I'll have to admit that after last season I would have rated the Gophers' stock a sell, and I still don't think you could prove that Brewster is a good coach in a court of law. (Not saying that he isn't, just that the verdict is still out.) However, after reading and hearing all of the reports and comments about this year's team, it's hard not to get the feeling that there's a profound change taking place in the program.
There may be a lot of talk about the relative inexperience of some elements of the team, but when in the last twenty years have you heard the word "talented" used to describe so many players in just about every position? There may be some freshmen playing this year, but there's very little talk of having to throw so-and-so to the wolves because there just isn't anyone else to turn to. There's always talk about competition in fall practice, but it always used to be competition to see who was the best of a mediocre group. Now it seems to be more of a case of talent pushing talent. Instead of hearing the word "undersized" used to describe players at almost every position, you're hearing words like "freak" and "beast." Previous Gopher teams seemed to suffer from a case of too much "Minnesota nice," but you're starting to hear the word "nasty" much more. Talk about almost every position being thin is now replaced, in most cases, with talk about a growing depth with truly talented back-ups. Recruiting is no longer picking whatever meat is left on the bones after all the big boys are done - though it has a ways to go. It appears Brewster is finally getting a real feel of what it takes to be a good head coach. There's a pretty good staff in place. And, you can actually look forward to future years with a reasonable expectation of things getting better.
If the Gophers could manage a few breakthrough wins this year, something special, at least in terms of recent history, just may be on the horizon. No, I haven't drank the Koolaid, but you'd have to be pretty negative not to see signs of encouragement.
There may be a lot of talk about the relative inexperience of some elements of the team, but when in the last twenty years have you heard the word "talented" used to describe so many players in just about every position? There may be some freshmen playing this year, but there's very little talk of having to throw so-and-so to the wolves because there just isn't anyone else to turn to. There's always talk about competition in fall practice, but it always used to be competition to see who was the best of a mediocre group. Now it seems to be more of a case of talent pushing talent. Instead of hearing the word "undersized" used to describe players at almost every position, you're hearing words like "freak" and "beast." Previous Gopher teams seemed to suffer from a case of too much "Minnesota nice," but you're starting to hear the word "nasty" much more. Talk about almost every position being thin is now replaced, in most cases, with talk about a growing depth with truly talented back-ups. Recruiting is no longer picking whatever meat is left on the bones after all the big boys are done - though it has a ways to go. It appears Brewster is finally getting a real feel of what it takes to be a good head coach. There's a pretty good staff in place. And, you can actually look forward to future years with a reasonable expectation of things getting better.
If the Gophers could manage a few breakthrough wins this year, something special, at least in terms of recent history, just may be on the horizon. No, I haven't drank the Koolaid, but you'd have to be pretty negative not to see signs of encouragement.
