiting, with Scout regarded as best and most reliable, (though far from perfect).

So, I pulled up Scout.com and looked at a ranking of 'average stars' for the class of 2010...and quite frankly, I was a bit surprised at what I found.:eek::eek:

In a nutshell, the Gophers, as of earlier this evening, have 27 verbal commitments, and are sitting at dead last in the Big 11 in football recruiting, by the criteria mentioned.:eek::eek:

Here are this year's national rankings, so far:

>Penn St.---tied for 2nd...at 4.00
>Ohio St.---8th..............at 3.59
>Mich. St.--17th.............at 3.28
>Mich.------22nd............at 3.19
>Wisky-----42nd.............at 2.78
>Iowa------43rd.............at 2.75
>NW-------56th..............at 2.56
>Illinois-----57th.............at 2.54
>Purdue----60th.............at 2.52
>Indiana----65th.............at 2.40
>Gophers---tied for 76th...at 2.22 (tied with New Mexico):eek::eek::eek:

Don't like saying it, but with a cumulative Big 11 record of 6-18...and recruiting results like this...my message to Joel Maturi is to keep the Brew's buyout nice and low.

P.S. I don't recall Mason's recruiting classes ever being dead last in the Big 11, and in the bottom 40% of the nation:(
But I could be mistaken.

[gophergrad]

yawn

[Iceland12]

Did they move signing day to January 18?

[mkAz]

You have a short memory don't you?

While I'd like to see this years class a little higher, it's still better than almost anything Mason brought in.

Per Scout:
2010...53rd overall, 8th in BT (this is not a complete class yet)
2009...46th overall, 6th in BT
2008...28th overall, 5th in BT
2007...59th overall, 9th in BT
2006...62nd overall, 9th in BT
2005...56th overall, 10th in BT
2004...58th overall, 9th in BT
2003...53rd overall, 8th in BT
2002...67th overall, 10th in BT

[goldygo4]

Rivals rankings are better then scout..just so you know.

[mkAz]

Per Rivals:
2010...42nd overall, 6th in BT
2009...39th overall, 6th in BT
2008...17th overall, 3rd in BT
2007...57th overall, 9th in BT
2006...62nd overall, 9th in BT
2005...55th overall, 10th in BT
2004...58th overall, 9th in BT
2003...37th overall, 4th in BT
2002...55th overall, 9th in BT

If you can't see improvement you're not looking.

[bankonit]

With all the talk about Brewster, and his 'renouned' recruiting ability, :rolleyes: I searched for an objective way to measure his performance for this current recruiting class. Scout and Rivals seem to get most of the acclaim when it comes to college football recruiting, with Scout regarded as best and most reliable, (though far from perfect).

So, I pulled up Scout.com and looked at a ranking of 'average stars' for the class of 2010...and quite frankly, I was a bit surprised at what I found.:eek::eek:

In a nutshell, the Gophers, as of earlier this evening, have 27 verbal commitments, and are sitting at dead last in the Big 11 in football recruiting, by the criteria mentioned.:eek::eek:

Here are this year's national rankings, so far:

>Penn St.---tied for 2nd...at 4.00
>Ohio St.---8th..............at 3.59
>Mich. St.--17th.............at 3.28
>Mich.------22nd............at 3.19
>Wisky-----42nd.............at 2.78
>Iowa------43rd.............at 2.75
>NW-------56th..............at 2.56
>Illinois-----57th.............at 2.54
>Purdue----60th.............at 2.52
>Indiana----65th.............at 2.40
>Gophers---tied for 76th...at 2.22 (tied with New Mexico):eek::eek::eek:

Don't like saying it, but with a cumulative Big 11 record of 6-18...and recruiting results like this...my message to Joel Maturi is to keep the Brew's buyout nice and low.

P.S. I don't recall Mason's recruiting classes ever being dead last in the Big 11, and in the bottom 40% of the nation:(
But I could be mistaken.

Nobody uses scout rankings. Rivals is by far more highly regarded, But since we are ranked lower using scouts rating system you decided to use it because it suits your agenda. You are a tool and your agenda is too obvious.

[gopherguy05]

With all the talk about Brewster, and his 'renouned' recruiting ability, :rolleyes: I searched for an objective way to measure his performance for this current recruiting class. Scout and Rivals seem to get most of the acclaim when it comes to college football recruiting, with Scout regarded as best and most reliable, (though far from perfect).

So, I pulled up Scout.com and looked at a ranking of 'average stars' for the class of 2010...and quite frankly, I was a bit surprised at what I found.:eek::eek:

In a nutshell, the Gophers, as of earlier this evening, have 27 verbal commitments, and are sitting at dead last in the Big 11 in football recruiting, by the criteria mentioned.:eek::eek:

Here are this year's national rankings, so far:

>Penn St.---tied for 2nd...at 4.00
>Ohio St.---8th..............at 3.59
>Mich. St.--17th.............at 3.28
>Mich.------22nd............at 3.19
>Wisky-----42nd.............at 2.78
>Iowa------43rd.............at 2.75
>NW-------56th..............at 2.56
>Illinois-----57th.............at 2.54
>Purdue----60th.............at 2.52
>Indiana----65th.............at 2.40
>Gophers---tied for 76th...at 2.22 (tied with New Mexico):eek::eek::eek:

Don't like saying it, but with a cumulative Big 11 record of 6-18...and recruiting results like this...my message to Joel Maturi is to keep the Brew's buyout nice and low.

P.S. I don't recall Mason's recruiting classes ever being dead last in the Big 11, and in the bottom 40% of the nation:(
But I could be mistaken.


Ignore the troll..all he does is bad mouth the program and praise Iowa...

He thinks Mark Alt is the second coming of JoeMauer and wants him to sign with his favorite team...Iowa.

Seriously, GVbadger provides more substance on this site and that saying a lot.....

[Iceland12]

Ignore the troll..all he does is bad mouth the program and praise Iowa...

He thinks Mark Alt is the second coming of JoeMauer and wants him to sign with his favorite team...Iowa.

Seriously, GVbadger provides more substance on this site and that saying a lot.....

Maybe a nice catch, but shouldn't a guy calling himself Conference Champ be an Ohio State fan?

[Letsgogophers]

Brewster's recruiting numbers are very misleading. They are based on how many players commit, not how many actually make it to campus. If you factor that in, Mason scores higher that Brewster. His recruits generally made it to campus. Problem players can really up the rankings, but do the program NO good.

[Doogie]

Rivals rankings are better then scout..just so you know.

Subjective ... many would take Scout.

[diehard]

ConferenceChamp > Doogie

[nsmike]

Subjective ... many would take Scout.
I prefer Rivals but it's really an,'apples and oranges', comparison. Scouts weights towards immediate impact, while Rivals, weights towards career contribution. Scouts really underrates program guys that need a couple of years to develop.

[Iceland12]

Brewster's recruiting numbers are very misleading. They are based on how many players commit, not how many actually make it to campus. If you factor that in, Mason scores higher that Brewster. His recruits generally made it to campus. Problem players can really up the rankings, but do the program NO good.

Glen had his share of "washouts" too and him and good old Gordie use to watch as the top Minnesota players headed elsewhere. We weren't talking about keeping the "TOP" guy in the state or even one of the top two. Glen and good old Gordie were hoping to get two or three of the Top Ten!

But hey, it's all subjective. Why Glen and good old Gordie took those great recruits to one third place Big Ten finish in his ten years!

[Iceland12]

ConferenceChamp > Doogie

I don't think even Doogie picked the Gophers to go 0-11 as Conference Champ did in his weekly picks.

Of course that record seems to be a sound indicator of Conference Champs understanding of football in general.

[bigtenchamps1899]

i am wondering why people believe that rivals is so much better than scout. just as someone said in this thread, conferencechamp would use scout as his reference because scout ranks the minnesota class lower than rivals and so it fits his agenda, but the same can be said the other way. gopher fans love to use rivals ratings because it makes us feel better about our class, it fits the our agenda.

is there any objective way to compare the two sites? i don't think so. at the risk of sounding like the Loon, it is all very subjective.

over at scout the administrator (http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=176&f=1102&t=5340656) (who is also a long time GI subscriber) posted this nice write-up of the differences between the two sites.

unless someone can give me some substantial impartial data on rivals superiority in rating recruits, then i don't think it is as easy as just saying rivals is better than scout (by the way the 2010 class is ranked #40 on rivals and #48 at scout. hardly a drastic difference).

i get a little frustrated with the way that rivals seems to be throwing around the three stars. i think it is incredibly disingenuous to say that a recruit is an automatic three star just because he commits to a BCS school. but i'm sure it helps with subscription sales.

[magpie]

1) Scout is subpar.

2) Brewster is better than Mason, Wacker, Guddy, etc, etc.

[Handsome Pete]

Why don't you pull your lip over your head and swallow.

[minngg]

Subjective ... many would take Scout.

Many with an axe to grind maybe. Otherwise, most wouldn't.

[ConferenceChamp]

I don't think even Doogie picked the Gophers to go 0-11 as Conference Champ did in his weekly picks.

Of course that record seems to be a sound indicator of Conference Champs understanding of football in general.


Hey Iceland-

You can check the link below to see who came in 7th place (out of nearly 200 'Holer contestants) :D with this past season's picks of the winners of the Gopher games. :D

BTW, thanks to our resident Snowman (Rick Mons) for providing the entertainment.

Can't accuse me of being a Kool-Aid drinker :D
or in having a lot of faith in the direction of the football program, under the current head coach.:eek:

http://www.forums.gopherhole.com/boards/showthread.php?t=13275

[minngg]

Hey Iceland-

You can check the link below to see who came in 7th place (out of nearly 200 'Holer contestants) :D with this past season's picks of the winners of the Gopher games. :D

BTW, thanks to our resident Snowman (Rick Mons) for providing the entertainment.

Can't accuse me of being a Kool-Aid drinker :D
or in having a lot of faith in the direction of the football program, under the current head coach.:eek:

http://www.forums.gopherhole.com/boards/showthread.php?t=13275

Can we accuse you of not being fair since in the 2 years of Brewster recruiting he has out-recruited Iowa and Wisconsin according to Rivals for the first time in 10 years? Or would the truth hurt too much?

[ConferenceChamp]

Ignore the troll..all he does is bad mouth the program and praise Iowa...

He thinks Mark Alt is the second coming of JoeMauer and wants him to sign with his favorite team...Iowa...


My favorite team? Iowa? hahahahahaha...not exactly:rolleyes:

But Alt's favorite football team is the Hawkeyes, or so I've heard...Maybe you misunderstood my earlier post?

although I will admit I cheered for Iowa the night they played in the Orange Bowl.
as I cheered for all the Big 11 teams playing in bowl games a few weeks ago.

FYI...one of my favorite games of the year was Northwestern thumpin' the Hawkeyes:D

But 'we' need to change some perceptions that the national press has, and this past bowl season helped in that regard.

If I really was an Iowa troll, then I would want Brewster to have a 20-year, iron-clad contract extension from Maturi in front of him:eek:

[JackiO]

Subjective ... many would take Scout.

Exactly. Rivals has an overwhelming number of players rated higher than 5.5, too. Many of those over rated players on rivals are much lower ranked at scout and rightfully so which brings our recruiting rankings back down to earth.

[ust4life]

1) You're a troll
2) You need to lay off the emoticons...we get the point:clap::):(:confused::mad::p;):D:o:rolleyes::c ool::eek::cry::cool02::pig::cheer::drink::party::r ockon::cool03::blah::banghead::horse:

[EG#9]

I can't believe anyone could fall for this one. Very, very poor attempt at a troll job. Hope the 20 minutes or more of your life it took to write that was fulfilling for you.

[Iceland12]

Hey Iceland-

You can check the link below to see who came in 7th place (out of nearly 200 'Holer contestants) :D with this past season's picks of the winners of the Gopher games. :D

BTW, thanks to our resident Snowman (Rick Mons) for providing the entertainment.

Can't accuse me of being a Kool-Aid drinker :D
or in having a lot of faith in the direction of the football program, under the current head coach.:eek:

http://www.forums.gopherhole.com/boards/showthread.php?t=13275

Being right half the time got you 7th out of 200?

That certainly doesn't excuse the fact that only a troll or an unrepentant Masonite would pick them to lose every week. It does though, underline the need for people on this board to avoid gambling at all costs!! :banghead:

[GopherGod]

Brewster was hired and touted based largely on his recruiting ability at Texas, which is not exactly a tough job. As they said during the national championship game, Mack Brown says at Texas they don't recruit they select. If this is what Maturi wanted to use as his criteria for hiring a coach, then I guess we should hire Bruce Chambers as our next head coach since he is the current recruiting coordinator for Texas. I hope Maturi gets the memo next time that there are coaches out there than both recruit and coach

[gophmeister]

Brewster's recruiting numbers are very misleading. They are based on how many players commit, not how many actually make it to campus. If you factor that in, Mason scores higher that Brewster. His recruits generally made it to campus. Problem players can really up the rankings, but do the program NO good.

That is plain false. Mason had a very high attrition rate. Look at this year's graduating seniors, only 8 of them are Mason scholarship recruits. The majority are either walks ons or JCs.

[GVBadger]

Speaking of Rivals ratings, the kid that got the scholarship offer from the Badgers over Epping and Eggan was finally rated on Rivals. His name is Dallas Lewallen and he is a 5.6 three star.

Epping and Eggen are 5.5 three stars.

It seems the Badgers coaching staff knew what they were doing all along and Rivals finally figured it out also.:clap::cool02:

[GophersInIowa]

One thing I don't like about Scout is that they rank Josh Campion and Joey Searcy as 1-star recruits for 2010 even though they are already included in the 2009 class. They are gray-shirts and because of that, are automatically 1-star players. Campion went from a 3-star to 1-star player over one year according to their rankings.

[minngg]

Brewster was hired and touted based largely on his recruiting ability at Texas, which is not exactly a tough job. As they said during the national championship game, Mack Brown says at Texas they don't recruit they select. If this is what Maturi wanted to use as his criteria for hiring a coach, then I guess we should hire Bruce Chambers as our next head coach since he is the current recruiting coordinator for Texas. I hope Maturi gets the memo next time that there are coaches out there than both recruit and coach

Those that know, the people that follow recruiting, think you are wrong. They think that Brewster has done a remarkable job of recruiting here. Think it is easy to recruit to a metro university with the worst winters in Div 1 football and 40 years of losing? Think again.

[GophersInIowa]

Brewster was hired and touted based largely on his recruiting ability at Texas, which is not exactly a tough job. As they said during the national championship game, Mack Brown says at Texas they don't recruit they select. If this is what Maturi wanted to use as his criteria for hiring a coach, then I guess we should hire Bruce Chambers as our next head coach since he is the current recruiting coordinator for Texas. I hope Maturi gets the memo next time that there are coaches out there than both recruit and coach

It may not be tough to get good players at places like Texas, Oklahoma, and Florida but it's still tough to get those elite players like Vince Young, Adrian Peterson, and Reggie Bush. It's not like Texas was going against Iowa St., Kent St., and Colorado when they landed Vince Young. They still had to battle with the likes of Florida State (who were considered a top program at that time) and LSU to get him.

The best way to judge Brew as a recruiter is what the team does on the field the next two years when his classes are upperclassmen. If we're still winning 6 or 7 games with those guys, then he probably is overrated.

[Izatys98]

Per Rivals:
2010...42nd overall, 6th in BT
2009...39th overall, 6th in BT
2008...17th overall, 3rd in BT
2007...57th overall, 9th in BT
2006...62nd overall, 9th in BT
2005...55th overall, 10th in BT
2004...58th overall, 9th in BT
2003...37th overall, 4th in BT
2002...55th overall, 9th in BT

If you can't see improvement you're not looking.

If signing day were today, I fail to see how we're showing improvement as you look from '08-'10... Enough of the comparison with Mason. Can we judge Brewster on what he's delivering at this point?

[bankonit]

If signing day were today, I fail to see how we're showing improvement as you look from '08-'10... Enough of the comparison with Mason. Can we judge Brewster on what he's delivering at this point?

You are kidding, right?

You fail to see how 6th and 3rd are better than 9th and 10th?

[Izatys98]

You are kidding, right?

You fail to see how 6th and 3rd are better than 9th and 10th?

Re-read my post...

[Ole]

I think everyone needs to let the rankings on Scout, Rivals, and ESPN go.
There are enough youtube and highlight videos to see all of these recruits in action.
Watch the tapes and then see how the recruits look.

The targets of this class point to building depth over immediate impact. There are more projects and long term development types than day one starters.

2007-What was our greatest weakness? Offensive and defensive speed.
Recruits:
The 08 class had a ton of speedy defensive players and guys who could come in and immediately contribute on the both sides of the ball.

2008-What was our greatest weakness? Quality depth. Pittman was brought in to allow Gray to RS and develop, neither worked out like was hoped in 08. Young players were plentiful and got a chance to play, but only Stoudemire was impactful. The offensive line was beaten up every game. Key players got hurt down the road resulting in a collapse late in the year.
Recruits:
09 class had immediate impact guys like Carter, Wills, Lipscomb, and Carpenter that were supposed to fill in and displace depth issues such as Bennett, Decker, and Sherels getting hurt in 08. The majority of freshmen were allowed to RS, mature and grow. This will help eliminate quality depth issues down the road. Across the board quality football players sat this year to help improve this program in 2010-2013. Thus finally eliminating the depth gap the 05, 06, 07 classes put in this program. Along with the lack of redshirts in the 08 class out of necessity.
Seriously look at those classes and then look at how many RS upperclassmen will start next year. In 2013 there will not be the same problem.

2009-What was our greatest weakness? Obviously Carpenter and Lipscomb didn't work out. Wills was average to solid, but the offensive line was suspect all year. A senior laden defense played well, but graduated. The running game was ineffective and the passing game struggled to click.
Recruits:
The 2010 class is specifically recruited to address a few concerns, namely offensive line quality and defensive secondary depth. Also to try and find a runningback to hang the program's hat on.
Emphasis was put on these three positions along with a responsible number of linebackers, wide receivers, and defensive linemen. Again the majority will RS and develop. This will give another group of talented players a chance to solidify the program from 2011 to 2014.
It's not as flashy as some may hope, but every recruit has a purpose, take a step back, analyze and I think most will see the direction the recruiting has been under this regime.

[MRJ]

Speaking of Rivals ratings, the kid that got the scholarship offer from the Badgers over Epping and Eggan was finally rated on Rivals. His name is Dallas Lewallen and he is a 5.6 three star.

Epping and Eggen are 5.5 three stars.

It seems the Badgers coaching staff knew what they were doing all along and Rivals finally figured it out also.:clap::cool02:

And the award for most irrevelant post of the day goes to.........:p;)

[MRJ]

Hey Iceland-

You can check the link below to see who came in 7th place (out of nearly 200 'Holer contestants) :D with this past season's picks of the winners of the Gopher games. :D

BTW, thanks to our resident Snowman (Rick Mons) for providing the entertainment.

Can't accuse me of being a Kool-Aid drinker :D
or in having a lot of faith in the direction of the football program, under the current head coach.:eek:
http://www.forums.gopherhole.com/boards/showthread.php?t=13275

Well that's certainly true. ;)

[GoAUpher]

Re-read my post...

Don't even bother suggesting it. There is no talking with him unless you +1 his point.

Meanwhile, I'm confused as to what we're supposed to look at then. I understand what you are asking (judge Brew on his own merits) but judge him how? To judge him using overall class rating/rating of class within the Big 10 you have to consider the program's strength (e.g. a 4th ranked B10 class would be a step down for OSU but a pretty good ranking for MN, WI, Iowa). Since rankings are relatively new that means comparisons to Mason. It is inevitable.

If you are going to judge Brew on his own merits you do it using the number of wins and losses he's accrued.

I certainly agree that the overall class rankings are showing a downward trend. But that also corresponds to the failure to get over the hump with wins too. Also, with this shaping up to be the lowest rated of Brew's 3 classes, it is still no worse than on par with an "average" MN class over the last decade. There is no denying that point.

[50PoundHead]

Speaking of Rivals ratings, the kid that got the scholarship offer from the Badgers over Epping and Eggan was finally rated on Rivals. His name is Dallas Lewallen and he is a 5.6 three star.

Epping and Eggen are 5.5 three stars.

It seems the Badgers coaching staff knew what they were doing all along and Rivals finally figured it out also.:clap::cool02:

Nice to see Mr. "I Don't Believe in Stars" is now spouting the methodology when it's "his" recruit that's involved.

[GVBadger]

Nice to see Mr. "I Don't Believe in Stars" is now spouting the methodology when it's "his" recruit that's involved.

You missed the point of the post. The point was all the people using Rivals ratings as an indication that the Badgers in state recruiting was falling apart were proven wrong because the recruit that took the scholarship offer from Epping and Eggen is now rated higher then they are. Maybe the Wisconsin coaches knew what they were doing. In the end, the players will make that determination over the next 5 years.

The reality is that there is no way you can predict based on a highly subjective rating of a player in the range of 5.5-5.7 who is going to have the best college career. There are far to many factors involved and it is an excercise of futility. The notion that a 5.7 player is going to better then a 5.6 or 5.5 player is ridiculous.

The rating of the three players will not determine how hard they are going to work, how they will do in school, whether they are a good fit for the system or how well they will be coached.

Stars can be a very general guide to how a school may be recruiting. Comparing classes and ranking them and then determining someone is recruiting better because their classes average a 32 rating compared to others that average a 42 rating is absurd.

[50PoundHead]

Just keep spinning it. My point that you've contradicted yourself on just about everything you've said up to this point about the rankings of recruits.

[GVBadger]

Just keep spinning it. My point that you've contradicted yourself on just about everything you've said up to this point about the rankings of recruits.

Your point is incorrect and there is no spin. My position has never changed.

[MRJ]

Okay, I have a question: How did this thread go from "Brewster is overrated as a recruiter" into "the Badger coaches are doing a good job of recruiting Wisconsin kids"? Now all we need is somebody to talk about how well Kirk Ferentz recruits Iowa kids and we'll have all our bases covered. :p

[littlebigboy]

I guess we will find out in the next few yrs. how good a recruiter he is. When his recruits become 3-4-5th yr players, can they win. That will be the determining factor whether he can recruit or not. Not some star system. Alot of recruiting has to do with a kids heart and work ethic, not only skill. Some kids are 6'5" 215 as Srs. in HS and are pretty matured physically and some are 6'5" and 215 and hardly shave. 3-4 yrs. can make a world of difference!! WAIT AND SEE AND QUIT ALL THE SPECULATION!

[GVBadger]

Okay, I have a question: How did this thread go from "Brewster is overrated as a recruiter" into "the Badger coaches are doing a good job of recruiting Wisconsin kids"? Now all we need is somebody to talk about how well Kirk Ferentz recruits Iowa kids and we'll have all our bases covered. :p

That is a good question. Since the thread was about Rivals Ratings and whether Brewster is a good recruiter, I thought I would add an example about ratings which had been discussed on the board as it related to a couple of kids Minnesota has committed.

I don't think there is any question that "recruiting" has improved under Brewster at Minnesota. Whether he is "out recruiting" anyone else is pure conjecture and ultimately is only decided on the field.

Anybody that expected him to come in and land top ten classes and be ranked ahead of OSU, PSU or Michigan in the Big Ten in "recruiting" lives in fantasy land. It will never happen. To say he is not being successful "recruiting" because he has not done that is ridiculous.

He is clearly bringing in deeper classes and higher rated players then Mason did. The question is can he win with them. You still need to beat the big boys in the Big Ten to accomplish the goal of winning the Big Ten. You are not going to do it by "out recruiting" them in the traditional sense.

Logically, he should get the chance to build a winning team as his recruits mature. Ole has stated the argument for this position rather eloquently. Unfortunately, the only thing to go on is faith, there is no guarantee.

However, I can understand why people think he may not be able to do it. There are signs that he is not up to the task. Whether it is fair to judge him based on those perceived signs is the question.

That is why there is so much angst in Gopher Nation right now. I actually think both sides make compelling arguments.

[MRJ]

That is a good question. Since the thread was about Rivals Ratings and whether Brewster is a good recruiter, I thought I would add an example about ratings which had been discussed on the board as it related to a couple of kids Minnesota has committed.

I don't think there is any question that "recruiting" has improved under Brewster at Minnesota. Whether he is "out recruiting" anyone else is pure conjecture and ultimately is only decided on the field.

Anybody that expected him to come in and land top ten classes and be ranked ahead of OSU, PSU or Michigan in the Big Ten in "recruiting" lives in fantasy land. It will never happen. To say he is not being successful "recruiting" because he has not done that is ridiculous.

He is clearly bringing in deeper classes and higher rated players then Mason did. The question is can he win with them. You still need to beat the big boys in the Big Ten to accomplish the goal of winning the Big Ten. You are not going to do it by "out recruiting" them in the traditional sense.

Logically, he should get the chance to build a winning team as his recruits mature. Ole has stated the argument for this position rather eloquently. Unfortunately, the only thing to go on is faith, there is no guarantee.

However, I can understand why people think he may not be able to do it. There are signs that he is not up to the task. Whether it is fair to judge him based on those perceived signs is the question.

That is why there is so much angst in Gopher Nation right now. I actually think both sides make compelling arguments.

No problem. I was just funning with you a little bit. But otherwise, I agree. There are certainly compelling arguments both ways in debates such as this one. As you noted, bringing in better talent is just one part of the equation. The second part is making sure they live up to their potential on the field, which I guess is the real issue people are having when it comes to Brewster.

The bottom line for me is this: The Gophers are losing several key players between this year and next. As such, many of Brewster's recruits will be counted on to fill those spots, which is why next year is vital to his future at Minnesota imo. We'll be able to get a better feel not only for what kind of recruiter he is, but also what kind of developer of talent.