Overall recruiting thoughts

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amateurdwarftosser

amateurdwarftosser

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It seems to me that reading the couple recruiting threads below, some think that Coach Brewster isnt living up to his recruiting hype. I respectfully disagree. While he isnt pulling in all 5 star recruits, he is putting together much more solid classes than his predecessor did (this is not intended on starting another Mason vs Brew thread).

My evidence is the Rivals website. http://minnesota.rivals.com/commitlist.asp. Click on the links to past years. 2002 included a total of 3 3-stars in the whole class.

In fariness, clicking on other schools and looking at their classes leads me to believe that we still have work to do. But, we are quietly building depth and talent at all postions. On the flipside, looking at guys who have left the program is somewhat disturbing.
 

amateurdwarftosser said:
It seems to me that reading the couple recruiting threads below, some think that Coach Brewster isnt living up to his recruiting hype. I respectfully disagree. While he isnt pulling in all 5 star recruits, he is putting together much more solid classes than his predecessor did (this is not intended on starting another Mason vs Brew thread).

My evidence is the Rivals website. http://minnesota.rivals.com/commitlist.asp. Click on the links to past years. 2002 included a total of 3 3-stars in the whole class.

In fariness, clicking on other schools and looking at their classes leads me to believe that we still have work to do. But, we are quietly building depth and talent at all postions. On the flipside, looking at guys who have left the program is somewhat disturbing.
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How do you mean this? What about it is disturbing, since most of the ones who have left either were not that great or had major off the field issues.

2003 was not bad, and Hamilton's broken leg pretty much did in his play at MN. 2005-2006 had some individual players. A lot of players who's names never came up in discussion concerning the Gophers nor do I even remember them playing. I can only assess they warmed the bench or had absolutely nothing that caused any attention to be drawn to them in regard to quality play. Unfortunately a few of the players drew attention to themselves with off the field garbage.
 

Before this turns into the classic and beatin dead horse Mason recruiting vs Brew and etc, here are my real thoughts on this years class.

Very nice mix of unheralded(good or bad) and heralded, local(including wisconsin guys) and outstate.
Defense looks like they have an idea of who they are targeting, get big athletes that can move(speed) and get them bigger, IE DE's to DT's, OLB to DE's, S to LB, WR to CB etc.
This has been looking good so far on the field in the program as well, Small(LB) Kirksey(DE), Jacobs(RB), Wilhite (RB), Cooper (S), Sherels(WR).


On offense, we are stacking blue collar local big uglies, and mixing in some speed from outstate, we need a big play RB at some point, I really think Brew and crew know this as well.
If we can get a big time back and stack some more CB/S types, maybe a few local DL prospects;) we are good to go, this is a developmental class, alot of these guys will be RS next year right away.
 

Ole said:
Before this turns into the classic and beatin dead horse Mason recruiting vs Brew and etc, here are my real thoughts on this years class.

Very nice mix of unheralded(good or bad) and heralded, local(including wisconsin guys) and outstate.
Defense looks like they have an idea of who they are targeting, get big athletes that can move(speed) and get them bigger, IE DE's to DT's, OLB to DE's, S to LB, WR to CB etc.
This has been looking good so far on the field in the program as well, Small(LB) Kirksey(DE), Jacobs(RB), Wilhite (RB), Cooper (S), Sherels(WR).


On offense, we are stacking blue collar local big uglies, and mixing in some speed from outstate, we need a big play RB at some point, I really think Brew and crew know this as well.
If we can get a big time back and stack some more CB/S types, maybe a few local DL prospects;) we are good to go, this is a developmental class, alot of these guys will be RS next year right away.
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They have been trying to get that RB, but keep missing out...either choosing someone else or not qualifying.
 

I think the class is filling out nicely. If you look at ESPN for example, the overall class seems to be similar among years.

Rating 2010 2009 2008
80+ 1 1 2
78-79 2 6 5
76-77 7 4 5
75 2 1 2

The biggest differenct to date is the players ranked 78-79, and we haven't finished this year off yet.

Also, if you look at Lemmings report, we have a player in his Top 25 for each position for almost every position. In fact, he ranks Lewis #23 or so of top 25 cornerbacks?

Go Gophers!!
SK Gopher

sorry, I can't get my columns to line up properly. How can I do that?
 


Ok let me shed some light on this discussion since i have first hand knowledge of the recruiting process.... My son could have went anywhere in the country but he chose the gophers because both Brewster and Cross sat in my living room sat at my dinning room table and ate a meal prepared by my wife..... treated us like family and has kept every promise they ever made. After he was signed in the 2008 class. They still continued to keep contact with me as a parent to let me know how my son was progressing...They were able to convince my son to commit to a 1 and 9 team make me feel good about it and two years later compete and almost upset the number 8 team in the nation and some body has the nerve to question the recruiting... please
 

gopher pops said:
Ok let me shed some light on this discussion since i have first hand knowledge of the recruiting process.... My son could have went anywhere in the country but he chose the gophers because both Brewster and Cross sat in my living room sat at my dinning room table and ate a meal prepared by my wife..... treated us like family and has kept every promise they ever made. After he was signed in the 2008 class. They still continued to keep contact with me as a parent to let me know how my son was progressing...They were able to convince my son to commit to a 1 and 9 team make me feel good about it and two years later compete and almost upset the number 8 team in the nation and some body has the nerve to question the recruiting... please
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Thanks for the info Mr. Wilhite.
 

gopher pops said:
Ok let me shed some light on this discussion since i have first hand knowledge of the recruiting process.... My son could have went anywhere in the country but he chose the gophers because both Brewster and Cross sat in my living room sat at my dinning room table and ate a meal prepared by my wife..... treated us like family and has kept every promise they ever made. After he was signed in the 2008 class. They still continued to keep contact with me as a parent to let me know how my son was progressing...They were able to convince my son to commit to a 1 and 9 team make me feel good about it and two years later compete and almost upset the number 8 team in the nation and some body has the nerve to question the recruiting... please
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Thanks for the insight, you'll find that 95% of the people on this board love Brewster, the direction of the program, and the well behaved and talented student athletes coach Brew has brought in. Some people on here are trolls (fans of other schools) who love to start ridiculous/demeaning discussions with Gopher fans. Others are negative fans in the area who for whatever reason have it out for the Gophs or Brew. And some just like to complain like typical sports fans. Hopefully you've been able to make it up to a game already this year and were able to see first hand how the fans of MN are embracing this team. Future is bright for Gopher football, but until we get there, there will always be negativity during the process of getting there. 95% of us on here either argue back or just try to ignore it.
 

lololol last time i was called Mr Maresh now im called Mr wilhite truth be told they are both fine young men and i would be proud to be either of their fathers.
 



dpodoll68 said:
Thanks for the info Mr. Wilhite.
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Actually it sounds more like Mr. Maresh. But it is very good info and a good lesson in regard to recruiting...respect the recruit, the family and if you make promises...keep them.

As for the negative nellies, though some criticism is always going to be there, and some of it deserved, best to learn appropriate lessons and move on.
 


How about we leave gopherpops alone unless he wants to tell us who he is.
 




The posts that I enjoy reading the most come from the parents who speak highly of the coaching staff. More important than wins and losses are the treatment of the players and families. I am very pro-Brewster and staff because of the positive feedback coming from the recruits, families, and even players that have chosen other schools.
 

Brewster has recruited more athletes in his first class (his first full year) than Mason did in all of his years here. Keep it up Brewster, we are already more athletic than Wisconsin. Our team of freshman and sophomore skill players almost won in Madison last year. I can't wait to kick their ass this year.
 

Just a general comment, I don't think it is good form to be trying to "guess" whose parent a particular poster is or "out" them if you know who they are. I would assume GopherPops or any other parent who posts on this board would use their real name if they wanted you, me, or anyone to know who they are.
 

Gopherpops, thanks for posting here and don't let anyone get under your skin. Your 1st hand insights make this site a better place. There are a few rival fans posing as Gopher fans and a few who just don't like Brew's positivity and are always looking to stir the pot. 99% of us are behind the U and the new tradition we're building. I'm the father of 3 and I would not hesitate to send my kids to Play4Brew.

As for recruiting, there is no argument. Mason was a good coach. An old school, coaches coach. This is 2009 though and kids want the most bang for their buck in regards to their NCAA experience. That means recruiting, and recruiting is marketing. Marketing means redesigning the uniforms so the kids like them not us older guys. It means being buddies with the recruiting sites. It means scheduling big time opponants. It means night games on National TV. It means getting the students to the Victory Walk. It means getting stories on ESPN. It means treating our players like rock stars, while at the same time making sure they come out on the other side with a degree for their time and effort. It means selling a Ginormous locker room in the coolest stadium in the country. etc etc
 

That's great gopherpops, and I'm glad you like coach Brewster and all, but, according to Doogie, one former player of the gophers does not think that Brew has this team on the right track. So, you know, I'm just saying, kind of cancels out your story.
 

If I offended you Gopherpops, my apologies. Carelessness on my part.
 

Section2 said:
That's great gopherpops, and I'm glad you like coach Brewster and all, but, according to Doogie, one former player of the gophers does not think that Brew has this team on the right track. So, you know, I'm just saying, kind of cancels out your story.
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I do not think two opposing viewpoints cancel out each other. Some will be pleased, others will not be. In the end, it is the wins and losses that will determine whether or not Brewster is successful. If Brewster can turn the team into a consistent 5-3 or better squad in Big Ten play, he has improved upon previous years. I hope we can be perennial contenders, but that may take time. An unexpectedly strong year over the next couple seasons will likely make this coaching tenure a successful one. Conversely, if we tread water around 3-5 or 4-4 it could inhibit our future success. Brewster has five years to make 5-3 the minimum expectation. Let's see how it goes.
 

I just meant that it was disturbing to see our 2005 class (Mason's) has evaporated from 20 incoming to 7 current members of the team today. 2006's class (Mason's) of 22 has evaporated to 5 guys. 2007's (Brewster's) class of 23 is now 9.

My counting of who is actually on the roster is probably flawed, but to see that many commits evaporate into guys who are no longer in the program scares me somewhat. The reasons for leaving the program are varied, everything from the rape case, to grades, to failure to qualify, to discpiline, to new coaching staff and schemes. In most cases, I would still like to see these guys in the program working toward a degree. Most of these guys should be your veteran Juniors and Seniors at this point.

Like i said before, we do seem to be building talent and depth everywhere and that is encouraging.
 

Keep in mind none of these were really Brewsters recruits. The 2007 class was technically his, but he did not arrive until the middle of Janurary and just had to roll with the recruits already commited.
 

"I just meant that it was disturbing to see our 2005 class (Mason's) has evaporated from 20 incoming to 7 current members of the team today. 2006's class (Mason's) of 22 has evaporated to 5 guys. 2007's (Brewster's) class of 23 is now 9."

This type of transition is normal when a coaching change occurs. Your recruiting and position coaches (Major factors in choosing a school) are gone, new coach, new system, etc. As for Brew's first class, the guy only had what two weeks to recruit? Who was left at that point? He took a flier on several guys who weren't recruited by other schools for whatever reasons because we desperately needed bodies. Mostly those players weren't Big-10 caliber or couldn't cut it academically and moved on. As I recall they all stayed out of trouble and left the program honorably to find a better fit for themselves.
 

Yeah, I realize that the coaching change hurt us in this case.

On a related note, have we been docked any scholarships because of the NCAA's new program to get kids to graduate? I'm sure someone can explain it better, but if you have a graduation rate of, say 10%, your program gets docked scholarships as a punishment for the poor rate. The guys who should be seniors but have left the program still count against that, right?
 

Yeah we have been docked a little. Minor thus far. I think the more interesting part of this is that those numbers aren't all that far off normalcy. Which really aren't so far off the general population. I think though that when you bring in kids that fit, and belong in the level of competition they're playing in they're more likely to stay. Through 2007 I'd say we took a lot of flyers on kids. I would hope that along with the better players comes better retention. It'll be interesting to watch.
 

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