Recruits

[golfinggopher]

I know there is a lot of threads like this, so please don't jump down my throat anyone...It looks like we have just over a handful of recruits left to come in. Who does everyone think we are actually going to sign? How do you think this class will rank in February? Guys in the know like Grunkie, Johnny, Gopherprof etc...please chime in.

BTW, I just don't understand why people are so negative on here. In my opinion, Brewster is right on track where he should be. Two years ago, the cupboard was almost completely bare and we have some pretty serious talent that are either Sr's in high school ;), freshman, RS freshmen, or sophmores...I was HOPING for a 7-5 year and that looks like it should happen. I know Brewster has his flaws, but I'm totally supportive of him and I hope everyone else can stay that way until his recruits are SENIORS...If we haven't turned the corner by then, I would expect us to look elsewhere.

Sorry about the rant, but I look forward to checking this sight everyday and lately it just depresses me....

[Winnipegopher]

In answering your second, people are negative because the Internet is negative. I am glad I don't know many of these people in real life (Harsh, I konw but true).

That said, the Gophers need a signature win or two. Beat tOSU or Iowa, and then MSU,Iliniois and SDSU to get to eight wins and the negativity will be gone. Addtionally, I think people are getting worried because not enough of the 07 and 08 recruits are starting. Time will tell if that is a legit worry.

[KoolAid]

Quick answer from someone not in the know.

I dont know who we are going to sign, but both of Brewster's classes have had significant signing day "gets."

If this holds this year, we'll rank in the top 35 as an overall class. I've been very impressed with this clas so far - adding lots of depth up front. I really like that center from Texas. Honestly, if you add two, three more 4-star players, this class will look REALLY GOOD on paper. But we all know games aren't played on paper - they're played by little men inside of oru television boxes.

Plus, one of our 3-star players is bound to ave his ranking bumped up a star (maybe even two player).

People are negative because of El Nino.

[grunkiejr]

Our current point total on Rivals is 825 making us #30 overall. Many schools around us have fewer commits so barring improvements to our class our rank will decline as other classes fill out. For reference, the #45 ranked class had 830 total points last year so using that as a benchmark we should probably be looking at #45 as a floor.

Where we end up is hugely dependent on who the last few players are that commit. We are still in the running for a 5-star (Seantrel) and some very good 4-stars (Dontae Williams, Richard Ash, Josh Huff) and I don't think a Juco DB popping up out of nowhere is out of the question. If we can land a few of the top players we have remaining a top 25 class isn't out of the question. If we land none of them and fill out the last 5 or so spots with 3-star rated players (Beau Allen, Nduka Onyeali, Kevin Kissebirth, Kenny Bell, etc) I would guess we'll rank somewhere around #40.

I won't give specific names of who I think our final commitments will be but my guess is that it will be 1 to 2 of the 4-star/5-star players (anything more than that would be awesome) with lower ranked players (hopefully 3-stars) filling in the rest of the class. I also think there is still a possibility that a few of the current recruits in the class end up going elsewhere which could change the make-up and rankings of the class (for better or worse). I predicted a few months ago that this class will end up with a ranking somewhere around 35 and I am still comfortable with that prediction. With the new stadium many fans had higher expectations but the reality is we can no longer sell playing time like we did in 2008 and history has shown new staffs show a bump in recruiting in year 1-2. The improved facilities and a staff that is focused on recruiting will level Minnesota recruiting off at a higher level than we had in the past but we can't expect consistent top 20 classes until our performance on the field is consistently top 25.

Rankings aside, in the big picture what this class represents is adding depth to this roster with nobody needing to step in and play from day one. There are some possible exceptions: CB, LT (if we land Seantrel), and possibly even RB but those are because a new recruit is more talented than a returning player(s) with experience (Collado... Alford... Bennett/Eskridge/Whaley). There are a lot of players that will redshirt in this class (especially along the OL) but we're at a place where we can afford that. I think we have a few "diamonds in the rough" (Tatum, Mitchell, Josh Allen) that have more athleticism and upside than players that would have received that title in previous Gopher classes. One other thing that the StarTribune loves to pick on (academics) is continuiing to improve. Our 2008 class had a lot of academic risks (~7 Juco's, Gray, Reeves, etc), we took fewer in 2009 (2 Juco's, Lipscomb, Searcy), and I think we have even less in 2010.

Sorry that was really long.

[Flatfoot]

People are negative because of El Nino.

:D LMAO

( Sorry, off topic!)

[Ole]

Lets see here: 1 ATH 1 QB 2 RB 2 WR 5 OL 0 TE 1 DE 2 DT 2 LB 3 CB 1 S 1K Total 21/25-28
I think the rest are set for big time prospects or backup plans if they don't workout

Edwards RB .............. RB Huff/ Evan Williams (speed back)
Gjere OL .............. DT Guy/ Ash (Quicker DT)
Allen DE .............. DE/LB Oneyenli/ Beckwith (Speedy DE)
Hawkins WR .............. DT Allen/ TE Grant (Local talents, could bring in both)
Parrish QB .............. DE Okeyemi/Kisseberth (DE depth)
Hill WR .............. OT Henderson/ Gayden (LT starter either way)
Kirkwood RB .............. ATH Sanders (My personal favorite prospect, big time athlete)
Lenkiewitcz OL ......... If these don't work, there seem to be plenty in the pipeline
Price CB ........... depthwise, we've had alot of visitors.
Ragoo OL
Tauaefa DT
Eggen OL
Epping OL
Lewis CB
Manuel S
Smith K
Tatum LB
Mitchell LB
Willis DT
Pride ATH
Veazie CB

Don't let the negative stuff bug you, most of them forget they picked the gopher at 6-8 wins, they just elevated their expectations as the season went, peaking at a 10-11 win season after the NW game, now they predict a 4-5 win season with brimstone raining down upon Gopher Nation. It will settle out when they remember they're original predictions.

[Khaliq]

BTW, I just don't understand why people are so negative on here.They aren't. Irrational exuberance outnumbers negativity on this board by a wide margin.

[gopherfaith]

They aren't. Irrational exuberance outnumbers negativity on this board by a wide margin.

It's called hope, dude.

[gophmeister]

They aren't. Irrational exuberance outnumbers negativity on this board by a wide margin.

I don't doubt that there are more positive posters than negative. However, the fact is more often than not those inclined to be 'negative' do so not in the spirit of debate, but with the intent to antagonize others or promote a particular agenda or both. When Brewster and company make gaffs, they deserve to be roundly criticized. That includes some of the heat of the moment, passionate diatribes we sometimes see here. There are two types of posters with whom I take exception. Those who pose as gopher fans with the intent of sowing the seeds of discontent and the malecontents whose obsessive deriding of Brewster and the program is nothing short of pathological. I just find them absolutely tiresome and pathetic.

[Winnipegopher]

Actually, many of the negative posters are also the positive ones. The internet brgings out bi-polar personalities. Look at each week's game thread for examples of this.

[golfinggopher]

Our current point total on Rivals is 825 making us #30 overall. Many schools around us have fewer commits so barring improvements to our class our rank will decline as other classes fill out. For reference, the #45 ranked class had 830 total points last year so using that as a benchmark we should probably be looking at #45 as a floor.

Where we end up is hugely dependent on who the last few players are that commit. We are still in the running for a 5-star (Seantrel) and some very good 4-stars (Dontae Williams, Richard Ash, Josh Huff) and I don't think a Juco DB popping up out of nowhere is out of the question. If we can land a few of the top players we have remaining a top 25 class isn't out of the question. If we land none of them and fill out the last 5 or so spots with 3-star rated players (Beau Allen, Nduka Onyeali, Kevin Kissebirth, Kenny Bell, etc) I would guess we'll rank somewhere around #40.

I won't give specific names of who I think our final commitments will be but my guess is that it will be 1 to 2 of the 4-star/5-star players (anything more than that would be awesome) with lower ranked players (hopefully 3-stars) filling in the rest of the class. I also think there is still a possibility that a few of the current recruits in the class end up going elsewhere which could change the make-up and rankings of the class (for better or worse). I predicted a few months ago that this class will end up with a ranking somewhere around 35 and I am still comfortable with that prediction. With the new stadium many fans had higher expectations but the reality is we can no longer sell playing time like we did in 2008 and history has shown new staffs show a bump in recruiting in year 1-2. The improved facilities and a staff that is focused on recruiting will level Minnesota recruiting off at a higher level than we had in the past but we can't expect consistent top 20 classes until our performance on the field is consistently top 25.

Rankings aside, in the big picture what this class represents is adding depth to this roster with nobody needing to step in and play from day one. There are some possible exceptions: CB, LT (if we land Seantrel), and possibly even RB but those are because a new recruit is more talented than a returning player(s) with experience (Collado... Alford... Bennett/Eskridge/Whaley). There are a lot of players that will redshirt in this class (especially along the OL) but we're at a place where we can afford that. I think we have a few "diamonds in the rough" (Tatum, Mitchell, Josh Allen) that have more athleticism and upside than players that would have received that title in previous Gopher classes. One other thing that the StarTribune loves to pick on (academics) is continuiing to improve. Our 2008 class had a lot of academic risks (~7 Juco's, Gray, Reeves, etc), we took fewer in 2009 (2 Juco's, Lipscomb, Searcy), and I think we have even less in 2010.

Sorry that was really long.

That was what I was looking for.... Seantrel, Gayden, and Ash are on my wish list...I'm under the impression we're going to land 4 star back Josh Huff. If we get a serious offensive line next year, we'll have a serious team with either Webber or Gray at the helm....

[KoolAid]

we'll have a serious team with either Webber or Gray at the helm....

If you've got someone named Moses on your roster, you pretty much have to start him.

Just look at how well Moses Malone has done as a starter.

[NewEngland_Gold]

40 years of wandering in the desert of "lower-tier" field results tends to reinforce the tendency toward negativity in the tribes of GN. Is the Brewster developmental HCing experiment a "mirage", the optimist's oasis or the longed-for GN "Kingdom on the Hill"?

Based on opinions here, noone knows and won't know for a few years. In the meantime, as the bipolar sands shift from week-to-week, GH makes for some interesting reading, sporting entertainment and speculative controversy while all wait with great anticipation as the drama unfolds.

[Great Plains Gopher]

We need a big, fast, strong running back! Eskridge, Whaley and Bennett are running hard and giving it all they have, with not a lot of help from the O-line, but we need a guy who can break tackles.

About the negative tinge on the board, I think you're right. Many of the board oldtimers left two or three years ago and they tended to be more upbeat. I don't see those people on the board, anymore. The younger crowd seems less appreciative of what Weber, et. al., do when they are performing well, but very critical when they are not. 6-6 is all I expected this season and it looks like that's what we'll end up with (I'm doubtful about winning the Halloween night game).

But the offense has to improve by next year or we'll have a losing season. The offense continues to be a huge problem.

[nc2mn]

Just what I was looking for as well in this thread.

[SDGopherFan]

Actually, many of the negative posters are also the positive ones. The internet brgings out bi-polar personalities. Look at each week's game thread for examples of this.
I am one of these people, I am a huge fan of the gophers football but also basketball, wrestling, Hockey etc... but I am very disappointed when a loss happens and in the past I have talked out loud about my frustrations through this board but there are many people on this board that rather than let you vent they want to argue, call you names, say that your not a fan etc...

[ulfr]

I think the current rivals ranked class will end up about 7th in the Big Ten, for what that is worth. The real shock of the season, to me, is the tail spin Illinois might find itself in. After posting classes that have ranked in the top quarter of the conference year in and year out Zook is on pace for a bottom third finish, if he survives that is. If he doesn't the class will of course bottom out as all the blue chippers run for the door.

[GVBadger]

I thought a guy that was brought in because he was an ace recruiter would do a little better then 59, 28, 46 and 31 (currently). Wasn't he brought in to bring in top 20 classes? That is all I have read about for 3 years on this board. Does not seem to be living up to that billing.

Given that, does he have the ability to develop and coach the talent he does bring in? That is the big question. The jury is certainly still out on that one. Very informative post above in this thread regarding the '10 class and where it should be ranked. I just get the impression that is not what the administration signed up for when they brought Brewster in.

No top 20 classes, 31st in his 4th year recruiting, with a brand spanking new stadium, a great University and in a beautiful metropolitan area? Is Brewster living up to what he sold the U on?

I would not want to be in Maturi's shoes and have to decide whether to give him 4.5 or 5 more million after this year. That will be a career decision for him.

[gophergrad]

GV you're just a rabble rouser

[Schnoodler]

I thought a guy that was brought in because he was an ace recruiter would do a little better then 59, 28, 46 and 31 (currently). Wasn't he brought in to bring in top 20 classes? That is all I have read about for 3 years on this board. Does not seem to be living up to that billing.

Given that, does he have the ability to develop and coach the talent he does bring in? That is the big question. The jury is certainly still out on that one. Very informative post above in this thread regarding the '10 class and where it should be ranked. I just get the impression that is not what the administration signed up for when they brought Brewster in.

No top 20 classes, 31st in his 4th year recruiting, with a brand spanking new stadium, a great University and in a beautiful metropolitan area? Is Brewster living up to what he sold the U on?

I would not want to be in Maturi's shoes and have to decide whether to give him 4.5 or 5 more million after this year. That will be a career decision for him.

Where is Wiscy at in thier ranking again? I forgot.

[Khaliq]

GV seems pretty spot on there in my opinion.

[Schnoodler]

GV seems pretty spot on there in my opinion.

No he's not. He was brought in to improve our recruiting. You can only out recruit your sangarin ranking by so far. He's been far exceeding that. If you do a comparison of sangarin verses recruiting rankings you'll see Brew is doing very well.

[GopherGod]

GV seems pretty spot on there in my opinion.


I agree as well. Add to the fact that the teams in the Big 10 that are routinely beating us on the recruiting front are also thought to have superior coaching/player development to ours and that makes it hard to gain ground when your getting beat on both fronts, recruiting and coaching.

[Schnoodler]

I agree as well. Add to the fact that the teams in the Big 10 that are routinely beating us on the recruiting front are also thought to have superior coaching/player development to ours and that makes it hard to gain ground when your getting beat on both fronts, recruiting and coaching.

Teams such as???

[sonnygarcia]

There are two types of posters with whom I take exception. Those who pose as gopher fans with the intent of sowing the seeds of discontent and the malecontents whose obsessive deriding of Brewster and the program is nothing short of pathological. I just find them absolutely tiresome and pathetic.

Oh, you mean people like GopherGod, yes they are pathetic little guys, I believe he just posted more of his comments in this thread. Can you feel his depression just ooooozing out of his words???

[GopherGod]

Teams such as???

How about Penn State, Michigan, Ohio State consistently and of late Michigan State. Iowa is also doing well with recruiting thus far and they have shown a consistent pattern of being able to vastly out perform their rankings with superior coaching and development from that staff. Based on this it would look as if we are bound most of the time to be the 4th best team in the conference at best at our current performance level.

[sonnygarcia]

GV seems pretty spot on there in my opinion.

You're absolutely pathetic, sorry, but you just agreed with a Badger troll who posted BS to get people to react, and instead to end up agreeing with him!!! Embarrassing.

I thinks its hilarious that tools such as yourselves come on here and get some jollies about being constantly negative, I can just imagine what you have to be like in real life, I'm sure you're an absolute treat to be around. Just some sorry depressing individuals on here.

[dpodoll68]

I thought a guy that was brought in because he was an ace recruiter would do a little better then 59, 28, 46 and 31 (currently). Wasn't he brought in to bring in top 20 classes? That is all I have read about for 3 years on this board. Does not seem to be living up to that billing.

Given that, does he have the ability to develop and coach the talent he does bring in? That is the big question. The jury is certainly still out on that one. Very informative post above in this thread regarding the '10 class and where it should be ranked. I just get the impression that is not what the administration signed up for when they brought Brewster in.

No top 20 classes, 31st in his 4th year recruiting, with a brand spanking new stadium, a great University and in a beautiful metropolitan area? Is Brewster living up to what he sold the U on?

I would not want to be in Maturi's shoes and have to decide whether to give him 4.5 or 5 more million after this year. That will be a career decision for him.

Oh GV, you're quite a gal. I find it pathetically humorous how you quote Scout rankings, because they rank Minnesota lower than Rivals. If you give more credence to Scout, then you are stupid (even by Becky standards).

6-0
18-11
59-52-8

Enjoy it while it lasts.

[Schnoodler]

How about Penn State, Michigan, Ohio State consistently and of late Michigan State. Iowa is also doing well with recruiting thus far and they have shown a consistent pattern of being able to vastly out perform their rankings with superior coaching and development from that staff. Based on this it would look as if we are bound most of the time to be the 4th best team in the conference at best.

That was such an easy set up. thanks for playing. Really Penn State, Ohio State, and Michigan. Perennial top ten teams. You're a tool dude.

Michigan state is a future team to watch out for, but seriously what have they done yet.

Iowa is the only team out performing their recruiting strength right now. The only one. All the others you've mentioned are underperforming. We're performing pretty much right at our recruiting strength. so by your argument brewster is a superior coach to all but Iowa.

That's not what I would say, but your argument surely makes that case. I didn't realize your such a Brewster backer. I had you all wrong.

That was fun we'll play again later.

[RedPoo]

GV seems pretty spot on there in my opinion.

Well, then you're pretty much demonstrably 100% wrong. According to every currently used metric and scouting service, our recruiting has improved dramatically under Coach Brewster. So...yeah, that's about all there is to say about it. If you don't believe everyone here, let me know and I'll try to dig up some class rankings from the Mason era.


btw, that first class cannot be credited/faulted to Brewster. He had all of a month and a half to recruit, and that was basically all Mason.

[Gopherprof]

I thought a guy that was brought in because he was an ace recruiter would do a little better then 59, 28, 46 and 31 (currently). Wasn't he brought in to bring in top 20 classes? That is all I have read about for 3 years on this board. Does not seem to be living up to that billing.

Given that, does he have the ability to develop and coach the talent he does bring in? That is the big question. The jury is certainly still out on that one. Very informative post above in this thread regarding the '10 class and where it should be ranked. I just get the impression that is not what the administration signed up for when they brought Brewster in.

No top 20 classes, 31st in his 4th year recruiting, with a brand spanking new stadium, a great University and in a beautiful metropolitan area? Is Brewster living up to what he sold the U on?

I would not want to be in Maturi's shoes and have to decide whether to give him 4.5 or 5 more million after this year. That will be a career decision for him.
I've stuck up for you the last few teams, but now I can see why most people think you're a *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#.

A lot has already been said and I'm lazy, so I won't add much. I think we need a tight end unless someone is making a position switch in place of Hageman. Other than that, I don't think there are any glaring holes, so I'd probably try for another d-lineman and go BPA. I still don't like the Pride signing, in part because it indicates that staff doesn't feel like there are more than 7-8 better guys to sign between now and then.

[GopherGod]

That was such an easy set up. thanks for playing. Really Penn State, Ohio State, and Michigan. Perennial top ten teams. You're a tool dude.

Michigan state is a future team to watch out for, but seriously what have they done yet.

Iowa is the only team out performing their recruiting strength right now. The only one. All the others you've mentioned are underperforming. We're performing pretty much right at our recruiting strength. so by your argument brewster is a superior coach to all but Iowa.

That's not what I would say, but your argument surely makes that case. I didn't realize your such a Brewster backer. I had you all wrong.

That was fun we'll play again later.

Actually I am not stating that at all because I did not use/reference the Sagarin graph that you appear to be alluding to in your statement above to determine who are the better coaches. You yourself even admit that you do not believe the graph to be an accurate representation of which teams have better coaching. When I referenced Iowa outperforming their rankings, it was their recruiting rankings that were referenced.

[MBAGuy]

I agree as well. Add to the fact that the teams in the Big 10 that are routinely beating us on the recruiting front are also thought to have superior coaching/player development to ours and that makes it hard to gain ground when your getting beat on both fronts, recruiting and coaching.

OK. You, along with Khaliq, are the Hole's contrarians. Fair enough...such an approach is sometimes a necessary requisite for lively debate. But let's mix things up a little bit and let you state your opinion to which the rest of us can react. Here's the scenario:

Let's stipulate that you are a Gopher fan and want what is best for the Gophers for both the short and long term. You get to be AD for the U of M for the next ten years. What do you do with the program?

[beerguy3711]

You made alot of good points.People just need to relax and let time take it,s course.We are getting better every year and we will be a good team.:D

[GopherGod]

OK. You, along with Khaliq, are the Hole's contrarians. Fair enough...such an approach is sometimes a necessary requisite for lively debate. But let's mix things up a little bit and let you state your opinion to which the rest of us can react. Here's the scenario:

Let's stipulate that you are a Gopher fan and want what is best for the Gophers for both the short and long term. You get to be AD for the U of M for the next ten years. What do you do with the program?

If I had my choice Brewster would be evaluated at the end of next season. If we win atleast one rivalry game and make it to a new years day bowl then he is retained for atleast another year. If the criteria above are not reached then feelers are put out through a headhunter firm to see if any coaches fitting category 1 or 2 are interested, if they are then a move is made then. If none of these caliber of experienced coaches are interested then we wait until Brewster's true recruits are through their senior season. If by that time, the critieria above is not met than a change is made regardless, likely targeting the guys in category 3 assuming category 1 and 2 coaches are still not interested.

1. experienced "name" head coach with a track record of success, though I realize this is not likely.

2. A current successful head coach at a smaller BCS or top level non BCS program (examples: Gary Patterson, Kyle Whittingham, Chris Petersen, Randy Edsall)

3. A current coordinator at a major BCS program (Examples: Bud Foster, Charlie Strong, Gus Malzahn, Brent Venables, Norm Chow)

[MBAGuy]

If I had my choice Brewster would be evaluated at the end of next season. If we win atleast one rivalry game and make it to a new years day bowl then he is retained for atleast another year. If the criteria above are not reached then feelers are put out through a headhunter firm to see if any coaches fitting category 1 or 2 are interested, if they are then a move is made then. If none of these caliber of experienced coaches are interested then we wait until Brewster's true recruits are through their senior season. If by that time, the critieria above is not met than a change is made regardless, likely targeting the guys in category 3 assuming category 1 and 2 coaches are still not interested.

1. experienced "name" head coach with a track record of success, though I realize this is not likely.

2. A current successful head coach at a smaller BCS or top level non BCS program (examples: Gary Patterson, Kyle Whittingham, Chris Petersen, Randy Edsall)

3. A current coordinator at a major BCS program (Examples: Bud Foster, Charlie Strong, Gus Malzahn, Brent Venables, Norm Chow)

Cool. Thanks.

So, just so I'm clear, if Brewster wins a rivalry game AND goes to a NYD bowl game, we keep him for another year?

Just out of curiosity, when was the last time the Gophers were in a NYD bowl game?

[GopherGod]

Cool. Thanks.

So, just so I'm clear, if Brewster wins a rivalry game AND goes to a NYD bowl game, we keep him for another year?

Just out of curiosity, when was the last time the Gophers were in a NYD bowl game?

You are correct, if he does both of those things next year then he should be retained. It has been quite a while since we made a NYD bowl game but he was hired to improve upon past performance. I would not expect him to get us to a BCS game, however a game the caliber of the Capitol One Bowl or Gator Bowl I would want.

[BigGopherFan]

Quick answer from someone not in the know.

I dont know who we are going to sign, but both of Brewster's classes have had significant signing day "gets."

If this holds this year, we'll rank in the top 35 as an overall class. I've been very impressed with this clas so far - adding lots of depth up front. I really like that center from Texas. Honestly, if you add two, three more 4-star players, this class will look REALLY GOOD on paper. But we all know games aren't played on paper - they're played by little men inside of oru television boxes.

Plus, one of our 3-star players is bound to ave his ranking bumped up a star (maybe even two player).

People are negative because of El Nino.

People are negative because of the ecomony :cool02:

[MBAGuy]

You are correct, if he does both of those things next year then he should be retained. It has been quite a while since we made a NYD bowl game but he was hired to improve upon past performance. I would not expect him to get us to a BCS game, however a game the caliber of the Capitol One Bowl or Gator Bowl I would want.

So if he gets us to a game the likes of which we haven't seen since 1962 (our last NYD bowl appearance), he should be retained for ONE additional year?

Every coach is hired to improve upon past performance, don't you think? Maybe not Monson for the b-ball program, as his role was more to fix the mess that Haskins left. But if Brewster can buck 47 years of futility and disappointment by getting us to a NYD bowl game, he deserves significantly more than a one-year extension.

[grunkiejr]

I thought a guy that was brought in because he was an ace recruiter would do a little better then 59, 28, 46 and 31 (currently). Wasn't he brought in to bring in top 20 classes? That is all I have read about for 3 years on this board. Does not seem to be living up to that billing.

Given that, does he have the ability to develop and coach the talent he does bring in? That is the big question. The jury is certainly still out on that one. Very informative post above in this thread regarding the '10 class and where it should be ranked. I just get the impression that is not what the administration signed up for when they brought Brewster in.

No top 20 classes, 31st in his 4th year recruiting, with a brand spanking new stadium, a great University and in a beautiful metropolitan area? Is Brewster living up to what he sold the U on?

I would not want to be in Maturi's shoes and have to decide whether to give him 4.5 or 5 more million after this year. That will be a career decision for him.

Why do you make things up? 2008--the first class he recruited--was ranked #17 not 28th as you posted. See link: http://rivals100.rivals.com/TeamRank.asp?postype=0&sort=0&year=2008

2009 was ranked 39...see link: http://rivals100.rivals.com/teamrank.asp?Year=2009&Page=2&PosType=0&Sort=0

2010 isn't complete but is ranked 30th as of today...see link: http://rivals100.rivals.com/teamrank.asp?Year=2010&Page=2&PosType=0&Sort=0

[GopherGod]

So if he gets us to a game the likes of which we haven't seen since 1962 (our last NYD bowl appearance), he should be retained for ONE additional year?

Every coach is hired to improve upon past performance, don't you think? Maybe not Monson for the b-ball program, as his role was more to fix the mess that Haskins left. But if Brewster can buck 47 years of futility and disappointment by getting us to a NYD bowl game, he deserves significantly more than a one-year extension.

Apparently I am not being clear so let me try and clarify. If he meets the criteria next season of a NYD bowl( I would even include the Alamo Bowl and Cotton Bowl though not technically on NYD) and wins atleast 1 rivalry game then he doesn't have to worry and I would be okay with a contract extension at that time. If he doesn't meet that criteria next year then you start putting out feelers to the more successful and experienced head coaches (category 1 and 2) to see if they are interested. If they are then the change is made then. If these coaches are not interested, then Brewster gets another year or another chance to try and meet those objectives. If the objectives are met that next season then Brewster gets his extension but if not then a change is made regardless and you likely start looking at as I outlined category 1,2, or 3 coaches at that time. So in essence he has next year and the following year(unless he fails next season and a top flight coach wants the job) to achieve the objectives of a NYD bowl game and a single rivalry win.

[Khaliq]

You're absolutely pathetic, sorry, but you just agreed with a Badger troll who posted BS to get people to react, and instead to end up agreeing with him!!! Embarrassing.

I thinks its hilarious that tools such as yourselves come on here and get some jollies about being constantly negative, I can just imagine what you have to be like in real life, I'm sure you're an absolute treat to be around. Just some sorry depressing individuals on here.I'm not negative at all actually. I'm very even keeled. I think you're reading emotion and intent into my posts that just isn't there.

Far be it from me to speculate but it sounds like projection.

[grunkiejr]

Well, then you're pretty much demonstrably 100% wrong. According to every currently used metric and scouting service, our recruiting has improved dramatically under Coach Brewster. So...yeah, that's about all there is to say about it. If you don't believe everyone here, let me know and I'll try to dig up some class rankings from the Mason era.


btw, that first class cannot be credited/faulted to Brewster. He had all of a month and a half to recruit, and that was basically all Mason.

Actually closer to 3 weeks. LOI day is the first Wednesday in February and I'm sure you recall that Mason was fired after the collapse in our bowl. Maturi didn't even have a month and a half before LOI day when he initiated the search process.

[Khaliq]

OK. You, along with Khaliq, are the Hole's contrarians. Fair enough...such an approach is sometimes a necessary requisite for lively debate. But let's mix things up a little bit and let you state your opinion to which the rest of us can react. Here's the scenario:

Let's stipulate that you are a Gopher fan and want what is best for the Gophers for both the short and long term. You get to be AD for the U of M for the next ten years. What do you do with the program?I genuinely don't want to be "that guy". Please take me at my word when I say I just call things as I see them. I may be wrong, which is fine, but it's not out of any intent to rile anyone up. I try to go out of my way to coach things in a very non-confrontational way generally, but I think that gets lost in the medium sometimes.

At any rate it's hard for me to say what I'd do until I know how the next year or so are going to pan out, but assuming Brewster doesn't end up being the answer I want to go after a coach with a much more solid Xs and Os background.

The two guys I have in my head as high and low candidates are Brian Kelly and Turner Gill.

Kelly is very frustrated with the lack of progress on facilities at Cincinnati, and I think with a new stadium, improved facilities and a commitment from the athletic department to the program there's a chance they could get him to listen. It will take a pretty huge financial investment and is a long shot, but I look at him as a home run candidate.

Gill on the other hand is a guy who really should already be coaching at a BCS school. Auburn and Nebraska both took long looks at him and word is that he was passed up at both jobs due to his race. What I love is that Gill refuses to blame that. He just talks about wanting to get better as a coach and to earn his opportunities. He's a fantastic football mind, a great recruiter and has phenomenal strength of character. He's the kind of guy you talk to and just believe in instantly.

I had the pleasure of speaking to the man in person and I can't say enough good things about him.

Other than that there's not much else I can say. If Brewster posts a solid record this year and makes progress next year that's all moot, but if I was Maturi I'd hope for the best with Brewster and plan for the worst.

[RedPoo]

You are correct, if he does both of those things next year then he should be retained. It has been quite a while since we made a NYD bowl game but he was hired to improve upon past performance. I would not expect him to get us to a BCS game, however a game the caliber of the Capitol One Bowl or Gator Bowl I would want.

And there should be improvement when the senior class is finally all Brewster's....so, get get rid of him if we don't win the conference and go to the Rose Bowl in 2011??

[GopherGod]

I genuinely don't want to be "that guy". Please take me at my word when I say I just call things as I see them. I may be wrong, which is fine, but it's not out of any intent to rile anyone up. I try to go out of my way to coach things in a very non-confrontational way generally, but I think that gets lost in the medium sometimes.

At any rate it's hard for me to say what I'd do until I know how the next year or so are going to pan out, but assuming Brewster doesn't end up being the answer I want to go after a coach with a much more solid Xs and Os background.

The two guys I have in my head as high and low candidates are Brian Kelly and Turner Gill.

Kelly is very frustrated with the lack of progress on facilities at Cincinnati, and I think with a new stadium, improved facilities and a commitment from the athletic department to the program there's a chance they could get him to listen. It will take a pretty huge financial investment and is a long shot, but I look at him as a home run candidate.

Gill on the other hand is a guy who really should already be coaching at a BCS school. Auburn and Nebraska both took long looks at him and word is that he was passed up at both jobs due to his race. What I love is that Gill refuses to blame that. He just talks about wanting to get better as a coach and to earn his opportunities. He's a fantastic football mind, a great recruiter and has phenomenal strength of character. He's the kind of guy you talk to and just believe in instantly.

I had the pleasure of speaking to the man in person and I can't say enough good things about him.

Other than that there's not much else I can say. If Brewster posts a solid record this year and makes progress next year that's all moot, but if I was Maturi I'd hope for the best with Brewster and plan for the worst.

I promise you that Turner Gill was not passed up for the Nebraska job because of race. The AD at Nebraska who made the call to not hire Turner Gill was Tom Osborne who recruited him, coached him, hired him as an assistant, was in his wedding, and talks to him weekly. He was passed over for that job because Tom Osborne felt that at this time that Nebraska needed a coach with more of a defensive background due to the huge mess that Cosgrove created there. Turner Gill is always immensely popular with the fans in Nebraska as well as Pelini.

[GopherGod]

And there should be improvement when the senior class is finally all Brewster's....so, get get rid of him if we don't win the conference and go to the Rose Bowl in 2011??

No

[Khaliq]

I promise you that Turner Gill was not passed up for the Nebraska job because of race. The AD at Nebraska who made the call to not hire Turner Gill was Tom Osborne who recruited him, coached him, hired him as an assistant, was in his wedding, and talks to him weekly. He was passed over for that job because Tom Osborne felt that at this time that Nebraska needed a coach with more of a defensive background due to the huge mess that Cosgrove created there. Turner Gill is always immensely popular with the fans in Nebraska as well as Pelini.I'm sorry you're 100% right about that. It was Auburn that they were talking about as race being a factor, not Nebraska. My bad.

[gophergrad]

I think every post since GV's is proof that he is a rabble rouser because of how many people took his bait. Plus its a pretty sweet term. Just say it, makes you feel like Elmer Fud.

[JackiO]

Why do you make things up? 2008--the first class he recruited--was ranked #17 not 28th as you posted. See link: http://rivals100.rivals.com/TeamRank.asp?postype=0&sort=0&year=2008

2009 was ranked 39...see link: http://rivals100.rivals.com/teamrank.asp?Year=2009&Page=2&PosType=0&Sort=0

2010 isn't complete but is ranked 30th as of today...see link: http://rivals100.rivals.com/teamrank.asp?Year=2010&Page=2&PosType=0&Sort=0

What I don't understand, is where GV gets this idea that Brewster has to have top 20 classes every year in order to validate his success as a coach. Take a look at the top 25 teams in the nation and the talent pools most of them are surrounded by on a consistent basis, let alone the ones who are outside of the top 25 at the moment which we have to compete with for talent and tell me that is not an asinine assumption. Seriously, when was the last time the gophers even had a top 35 class which Brewster has now had 3 of? Crazy talk I tell you.

[GopherGod]

What I don't understand, is where GV gets this idea that Brewster has to have top 20 classes every year in order to validate his success as a coach. Take a look at the top 25 teams in the nation and the talent pools most of them are surrounded by on a consistent basis, let alone the ones who are outside of the top 25 at the moment which we have to compete with for talent and tell me that is not an asinine assumption. Seriously, when was the last time the gophers even had a top 35 class which Brewster has now had 3 of? Crazy talk I tell you.

I think a lot of people feel that Brewster needs to have exceptional recruiting classes to offset his apparent lack of experience or ability as a coach in comparison to many of the coaches he is competing against.

[GVBadger]

Did not make anything up. I used Scouts ratings. If those ratings were higher for the Gophers, you would like those better.

I also did not set the expectations, the fans on this board did. Four star this, five star that, if we lose this guy Brewster has 6 other higher rated guys to bring in, etc.

Brewster was brought in specifically becuase he was supposed to be a great recruiter. Those are Maturi's words and Brewster is not shy about stating that as well. It is a fair question to ask if he is recruiting at a level that was expected. Based on everything I have read, I don't think he is.
That is the question Maturi is going to have to answer, because he is not going to have the slam dunk results on the field to help decide if he should give Brewster an extension.

I think Marturi is in a tough position. Do you really think he is convinced that Brewster is the guy to get the Gophers to the next level? If he was, he may have already given him the extension. Do you think he wants to commit 5 or more million to him? What if they fold down the stretch again like last year? Having a coach without an extension makes it difficult to recruit.

You can talk about recruiting all you want, but in the end, all that matters are the results on the field. Illinois is exhibit A. Still want to follow the Zook model?

[dpodoll68]

Did not make anything up. I used Scouts ratings. If those ratings were higher for the Gophers, you would like those better.

Like I already said, predictable. I don't give Rivals more weight because they rank the Gophers higher. I do so because Scout sucks.

I honestly can't think of even one instance where an "expert" cited Scout over Rivals for recruiting info, unless they were a writer for Scout themselves.

[GophersInIowa]

For anyone to say Brewster has underperformed as a recruiter is just ridiculous to me. Recruiting has improved a lot in the past 3 years. It doesn't matter if you use scout, rivals, or any other website. Our classes have been much better lately compared to Mason's. I agree that his coaching has been pretty questionable up to this point. He still has to prove himself there. But if you can't see he's dramatically changed recruiting in MN, then you're either a troll or blinded by your hate of Brewster.

[harrys ghost]

Like I already said, predictable. I don't give Rivals more weight because they rank the Gophers higher. I do so because Scouts sucks.

I honestly can't think of even one instance where an "expert" cited Scouts over Rivals for recruiting info, unless they were a writer for Scouts themselves.

Since Scout seems to have trouble just getting the names correct ("Darnell" Kirkwood) it's hard to have much faith in their ratings.

[grunkiejr]

Did not make anything up. I used Scouts ratings. If those ratings were higher for the Gophers, you would like those better.

Not true. I would use the Rivals ratings regardless of who had us rated higher because I'm a Rivals subscriber and not a Scout subscriber.


Brewster was brought in specifically becuase he was supposed to be a great recruiter. Those are Maturi's words and Brewster is not shy about stating that as well. It is a fair question to ask if he is recruiting at a level that was expected. Based on everything I have read, I don't think he is.
That is the question Maturi is going to have to answer, because he is not going to have the slam dunk results on the field to help decide if he should give Brewster an extension.

Nobody really knows the benchmark that was expected. You either know a lot more than us abour our program or you are full of sh*t. I'm going to go with the latter.

What is clear is that according to the recruiting services we are recruiting at a higher level than we were under Mason. If someone doesn't believe in recruiting services we can use BCS offers for recruits as a benchmark and the recruits in Minnesota's 2008 and 2009 classes had far more BCS offers than previous classes. I believe the metric for our 2008 class was 102 offers from BCS schools other than Minnesota compared to somewhere around 25 in the prior class.


I think Maturi is in a tough position. Do you really think he is convinced that Brewster is the guy to get the Gophers to the next level? If he was, he may have already given him the extension. Do you think he wants to commit 5 or more million to him? What if they fold down the stretch again like last year? Having a coach without an extension makes it difficult to recruit.

First of all an extension isn't inherently a $5mm commitment. Bielema got a 1 year "vote of confidence" from Alvarez this past offseason--was that $5mm? Not even close.

I don't think it is as difficult as you make it out to be.

How are the academics of the program progressing?--The APR hit gives a false read on academics--we lost schollies primarily because our APR under Mason was lower than it should have been and changing coaches and dismissing a few players caused it to go under. In 2008-09 Minnesota actually set a team record for players with a 3.0 or higher GPA and led the Big Ten. Despite the perception in the papers that Brewster is recruiting low achieving students, as a whole the football program has improved its academics.

How is the performance of the team and how does it compare to the past?--2006: 6-7 loss in the Insight Bowl...2008: 7-6 loss in the Insight Bowl. I'll call that a push. 2009 has yet to play out but if you believe ESPN's midseason prediction 6-6 to 7-6 seems the most likely. There was a step back in 2007 but Maturi has even said he knew that would happen (we would have won more than 1 game but even with Mason we weren't going to a bowl in 2007 but that is another conversation).

Has the talent level of the team improved?I think this is a resounding yes. Recruiting services are one measurement but I won't focus on that. Where you can readily see the difference in athleticism in this team vs. previous teams is on the special teams (where most freshman and sophomores make their impact). We currently lead the Big Ten in punt return avg, are at or near the top in kick return avg and have played very well on coverage teams. Also, if you listen to opposing coaches they see the difference. The OC for Purdue (formerly at FAU who played us in 2007 & 2008) commented prior to our matchup that game planning for Minnesota is completely different now because the defense is so much faster than a couple years ago.

Has interest in the program increased?--Obviously one sign would be the sold out stadium but that likely would have sold out either way. Anecdotally the Minnesota Rivals site was the 2nd fastest growing site in the Rivals system. That is a pretty strong indication that interest in the program has increased. I'm sure the athletic dept has other ways to monitor this (road game tix, participation in non-gameday events, donations, etc).




You can talk about recruiting all you want, but in the end, all that matters are the results on the field. Illinois is exhibit A. Still want to follow the Zook model?

We look at the recruiting with such interest because it is new to us and freshman and sophomores (the best athletes in the program) don't usually make an impact in college football. About half of our 2009 class appears to be in line to be redshirted so we haven't even seen them on the field yet. It is hard to judge the full impact improved recruiting will have on our program.

I'm fine with the comparison to Illinois from the standpoint of having a coach that can recruit at a higher level than the program's past history. However, the comparison really should end there. The last time I checked Illinois was 5-7 in 2008 (we were 7-6) and this year they have 1 win on the season (0 against DI-A programs) while Minnesota is 4-3. The Minnesota coaching staff's abilities should be judged on their coaching rather than a comparison to another program that has stumbled badly because of poor execution. Pat Fitzgerald was hired at Northwestern with a background (recruiting coordinator with no OC/DC experience) that is more similar to Brewster than Zook's background (HC at Florida, former DC) but nobody mentions that comparison. By comparing Brewster to Zook your bias shows quite clearly.

Btw--the last time I checked Zook has gone to more Rose Bowls than Bielema has in Wisconsin. Is that jealousy creeping in to your posting?

[Curseislifted33]

Anyone who says Brew hasn't put the Gophers on the map in terms of recruiting and national exposure is a lunatic. Remember, we are in Minnesota.
The state that has all major sports, one of the highest education levels in the USA, A major hub for banking, Medical Services, Med Technologies, 3M and so on. There is SOOOOOOOOO much else to do here other than college football, unlike a Nebraska or Wisconsin or Iowa. The majority of people in this state can be satisfied with reading the sports page on Sunday to keep their track on the Gopher Football team and are involved with many other activities that take up their time.
Since Brew and the stadium have gotten here, the Exposure and interest in Gopher football has increased ten fold. While it can be attributed to mostly a new stadium, Brew and co have put their heart and souls on the line in trying to expand gopher nation and all of the great things MN has to offer. While selling recruits this is a huge plus with a great education and job connections for the future, but with the fanbase it is a negative. Now, with all this being said and me rambling, the next step Brew and Co have to take to keep the newly interest gopher nation going and to keep expanding the interest, the on field success will have to come in TIME, not now. To expect Brew and Co to take a non-college football state and turn around a program from B10 mid-bottom dweller to a consistent top b10 team in just a 3 year window is just unreasonable.
He knows how college football works and is trying to turn not just the team, but the whole program and state, to become a passionate fan base. The fair weather fans will only stick with a successful on the field product. And In my opinion, they have done wayyyyyyy more good then bad in making this happen. And to bail on him now would be immature based on the scenario he came into.
Time will tell as he evolves as a on-field coach, but off the field he is doing more than I hoped for, and has achieved more than I though possible.
Go Gophs, sorry for the rambling.

[Gopherprof]

People could probably stand to calm down on both sides. By allowing GV to get you riled up, you are essentially feeding into exactly the type of emotion he is trying to elicit (which is unfortunate, I took him for a serious poster for a while).

In any event, the question is a valid one worth discussing, which I think grunkie did a nice job laying out. The biggest question is if this increase in interest and athleticism is going to lead to an increase in wins. Nobody can verify that because it hasn't happened yet, but I think it's fair to say that it should happen within the next 2 years or all of the excitement and enthusiasm in the world isn't going to save Brewster's job.

[KoolAid]

H1N1

[tikited]

Anyone who says Brew hasn't put the Gophers on the map in terms of recruiting and national exposure is a lunatic. Remember, we are in Minnesota.
The state that has all major sports, one of the highest education levels in the USA, A major hub for banking, Medical Services, Med Technologies, 3M and so on. There is SOOOOOOOOO much else to do here other than college football, unlike a Nebraska or Wisconsin or Iowa. The majority of people in this state can be satisfied with reading the sports page on Sunday to keep their track on the Gopher Football team and are involved with many other activities that take up their time.
Since Brew and the stadium have gotten here, the Exposure and interest in Gopher football has increased ten fold. While it can be attributed to mostly a new stadium, Brew and co have put their heart and souls on the line in trying to expand gopher nation and all of the great things MN has to offer. While selling recruits this is a huge plus with a great education and job connections for the future, but with the fanbase it is a negative. Now, with all this being said and me rambling, the next step Brew and Co have to take to keep the newly interest gopher nation going and to keep expanding the interest, the on field success will have to come in TIME, not now. To expect Brew and Co to take a non-college football state and turn around a program from B10 mid-bottom dweller to a consistent top b10 team in just a 3 year window is just unreasonable.
He knows how college football works and is trying to turn not just the team, but the whole program and state, to become a passionate fan base. The fair weather fans will only stick with a successful on the field product. And In my opinion, they have done wayyyyyyy more good then bad in making this happen. And to bail on him now would be immature based on the scenario he came into.
Time will tell as he evolves as a on-field coach, but off the field he is doing more than I hoped for, and has achieved more than I though possible.
Go Gophs, sorry for the rambling.

Bingo!! We have a winner!!

[GVBadger]

People could probably stand to calm down on both sides. By allowing GV to get you riled up, you are essentially feeding into exactly the type of emotion he is trying to elicit (which is unfortunate, I took him for a serious poster for a while).

In any event, the question is a valid one worth discussing, which I think grunkie did a nice job laying out. The biggest question is if this increase in interest and athleticism is going to lead to an increase in wins. Nobody can verify that because it hasn't happened yet, but I think it's fair to say that it should happen within the next 2 years or all of the excitement and enthusiasm in the world isn't going to save Brewster's job.

I thought he did a good job of laying it out also. I thought I was raising legitimate issues, but reasonable people can disagree on that. I don't think it is as easy of a decision as many on here believe it will be for Maturi to extend Brewster, but I certainly don't talk to him. Maturi may think it is a no brainer. That is why it is called a discussion.

Bringing in better athletes does not guarantee success. That is all I am saying. Let's say for arguments sake, you are now recruiting at the level of MSU, UW, and Iowa. Let's say even, slightly better then those three. Does it guarantee success on the field? How is Brewster going to do against those threee going forward? How has he done so far?

That does not take into account Michigan, OSU and Penn State, who by most accounts, recruit the best athletes in the conference. You still have to beat them to win the conference. Because you can't "out recruit" them, what are you going to do, give up? You have to coach better then they do, develop talent better then they do and on game day, get your guys to out play them. Can Brewster do all of that on a consistent level with "inferior" talent, according to the guru's?

That is the question that has to be answered. I don't think anyone knows the answer to that, even Maturi. The early returns leave a lot of doubt.

[GopherGod]

Not true. I would use the Rivals ratings regardless of who had us rated higher because I'm a Rivals subscriber and not a Scout subscriber.



Nobody really knows the benchmark that was expected. You either know a lot more than us abour our program or you are full of sh*t. I'm going to go with the latter.

What is clear is that according to the recruiting services we are recruiting at a higher level than we were under Mason. If someone doesn't believe in recruiting services we can use BCS offers for recruits as a benchmark and the recruits in Minnesota's 2008 and 2009 classes had far more BCS offers than previous classes. I believe the metric for our 2008 class was 102 offers from BCS schools other than Minnesota compared to somewhere around 25 in the prior class.



First of all an extension isn't inherently a $5mm commitment. Bielema got a 1 year "vote of confidence" from Alvarez this past offseason--was that $5mm? Not even close.

I don't think it is as difficult as you make it out to be.

How are the academics of the program progressing?--The APR hit gives a false read on academics--we lost schollies primarily because our APR under Mason was lower than it should have been and changing coaches and dismissing a few players caused it to go under. In 2008-09 Minnesota actually set a team record for players with a 3.0 or higher GPA and led the Big Ten. Despite the perception in the papers that Brewster is recruiting low achieving students, as a whole the football program has improved its academics.

How is the performance of the team and how does it compare to the past?--2006: 6-7 loss in the Insight Bowl...2008: 7-6 loss in the Insight Bowl. I'll call that a push. 2009 has yet to play out but if you believe ESPN's midseason prediction 6-6 to 7-6 seems the most likely. There was a step back in 2007 but Maturi has even said he knew that would happen (we would have won more than 1 game but even with Mason we weren't going to a bowl in 2007 but that is another conversation).

Has the talent level of the team improved?I think this is a resounding yes. Recruiting services are one measurement but I won't focus on that. Where you can readily see the difference in athleticism in this team vs. previous teams is on the special teams (where most freshman and sophomores make their impact). We currently lead the Big Ten in punt return avg, are at or near the top in kick return avg and have played very well on coverage teams. Also, if you listen to opposing coaches they see the difference. The OC for Purdue (formerly at FAU who played us in 2007 & 2008) commented prior to our matchup that game planning for Minnesota is completely different now because the defense is so much faster than a couple years ago.

Has interest in the program increased?--Obviously one sign would be the sold out stadium but that likely would have sold out either way. Anecdotally the Minnesota Rivals site was the 2nd fastest growing site in the Rivals system. That is a pretty strong indication that interest in the program has increased. I'm sure the athletic dept has other ways to monitor this (road game tix, participation in non-gameday events, donations, etc).





We look at the recruiting with such interest because it is new to us and freshman and sophomores (the best athletes in the program) don't usually make an impact in college football. About half of our 2009 class appears to be in line to be redshirted so we haven't even seen them on the field yet. It is hard to judge the full impact improved recruiting will have on our program.

I'm fine with the comparison to Illinois from the standpoint of having a coach that can recruit at a higher level than the program's past history. However, the comparison really should end there. The last time I checked Illinois was 5-7 in 2008 (we were 7-6) and this year they have 1 win on the season (0 against DI-A programs) while Minnesota is 4-3. The Minnesota coaching staff's abilities should be judged on their coaching rather than a comparison to another program that has stumbled badly because of poor execution. Pat Fitzgerald was hired at Northwestern with a background (recruiting coordinator with no OC/DC experience) that is more similar to Brewster than Zook's background (HC at Florida, former DC) but nobody mentions that comparison. By comparing Brewster to Zook your bias shows quite clearly.

Btw--the last time I checked Zook has gone to more Rose Bowls than Bielema has in Wisconsin. Is that jealousy creeping in to your posting?


I don't know if the Pat Fitzgerald/Tim Brewster comparison is the best one because:

1. Brewster was hired from the outside to come in a take us to the next level and there was a ton of hoopla that he generated by talking a big game. Fitzgerald was hired initally to provide stability to the program and keep it together because the head coach (Randy Walker) whose staff he was on had just died suddenly. He was a familiar face to that program/insider who did a good job of keeping the team together and as such was rewarded for it. However, barring the tragic consequences of Randy Walker dying I think it is safe to say that he would not have been hired as the head coach atleast at this point in his career.

[Gopherprof]

That does not take into account Michigan, OSU and Penn State, who by most accounts, recruit the best athletes in the conference. You still have to beat them to win the conference. Because you can't "out recruit" them, what are you going to do, give up? You have to coach better then they do, develop talent better then they do and on game day, get your guys to out play them. Can Brewster do all of that on a consistent level with "inferior" talent, according to the guru's?

That is the question that has to be answered.
No, it's not. That's my point. You honestly think that Brewster's job depends on his ability to make Minnesota a better program than Ohio State? Only the completely delusional among Minnesota fans believe that.

I mean, Wisconsin has yet to acheive anything better than 3rd in the conference, and Bielema took over a program in much better shape than Minnesota, so one can only assume that his job security is in much worse shape than Brewster's.

[GVBadger]

No, it's not. That's my point. You honestly think that Brewster's job depends on his ability to make Minnesota a better program than Ohio State? Only the completely delusional among Minnesota fans believe that.

I mean, Wisconsin has yet to acheive anything better than 3rd in the conference, and Bielema took over a program in much better shape than Minnesota, so one can only assume that his job security is in much worse shape than Brewster's.

That is not what I said. As you know.

I said in order to win the conference, which is the goal of every team, as far as I know, and certainly a stated goal by Brewster, you have to beat teams that are "outrecruiting" you. You can't lose three games and win the conference.

The Badgers came in tied for second in the Big Ten in 2006.

[Gopherprof]

That is not what I said. As you know.

I said in order to win the conference, which is the goal of every team, as far as I know, and certainly a stated goal by Brewster, you have to beat teams that are "outrecruiting" you. You can't lose three games and win the conference.
Which is exactly the same thing as saying he needs to beat OSU, PSU, and Michigan to keep his job. He doesn't. He needs to beat Iowa and Wisconsin, and he can do that with the talent that is coming in.

[Donovan]

People could probably stand to calm down on both sides. By allowing GV to get you riled up, you are essentially feeding into exactly the type of emotion he is trying to elicit (which is unfortunate, I took him for a serious poster for a while).

Amen. Anyone who trolls on other teams boards posting messages purposely to piss off people needs help.:rolleyes:

I don't mind when other teams fans come on here and post honest topics and questsions. GV does no such thing. His posts are solely to annoy Gopher fans.

[Slim Tubby]

I guess I would have to respectfully disagree here. While I think GVbadger is proud of his program and not afraid to say so, that doesn't make him a "troll". Sure enough his posts are Badger-biased, but thatis his team. He/she will not always post positive things about the Gopher program but I don't come here to read the same "homer" drivel all the time. Heck....one of the best posters on the B-ball board is UWole and I make a point to read every one of his/her posts. Be respectful and I have time for you...JMHO.

[Donovan]

I guess I would have to respectfully disagree here. While I think GVbadger is proud of his program and not afraid to say so, that doesn't make him a "troll". Sure enough his posts are Badger-biased, but thatis his team. He/she will not always post positive things about the Gopher program but I don't come here to read the same "homer" drivel all the time. Heck....one of the best posters on the B-ball board is UWole and I make a point to read every one of his/her posts. Be respectful and I have time for you...JMHO.

Okay, maybe I was a bit harsh. I have not read any posts from him that I found interesting, but maybe I missed those.

[Gophers507]

Anyone who says Brew hasn't put the Gophers on the map in terms of recruiting and national exposure is a lunatic. Remember, we are in Minnesota.
The state that has all major sports, one of the highest education levels in the USA, A major hub for banking, Medical Services, Med Technologies, 3M and so on. There is SOOOOOOOOO much else to do here other than college football, unlike a Nebraska or Wisconsin or Iowa. The majority of people in this state can be satisfied with reading the sports page on Sunday to keep their track on the Gopher Football team and are involved with many other activities that take up their time.
Since Brew and the stadium have gotten here, the Exposure and interest in Gopher football has increased ten fold. While it can be attributed to mostly a new stadium, Brew and co have put their heart and souls on the line in trying to expand gopher nation and all of the great things MN has to offer. While selling recruits this is a huge plus with a great education and job connections for the future, but with the fanbase it is a negative. Now, with all this being said and me rambling, the next step Brew and Co have to take to keep the newly interest gopher nation going and to keep expanding the interest, the on field success will have to come in TIME, not now. To expect Brew and Co to take a non-college football state and turn around a program from B10 mid-bottom dweller to a consistent top b10 team in just a 3 year window is just unreasonable.
He knows how college football works and is trying to turn not just the team, but the whole program and state, to become a passionate fan base. The fair weather fans will only stick with a successful on the field product. And In my opinion, they have done wayyyyyyy more good then bad in making this happen. And to bail on him now would be immature based on the scenario he came into.
Time will tell as he evolves as a on-field coach, but off the field he is doing more than I hoped for, and has achieved more than I though possible.
Go Gophs, sorry for the rambling.

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