Maturi's best option

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bga1

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Like it or not folks Maturi's best move would be to tell the press that Brewster is his man right now. He should say he likes the way Brewster recruits and that he likes the staff and direction Brewster has now settled on. He should also say that he believes our current players are young and will only get better and that Brewster has a great recruiting class on the way. He should say that we are going to have to be patient to get where we want to go. He should also admit that mistakes have been made but that he sees the corrections in place.

Here are the reasons:

1. This president and AD are not going to hire a major league big time coach. There is no Tubby Smith waiting in the wings for this program- that was just plain lucky. A big time coach is going to look at our budget and our history and say-"No way."

2. We do have better talent than in the past. The surest way to stop that trend is to kill another recruiting class by going through a whole season of uncertainty. I can't believe that Brewster will hold onto a good class if he is not supported and I'm doubtful that anything other than a Holtz level hire would stabilize the class that is now being recruited.

3. I think the players like the coach and so do recruits. I have no knowledge to support that, but I've never heard a negative coming from players or ex players. The assistants of the past - that's different, mistakes were made there.

4. I think this is the best way to assure that the players we have perform at the highest level and improve this year- building momentum for next year.

5. Next year Brewster's first batch of recruits will hit their senior year. He should have the chance to develop them that long.

6. Waiting all year will be a PR nightmare. He will take some lumps standing behind Brewster but once it's done most of the pain will be over.

I don't think Brewster is a great coach- but I think he could be in time. I think he's a passionate recruiter and coach and we definitely need that here. One breakthrough year and this guy could recruit some big time players. We need a new AD and a new president. When that happens they can reassess the whole program, including the budget to determine if we are realistically going big time.
 

Agree

As a matter of fact I agree "to the nth degree!!"
 

I disagree, right now Brewster is a PR disaster. Unless this team finished up the season well, if he's kept on, it's going to be a very long, very bad PR disaster. Hiring a new coach ends that PR disaster, it's a PR boost.

We don't need a big name coach, we need a good coach. That requires some scouting.
 

I would have to say that I agree as well with this scenerio....there is no quick fix for this program and firing Brewster is not the answer right now....I will be the first to admit that I have my doubts sometimes and I also wonder if the players are being developed to their full potential but I do believe that Brewster needs a 5th year to see what happens.....we seem to finally have a little stability with the coaching staff now and as Brewster gets more experience as a head coach you would hope that everthing should start to gell sooner than later. It's funny how many people wanted Mason's head and now those same people are wishing that Mason had never been fired....Be careful... because if Brewster finds the same fate you may also be wishing 4 years from now that he was still our coach....the grass is not always greener !!
 

News Flash: We Lost to USD!

More than likely we're headed for 2-10 or 3-9 season.
 


Keep Brewster = Lose More Fans...

It's very simple...Brewster's head is being called for & a loss to NIU will seal his fate...
 

Perhaps the grass isn't always greener. But the grass is dead.

There are other coaches in the world beside Mason and Brewster.
 

RodentRampage said:
I disagree, right now Brewster is a PR disaster. Unless this team finished up the season well, if he's kept on, it's going to be a very long, very bad PR disaster. Hiring a new coach ends that PR disaster, it's a PR boost.

We don't need a big name coach, we need a good coach. That requires some scouting.
Click to expand...

I have really bad news for you. In this town our FOOTBALL TEAM is a PR disaster. It won't end until we win. Until we win fans and the media are going to make the team a running punch line. Depend on it. We can bring in a new coach but you are looking at another 4-5 years minimum of PR disaster and the press will try to kill him off on one basis or another before he gets ahead of steam.
 

If you're not a big fan of the football team, why are you supplying us with 10 commandments of why we suck every Monday, bga?
 



You want to know what really bad PR is?

Firing a coach with no succession plan in place.
 



NateDawgUM said:
If you're not a big fan of the football team, why are you supplying us with 10 commandments of why we suck every Monday, bga?
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You may want to recheck my posting record on the football board Nate. I have made precious few posts on this board and I can't recall one about team performance, although it's possible I made one. I have minimal knowledge of the football team - other than the fact that I will watch and occasionally attend the games. I love all Gopher sports.
 



bga1 said:
I have really bad news for you. In this town our FOOTBALL TEAM is a PR disaster. It won't end until we win. Until we win fans and the media are going to make the team a running punch line. Depend on it. We can bring in a new coach but you are looking at another 4-5 years minimum of PR disaster and the press will try to kill him off on one basis or another before he gets ahead of steam.
Click to expand...

I agree. Its wake up and smell the coffee time. I got my haircut this morning at Schmidty's barbershop down by CDH, which is basically a bunch of barbers who are sports fanatics (and gambling degenerates). We talked about Favre & the Vikings, as well as the Twins and some NFL stuff. Nobody there gave a ratf@ck about the Gophers, other than to make a snide comment or two.

You make a good point that a new coach would have two strikes against him with the local media before even his first presser. The only way to avoid that is for Maturi to pull another Tubby Smithesque hire. Bring in somebody with an impeccable resume, credentials, and reputation. Tubby has taken some criticism (much of it justified) from the local media for some of his decisions, but he hasn't been ridiculed. In fact, he's gotten a pretty fair shake.

I don't know who that coaching hire would be, let alone whether Minnesota could lure them away from their current situation. But that's about the only way Maturi could salvage his reputation. As I stated in another thread, the one thing Maturi does well is work behind the scenes. He pulled off the Tubby hire (granted, Smith wanted to get out of KY). Lets see if lightning can strike twice!
 


Good post, Beeg. You should spend more time on the Football Board and less on the OT Board.
 

UpnorthGo4 said:
Good post, Beeg. You should spend more time on the Football Board and less on the OT Board.
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No- I don't know much about football. I should just spend less time on the OT board. :) But thanks UpNorth!
 

I can see the Brew die-hards are slowly dragging themselves back on the bandwagon after jumping off in the aftermath of losing to a bad I-AA team. That's fine, it's a free country and I'm not really surprised.

The reality is that Brew cannot coach at this level, and he cannot recruit nearly well enough to overcome this deficiency. While it may be easier to 'learn' how to coach then it is to 'learn' to recruit, the Big 10 is too high of a level to be learning how to coach. Period. And that is what we tried with Brew. And he has failed. Period. I don't want to hear about the recruiting class he has coming in, etc. Unless it is top 20, he will still have inferior talent to the top 5-6 schools in the Big 10. Added to inability to coach it means nothing will change.

I understand the feeling of not wanting Maturi to make the next hire. But let's examine what you are suggesting. This team is going to get no more then 4 wins tops. TCF will have blocks of empty seats if he's retained. Revenue will drop. They will be trying to install a new QB next year. They have to play at USC and Syracuse in NC. They have to play Wisc, IA, Nebraska, Michigan, etc. in conference play. There will be a new President and possibly a new AD. Unless Brew comes out of the gate beating USC in LA with his new QB, he will be behind the 8-ball from the word Go, and be even more of a dead-man walking then he is right now.

All that keeping him around another year will accomplish is keeping this program twisting in the wind that much longer. Meanwhile we will miss out on what currently appears to be a decent batch of viable replacement candidates. As Jeremy Foley says, what must be done eventually should be done immediately. It's over for Brew barring a miracle. I'm fine giving him a few more weeks to try and pull off said miracle. But if we're sitting 4-7 or worse going into the Iowa game, it will be time to pull the plug and move on.
 


Whoever said that the team is an ongoing disaster had it right. Brewster didn't turn our football program into an embarrassment, and firing him isn't going to solve the problems of the last 40 years.

The team is improving, both in terms of raw talent and in terms of coaching. You don't have to be a genius to see that - you just have to take the blinders off. Remember the Gophers of a few years ago who would try to tackle a scrambling quarterback and get run over and flattened, and have to be carried off the field in tears?

As for me, I just watched a defense with ten new starters make a very credible effort against a USC squad that for some reason was trying to run up the score, and I just watched an offense that almost everyone in America thought was a basket case score 21 against a more talented and athletic group of defenders.
 

caliGopher said:
His best option would be to resign.
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Here's why Brewster needs to resign (or fired):

1) He's coming off a 6-7 full season (2009) - He's marketable (less guilt in letting him go)
2) The momentum that we got with TCF stadium is wearing off - there were still 400 tickets left for USC. This is troubling.
3) Being a "Lame Duck" only multiplies the damage done. You cannot build a program on a coach without a future.
4) The fan base (I know they're not all true fans but they fill seats) is becoming increasingly vocal in their displeasure. This creates a very negative environment for visitors and recruits which is a huge turnoff.
5) The most visible program at a university is viewed as "in shambles". It then begs the question - is this reflective of the culture of the organization.

Sometimes you need to take a step back (fire or resign) before you can take two steps forward. Maturi may need to be the first to set that example.
 

Agree with bga1

Brewster will have his first senior class next year. This year's senior class has only 15 members out of a roster of 105. Only 5 or 6 get much playing time. In all likelihood he will retain his assistants next year, adding some stability to the program. If a vastly improved product is not present next year then he should be terminated. Until then I feel he deserves (just barely) a fifth year.

On another note to answer the people that say Minnesota is likely to be only a stopping off point for up-and-coming coaches. Beginning with Bernie Bierman only one Minnesota head coach, Holtz, has left Minnesota for another head coaching position in D1. Every other coach when, leaving as the Gopher's head coach, had coached his last D1 game as a head coach. Those included are Bierman, Fesler, Warmath, Stoll, Salem, Gutekunst, Wacker, and Mason. With exception of Bierman, Warmath, and possibly Stoll, that's a lot of mistakes. On the other hand the assistant coaching ranks, particularly in recent years, has been a revolving door.
 

Rescooter said:
Here's why Brewster needs to resign (or fired):

1) He's coming off a 6-7 full season (2009) - He's marketable (less guilt in letting him go)
2) The momentum that we got with TCF stadium is wearing off - there were still 400 tickets left for USC. This is troubling.
3) Being a "Lame Duck" only multiplies the damage done. You cannot build a program on a coach without a future.
4) The fan base (I know they're not all true fans but they fill seats) is becoming increasingly vocal in their displeasure. This creates a very negative environment for visitors and recruits which is a huge turnoff.
5) The most visible program at a university is viewed as "in shambles". It then begs the question - is this reflective of the culture of the organization.

Sometimes you need to take a step back (fire or resign) before you can take two steps forward. Maturi may need to be the first to set that example.
Click to expand...

The case for firing him is easy to make- that's certain.

The problem is that the question, "And then what?", is not nearly as easy. So who do you hire? And what makes you think that person is more certain to succeed then the previous half dozen coaches? And since you have now lost another year of decent recruiting - how good will the team be in two -three years? And in two or three years how impatient will the fan base be then? And if they are still impatient should we fire the next guy?

At what point is it not the coach?
 

In public: unified front until the last moment.

In private: prepared to do what's necessary at any moment.
 

everybody knows my name said:
Whoever said that the team is an ongoing disaster had it right. Brewster didn't turn our football program into an embarrassment, and firing him isn't going to solve the problems of the last 40 years.

The team is improving, both in terms of raw talent and in terms of coaching. You don't have to be a genius to see that - you just have to take the blinders off. Remember the Gophers of a few years ago who would try to tackle a scrambling quarterback and get run over and flattened, and have to be carried off the field in tears?

As for me, I just watched a defense with ten new starters make a very credible effort against a USC squad that for some reason was trying to run up the score, and I just watched an offense that almost everyone in America thought was a basket case score 21 against a more talented and athletic group of defenders.
Click to expand...

Wow, you are watching a different team than me. If the talent level is that much better, then it is bad coaching. I have seen not one thing in four years that would lead me to your conclusions that the team is improving in both raw talent and coaching. Sorry, but that is just plaing dilusional.
 

Who do you hire? What usually happens is an assistant is named an interim coach. You give the impression of an organization that promotes from within.

The fan base then has reasonable expectations and you can take more time in finding a suitable replacement....that is unless one of the assistants does a terrific job.

If a suitable assistant cannot be found, Mangiano was just up here. I'm sure he'd step in as an interim coach in a heartbeat. We've got great restaurants around here and I'm sure he wouldn't mind checking them out.

I do not like seeing our program in shambles. I like it even less to see it even getting worse.

Thanks for your thoughtful reply.
 

Let's be honest... Maturi's best option would be to support the coach, and to also get the regents to allow alcohol sales at the stadium. That would mollify some fans for sure. :cool02:
 

everybody knows my name said:
Whoever said that the team is an ongoing disaster had it right. Brewster didn't turn our football program into an embarrassment, and firing him isn't going to solve the problems of the last 40 years.

The team is improving, both in terms of raw talent and in terms of coaching. You don't have to be a genius to see that - you just have to take the blinders off. Remember the Gophers of a few years ago who would try to tackle a scrambling quarterback and get run over and flattened, and have to be carried off the field in tears?

As for me, I just watched a defense with ten new starters make a very credible effort against a USC squad that for some reason was trying to run up the score, and I just watched an offense that almost everyone in America thought was a basket case score 21 against a more talented and athletic group of defenders.
Click to expand...

go4rob said:
Wow, you are watching a different team than me. If the talent level is that much better, then it is bad coaching. I have seen not one thing in four years that would lead me to your conclusions that the team is improving in both raw talent and coaching. Sorry, but that is just plaing dilusional.
Click to expand...

go4rob - you beat me to it. there is a lot of not wanting to see the truth right in front of you. this guy needs to take his "blinders off". the assertion that there is so much more talent and the coach is getting better all the time is pure fiction.

blind-faith - belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence is all it is.
 


howeda7 said:
I can see the Brew die-hards are slowly dragging themselves back on the bandwagon after jumping off in the aftermath of losing to a bad I-AA team. That's fine, it's a free country and I'm not really surprised.
Click to expand...

I know, predictable isn't it? What's the saying time heals and time forget? Well, for Gopher homers it's VERY LITTLE time heals, and VERY LITTLE time forgets.

Yes, it is theoretically possible that Brewster turns this season around. Right now, though, it looks highly unlikely. All the now positive talk about losing to a ho-hum USC is bogus. They may have beaten us slowly, but it was definitely steadily. In the 4th quarter we were down by more than 2 scores until the very end. That's not a particularly close game. It was very much like the Penn State and Ohio State games last year. The homers told us ad nauseum how those losses weren't that bad because they showed improvement (which, of course, has manifested itself in a team that lost to ISU in a bowl and is worse this year. Some improvement), and here we are a year later with the SAME TYPE OF LOSS.

The state of the Gopher program is so bad (as the OP pointed out, the program is already a joke) that it's basically going to take quite a bit of luck to get it turned around. The Gophers are going to have to catch fire in a bottle with a coach that comes out of nowhere, gets lucky early, and maybe picks up a player or two that have flown under the radar for whatever reason. In that respect, I wasn't opposed to hiring Brewster, but he's proven he's not that guy. With that basically proven, it's time to roll the dice again, albeit with more homework done ahead of time. If you don't, attendance will inevitably start to fall. Think interest in the Gophers is low now? Consider September 2011 coming off a 3-9 season with the same coaching staff at the helm. Crickets, folks. Crickets.
 

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