New Adam Rittenberg Q&A with Coach Brewster

[Gopherprof]

Fair enough. Then I don't care if we were a good football team when we beat Montana State. We should be a good football team then. Let's be a good football team when it actually counts.

 

[Ski U Mah Gopher]

Did anyone read the comments?

Especially the long awaited beatdown of Pantherhawk by MplsGopherGold. It was classic.

 

[Governor Sibley]

Last year I called Brewster on his cell phone. I got the voicemail and left him a long message telling him to stop spouting off, since it's embarrassing. Ever since then...

And you think I'm joking.

 

[WriterGoph]

Prof, STFU about Tressel. Jesus. He walked into one of the premier jobs in the country where it's cake to recruit AND they have PAID PLAYERS in the past. Christ. You think you can compare Minnesota to OSU? Brewster has to pump up the program here to get better recruits. You're an idiot if you think otherwise. AND he has to do it legally!

And whoever it was that said it's better to underpromise and overperform, you're obviously new to the world. Yes, maybe it's best to do that to customers, but if you think sales directors set lower goals for THEIR OWN troops, you couldn't be more wrong. Sales directors set almost unachievable goals for their salesmen because they want them to stay motivated and keep striving for the best. When Brewster talks to the media, he knows that his players will hear everything he says. Whether he is talking to them in the locker room or talking to a media person, he is still getting in his players' ears. So again, what do you expect him to say? You expect him to have his guys hear that they might be mediocre? Maybe under Mason that was acceptable, but that's why we never broke through with him either. I just can't fathom why people get angry for him trying to set the highest goals possible. You people need to understand that it's okay to expect great things.

As for Tressel, his non-bombastic personality (and staid play-calling) has made OSU (and by proxy the Big Ten) a national joke over the last 4-5 years. So if skating through the Big Ten and getting waxed by SEC teams is your dream in life, I'd rather take my chances on Brewster and hope that we can break that mold.

Lastly, Studwell, you're a sad little man. Go cry for the days of Mason some more and bite a pillow. You're like a little college sophomore whose girlfriend banged some other dude. All you do is think of the great times you had with your girlfriend and fail to see the reality that you guys fought half the time and she did, in fact, bang another guy. You are failing to see all the miserable times we had after those heartbreaking losses under Mason and the fact that we had a coach who said "after 10 years, we are still rebuilding." No thanks,
dude. I will take my chances on someone different who actually believes that he can win here and bring us back to national prominence. Tim can talk all he wants. I'd much rather hear that than excuses.

 

[WriterGoph]

In sales it is better to under promise and over deliver, promising the world to your customer and then getting close but not delivering what you promised does not fly. I don't have a problem with a guy being positive about his team but be rest assured when you paint a picture of everything being great then people are going to take you at your word and hold you accountable. When a guy in the same breath talks about how good our team was last year than you have to wonder who is really the one accepting mediocrity here, however I must admit it is quite a bit out of line with his shooting for the moon comments? I would prefer that he says we had some problems last year that we have addressed and you will see better coaching and results on the field.

You're a clown and you're dead wrong. If you think sales directors tell their guys to take their foot off the gas or "it's okay, we've had an above average month," you are kidding yourself. Go jerk off about the Big 12 some more, pal. It's obvious the only sales experience you have is trying to get your wife/girlfriend to give it up to you once a month -- and I'm sure you're not very good at that either.

 

[caliGopher]

Improvement

Dude, get over it already. We won ONE game two years ago. We won SEVEN last year. I'll take that improvement anyday. We will win at least EIGHT this year with one of the toughest schedules in the country.

So I guess the way to be considered a good coach using the Tim Brewster method is to tank so badly in year one (yes we had issues, but lack of coaching ability cost us at least 3 wins, and possibly 5)?

That's a very interesting line of thinking. Tank at your job at first so when you're mediocre later, you look brilliant.

The team improved last year, but it should have been from 4-8 to 7-6. An improvement yes, but not the meteroic rise you're willing to give him -- and still a few plays from being 6-6 in year one and two. What kind of improvement does that suggest?

Throw in the loss of Roof, the hiring of two new coordinators (in year one, learning a new system was a big part of why we were 1-11 I was so often told), an 8 win projection is pretty ballsy, but hey, the power of positive thinking can work wonders.

So I won't call you names, and I'll hope you're right on the prediction, but there is zero basis for the optimistic view you have. I'm trying not to put too much into the scrimmage which was really a vanilla display, but I did not see the line play it will take to improve. What I saw is guys with talent getting fatter and slower every year under Brewster.

He gets an "F" on the coaching of the offensive line for the first two years. Early returns are not looking like it will be much more than that in year 3. He's still talking about Dom "Ole" Alford as part of the solution. If letting D-lineman blow right by you is our benchmark, then Dom has been coached up to All-American status. I guess I always thought that "offensive" meant trying to score, not putrid when it came to describing lineman.

At the end of the day, maybe I should ease up. We really should have been 9-4 last year so maybe we should count the games he should have won but couldn't in all of his years of coaching. If we did that, we wouldn't have to worry about him at all.

I guess from that standpoint, I'm on board. We should win 9+ games this year. I won't worry about it if we don't. We should have.

 

[WriterGoph]

Cali, how about we bet a punch in the face that they win 8 games this year?

Why don't you find me an example of a college football coach who has been judged (like you're doing to Brewster here) after TWO YEARS? Sh*t, Greg Robinson got FOUR years at Syracuse and he never won close to 7 games in a season. The point is, you dimwits have already made your mind up that you wanna hate on Brewster because he's optimistic and his team fell off at the end of last year. That's what strength and conditioning programs are for and I guarantee you we won't have a falloff like that again this season. The funny thing is, none of you wipes were talking crap last year when the team was 7-1.

Like I said, if you're so certain about Brew's incapabilities, let's bet a solid knuckle sandwich on it. 8 wins, I say. I'll be glad to let you know when I arrive in Minnesota for the holidays to pay up if they don't.

(NOTE: if this bet seems insane or douchey, I apologize, I am just doing my best to communicate with the morons on this board whose lives have become so insignificant that all they can do is project their negativity by complaining and crying because someone wants to be positive about Gopher football.)

 

[MBAGuy]

I'll keep it civil here, but I'll be up front here and admit that all the negativity in this town sucks.

Honestly, what do some of you want Brewster to say? The fact of the matter is, our legacy of the last 20+ years has been losing and disappointment. And really, outside of the wins over Michigan in 1977 and Penn State in 1998, we haven't had much to brag about in the last 40 years. 40 years! IMHO, we need a master salesperson to help build this program up from the depths of mediocrity. Dude is selling hope for something better and, truthfully, that's our only selling point right now.

The pragmatism of Gutey, Wacker, and Mason got us approximately nowhere. At least with Brewster there's a different vibe about the program. Will it work out? Does he have the coaching abilities to take us to the next level? I don't know, but neither do you. With Brew, though, we've moved beyond the status quo of "well, big-time recruits just won't consider Minnesota" and the picking over of the carcass of our in- and out-of-state recruiting pipelines after they've been raided by the majors, as well as freaking Wisconsin and Iowa.

So, honestly, how do you want him to represent the program? If you can't stand his optimism what's a better approach he could take to building the Gophers into a winning organization?

 

[WriterGoph]

I'll keep it civil here, but I'll be up front here and admit that all the negativity in this town sucks.

Honestly, what do some of you want Brewster to say? The fact of the matter is, our legacy of the last 20+ years has been losing and disappointment. And really, outside of the wins over Michigan in 1977 and Penn State in 1998, we haven't had much to brag about in the last 40 years. 40 years! IMHO, we need a master salesperson to help build this program up from the depths of mediocrity. Dude is selling hope for something better and, truthfully, that's our only selling point right now.

The pragmatism of Gutey, Wacker, and Mason got us approximately nowhere. At least with Brewster there's a different vibe about the program. Will it work out? Does he have the coaching abilities to take us to the next level? I don't know, but neither do you. With Brew, though, we've moved beyond the status quo of "well, big-time recruits just won't consider Minnesota" and the picking over of the carcass of our in- and out-of-state recruiting pipelines after they've been raided by the majors, as well as freaking Wisconsin and Iowa.

So, honestly, how do you want him to represent the program? If you can't stand his optimism what's a better approach he could take to building the Gophers into a winning organization?

Well said, MBA!

It's funny that people get on Childress for being too bland and boring and not saying enough with the Vikings, but I would bet there is a nice cross-section of those same people who are b*tching at Brew for being too positive or effusive in his praise. It just goes to show you that some people will always find something to complain about.

It's crap like this that makes me just not bother with coming to GH for a few days after a loss because I know reading all the "I only post when it's negative" guys come out of the woodwork just to say I told you so. The sad thing is, we haven't even played a single f-ing game yet this year!

 

[Frod0]

Good point. I should have said 11-1.

The one win being wiscy...

 

[GopherGod]

You're a clown and you're dead wrong. If you think sales directors tell their guys to take their foot off the gas or "it's okay, we've had an above average month," you are kidding yourself. Go jerk off about the Big 12 some more, pal. It's obvious the only sales experience you have is trying to get your wife/girlfriend to give it up to you once a month -- and I'm sure you're not very good at that either.

You as a writer have so much sales experience, sure. What do I know however, I have only worked in and trained sales forces in one of the most competitive industries. Any sales manager worth a darn knows you cannot set the goals so high that they cannot be achieved or else your sales force will figure it is unattainable and give up, but you as a writer have that vast sales experience though right. If your sales experience and skills are so great then maybe you could actually sell something you write and get out of your mom's basement.

 

[WriterGoph]

You as a writer have so much sales experience, sure. I am pretty sure I have more experience with sales than you will ever have. Any sales manager worth a darn knows you cannot set the goals so high that they cannot be achieved or else your sales force will figure it is unattainable and give up, but you as a writer have that vast sales experience though right.

Sally, just because my moniker on GopherHole says "WriterGoph" doesn't mean that's all I do. Trust me, I don't think you're God because of your name (help us all if you were). I'm actually a freelance writer these days and have been for awhile now. I have worked full-time in a couple different sales environments over the past few years and I have NEVER had a boss who allowed to set mediocre goals. Each boss always pushed me to ask more and more of myself. Because of that, I have become one of the top producers at my spot.

Simply put, you're a total fool if you think Brewster should tell his guys that 7-8 wins is "good enough" this year. This really isn't that hard of a concept, unless of course, you're from Nebraska.

 

[WriterGoph]

I think Adam Rittenberg said it best in describing Brew during his interview with GH:

"Brew has always been honest and extremely open with me, which is more than I can say for some of his colleagues. Minnesota needed a coach who dreamed bigger than 7-5 and the Sun Bowl, and Brewster certainly fits that mold."

It's hilarious to me that people on here are all up in arms about Brewster's style and seem to want to paint him as some used car salesman, when in fact Rittenberg points out that's exactly what Brewster is NOT.

 

[Ole]

damn! and I thought the Kirksey/Shumpert thread was getting deep.

a few thoughts:
Tressel has reduced the big ten's reputation with a combo soft schedules and big expectations, I think anyone including myself, a trained monkey, or a trained rock could recruit successfully at OSU and win 10 games a year, his team's performances against Florida and others has been a travesty for our conference

GG: any salesman who reduces expected sales to cushion the potential fallout and then celebrates exceeding said reduced expectations is a crappy salesman and should be fired. That line of thinking is safe, its cowardly, and its just plain defeatist. In the same line of thinking we should expect big things from our gopher program AND shout those expectations from the rooftop for all I care, the bottom line is that we have become a relevent topic for the local media and the big ten media(ask our fellow big ten fans not from Iowa or Wisky, Brew has people taling and looking at us differently than we have been) If we fall flat, then we fall flat, but we at least are reaching.

 

[GopherGod]

Sally, just because my moniker on GopherHole says "WriterGoph" doesn't mean that's all I do. Trust me, I don't think you're God because of your name (help us all if you were). I'm actually a freelance writer these days and have been for awhile now. I have worked full-time in a couple different sales environments over the past few years and I have NEVER had a boss who allowed to set mediocre goals. Each boss always pushed me to ask more and more of myself. Because of that, I have become one of the top producers at my spot.

Simply put, you're a total fool if you think Brewster should tell his guys that 7-8 wins is "good enough" this year. This really isn't that hard of a concept, unless of course, you're from Nebraska.

Now don't go putting words into my mouth, I never said brewster should say 8 wins is okay, I just said that if you promise the world you better deliver and so far he has not, as in sales if you deliver less than you promised to your customers but come close that is still not good enough for your customer, but I am sure you know that right. So if he wants to promise the world to the public then deliver on it or zip it and so far I see a lot of lip service and not much for results.

 

[WriterGoph]

Now don't go putting words into my mouth, I never said brewster should say 8 wins is okay, I just said that if you promise the world you better deliver and so far he has not, as in sales if you deliver less than you promised to your customers but come close that is still not good enough for your customer, but I am sure you know that right. So if he wants to promise the world to the public then deliver on it or zip it and so far I see a lot of lip service and not much for results.

Bro, we're NOT TALKING ABOUT "customers". We are talking about his "workers" aka players. It doesn't matter what you or I think about the expectations he sets. That's the whole point of this thread. He is trying to get it into his players' heads that they can achieve those goals. So are you trying to tell me that every time a team loses a game that their coach told them they could win, it's the coach's fault because he had them thinking too high? Jesus Christ in a Cadillac.

Your logic makes no sense. What you promise your customers and what you try to drive your employees or players to do are two completely different things. Brew doesn't talk the way he does for your benefit. He does it for his current and future players so he can instill a culture of winning and achieving great things.

As far you saying "so far you see a lot of lip service", ummm, it's been TWO YEARS, douche. Nobody tries to judge a college coach on two years. Well, maybe you do, but I'd expect that from you.

 

[harrys ghost]

You as a writer have so much sales experience, sure. What do I know however, I have only worked in and trained sales forces in one of the most competitive industries. Any sales manager worth a darn knows you cannot set the goals so high that they cannot be achieved or else your sales force will figure it is unattainable and give up, but you as a writer have that vast sales experience though right. If your sales experience and skills are so great then maybe you could actually sell something you write and get out of your mom's basement.

Not to be rude, but having worked in sales for a company that went from $100M per year in sales to $1B per year in sales in just under three years, I don't think your attitude would have cut it.

 

[WriterGoph]

Not to be rude, but having worked in sales for a company that went from $100M per year in sales to $1B per year in sales in just under three years, I don't think your attitude would have cut it.

No, feel free to be rude to GopherGod. That's the only way to talk to a carp like him.

 

[GopherGod]

Bro, we're NOT TALKING ABOUT "customers". We are talking about his "workers" aka players. It doesn't matter what you or I think about the expectations he sets. That's the whole point of this thread. He is trying to get it into his players' heads that they can achieve those goals. So are you trying to tell me that every time a team loses a game that their coach told them they could win, it's the coach's fault because he had them thinking too high? Jesus Christ in a Cadillac.

Your logic makes no sense. What you promise your customers and what you try to drive your employees or players to do are two completely different things. Brew doesn't talk the way he does for your benefit. He does it for his current and future players so he can instill a culture of winning and achieving great things.

As far you saying "so far you see a lot of lip service", ummm, it's been TWO YEARS, douche. Nobody tries to judge a college coach on two years. Well, maybe you do, but I'd expect that from you.

I agree that the players/employees are different than the customers and he can say all he wants to them and try and hype them up as much as possible. However, when you get in front of a television camera or sit down with a reporter you know your comments are going to be shared with you fans/customers and as such you better not promise them more than you can deliver, just go win instead of talking about winning when the cameras are on and I will be right there to support him. If only talking about winning was all that was required to instill a culture of winning that would be nice but unfortunately more than lip service is required.

 

[WriterGoph]

I agree that the players/employees are different than the customers and he can say all he wants to them and try and hype them up as much as possible. However, when you get in front of a television camera or sit down with a reporter you know your comments are going to be shared with you fans/customers and as such you better not promise them more than you can deliver, just go win instead of talking about winning when the cameras are on and I will be right there to support him. If only talking about winning was all that was required to instill a culture of winning that would be nice but unfortunately more than lip service is required.

You're dense. I can't continue to waste my time telling you the same thing over and over. I have to finish my MBA project. Have fun complaining about something that you have no control over and that has ZERO effect on the actual season.

 

[i'm batman]

 

[The 12th Man]

Last year I called Brewster on his cell phone. I got the voicemail and left him a long message telling him to stop spouting off, since it's embarrassing. Ever since then...

And you think I'm joking.

I agree with your sentiments, but it's cute that you think he listened to the entire message.

 

[caliGopher]

Stay Classy.

Cali, how about we bet a punch in the face that they win 8 games this year?

Why don't you find me an example of a college football coach who has been judged (like you're doing to Brewster here) after TWO YEARS? Sh*t, Greg Robinson got FOUR years at Syracuse and he never won close to 7 games in a season. The point is, you dimwits have already made your mind up that you wanna hate on Brewster because he's optimistic and his team fell off at the end of last year. That's what strength and conditioning programs are for and I guarantee you we won't have a falloff like that again this season. The funny thing is, none of you wipes were talking crap last year when the team was 7-1.

Like I said, if you're so certain about Brew's incapabilities, let's bet a solid knuckle sandwich on it. 8 wins, I say. I'll be glad to let you know when I arrive in Minnesota for the holidays to pay up if they don't.

(NOTE: if this bet seems insane or douchey, I apologize, I am just doing my best to communicate with the morons on this board whose lives have become so insignificant that all they can do is project their negativity by complaining and crying because someone wants to be positive about Gopher football.)

Couple of coaches that have been judged based on two years or less in the last 9 months:

-Gene Cizik at Auburn -- they were calling for his head the day the hire was announced.
-Rich Rodriquez at Michigan -- and while it was obvious he didn't have some players needed to be successful, he actually has been successful in the past so there is something to base any evaluation on.

The list is endless, I didn't even have to think about these two.

WriterGoph, the only thing I can say is stay classy my friend. I gotta tell you, challenging anyone who doesn't agree with you to a fight is really up there. I'm proud to be a graduate of the University of Minnesota given the classy way you represent us. We haven't had that kind of class in Minnesota since Jesse Ventura was governor.

That being said, as I said before, 8 wins is a ballsy prediction, but I hope it happens. Based on the evidence, I don't see it, but man, that would be nice.

I am not willing to bet you a punch in the mouth over it. I learned in the 5th grade that you don't settle disagreements with a punch, especially stupid disagreements on an internet chat room about a football coach. So I say again, stay classy WriterGoph.

 

[WriterGoph]

I just offered to bet a punch in the face. That's not a challenge, that's a bet. Learn the difference. If you want to talk down to me in a little b*tch sarcastic tone, I'll do you one better.

As for Gene and Rich, they are both still employed and will be for at least a few more years. If you're talking about meaningless judgement via chat boards by people like yourself, that's just great. You don't make hiring decisions, thank God. So again, keep crying and go read another book on pacifism.

 

[caliGopher]

I just offered to bet a punch in the face. That's not a challenge, that's a bet. Learn the difference. If you want to talk down to me in a little b*tch sarcastic tone, I'll do you one better.

As for Gene and Rich, they are both still employed and will be for at least a few more years. If you're talking about meaningless judgement via chat boards by people like yourself, that's just great. You don't make hiring decisions, thank God. So again, keep crying and go read another book on pacifism.

As for Gene and Rich, you asked me to find a coach who has been judged, like I was doing to Brewster. I think I accomplished that, but then again, I was just responding to your request. It didn't sound like hiring authority was a requisite when you threw down the challenge.

Not sure where this came in to this post, but like both of them, Brewster is still employed and most likely will be for a few years based on his current contract and the extension that Maturi will have to give him this year (and while I don't think he should have been hired in the first place, if Maturi doesn't give him an extension this year, he may as well fire him. You can't put him in a position where you're telling him he has to perform or else by setting him up for failure in the one area he has done anything with -- recruiting).

I know the difference between a bet and a challenge, so please rest easy. Anyone who wants to punch me in the mouth is offering a challenge regardless of the pretext. Again, all I can say on that front is stay classy.

 

[WriterGoph]

So what would a "classy" bet be in your esteemed opinion? Do tell.

 

[caliGopher]

So what would a "classy" bet be in your esteemed opinion? Do tell.

I have never bet against the Gophers, but since you seem so interested in this, a classy way to respond to you would be to bet a $500 donation to the University of Minnesota -- in the winners name to the winners choice of Department/School paid for by the loser?

I'm willing to double the donation I made this year to the School of Journalism and if it makes you feel better to throw down ridiculous challenges, this way any bet I make against the Gophers would benefit them should we pull off an 8+ win season. And if the team stays true to form under Brewster, I'm still investing in improving the school.

I think that would be a classy way to handle this. No losers.

 

[WriterGoph]

You're a good man. That's real talk, too.

Sorry that I was willing to TAKE a punch in the face for the Gophers and Brewster. Different strokes for different folks though.

 

[Zales04]

After the challenges to throw punches and the "stay classy" line I was expecting to see "Boom.....outta here" show up soon.