Questions For Brewster Supporters

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I'm, so far, a big Brewster supporter. And these are some well thought-out questions, so I'll bite.

Duluthguy said:
Question #1: I agree with those who say Brewster is a good recruiter. I can also see merit in the argument that he needs more time to coach his own recruits. But, what exactly do you see to make you believe that Brewster is a good coach?

I do NOT think Brewster is a good coach. I think Mason's teams played better (as a ratio of their own talent to the product on the field) and I don't really think it's close. Part of why I like what Brewster is doing is that we're seeing similar records to what Mase had. But now, we have more talent in the pipeline, so we can reasonably expect the product to get better than it is without an improvement in coaching. And it wouldn't be unexpected if along the way, Brewster becomes a better coach and this team develops an identity.

Question #2: If so many here believe that Brewster is such a good coach, why are so many posters already predicting such a poor record for next year? I know it's a tough schedule, but Brewster says it will be his best team yet. Good Coach + Best Team Yet + Fourth Year of Program = More Victories? Seems like every year posters keep pushing back their timetable for the team being good. Aren't most of the reasons for the low expectations ultimately the lack of improvement under Brewster so far? Wouldn't most posters have predicted 5 wins with that schedule four years ago?

I expect a similar or slightly better record next year, in spite of the harder schedule. I think a lot of the low numbers you're seeing are from people who either 1- Don't think the young defense will be able to play to the level our upperclassmen were this season, or 2- are trying to temper expectations because they understand that football is a game of inches and that a handful of lucky or unlucky plays can mean all the difference between 5-7 and 8-4.

I'd put our regular season record at 7-5 next year...which means I wouldn't be at all surprised with two more wins or losses than that. And I don't think it's impossible that we could have the strongest Gopher team in the last 6 years next season, and still not get to a bowl.

Question #3: I know some anti-Brewster "haters" can be obnoxious (can't we all?), but why do so many posters insist that being anti-Brewster means that you are not a true Gopher fan? If Brewster is 3-9 in 2011, would you support his firing then? Would this then mean that you're not a true fan?

I don't think a ton of people are saying that. At least, I'm not. I do get frustrated with the large number of people who voice a loud opinion, advocating for what I believe would be a course of action that would dramatically hurt the program, while obviously not fully comprehending where the program is at. (i.e., someone who would say "If Brew is such a good recruiter, why weren't all his kids starting this year?").
For the record, I know plenty of Gopher fans who think Brewster will fail. I don't know any who are 'anti-Brewster'
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RodentRampage said:
Getting to a bowl game is a benchmark of success, but of course, not the only one.
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Not in the Gophers case. 6-7 with losses to Illinois at home and Iowa State at a neutral site aren't indicative of a successful season
 

dpodoll68 said:
Says who?

You don't think Michigan, Illinois, or Purdue would've liked to play in a bowl game this year?

No one in their right mind is holding it up as a final destination, but there's nothing wrong with using it as a benchmark.
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Not a crappy Bowl like the Insight Bowl against Iowa State. I think there are way too many bowls if teams with losing records like the Gophers can say they have played in a Bowl.
 

GopherFish said:
Funny you said that "Michigan would kill for a bowl game right now." You can't use playing in a bowl game as a benchmark for success. There are way too many bowls and the Insight Bowl was a great example of it. Two teams with losing conference records and the Gophers also end up with a losing record overall. This was an unsuccessful year for the Gophers and playing in some meaningless bowl game against a weak team won't change that.
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"Success" in what regard? I'm not talking about success as in "Yeah, I'd take about 5 more of these type of seasons". I'm talking about success as in, there is some progress taking place, there is good young talent in the fold, and making a bowl is still much more respectable than not making a bowl, considering the schedule played. There was a post made a little bit ago about how we beat 3 BT teams that were .500 or better in conference for the first time in like 30 years. Pieces like that tell me SOMETHING is at least progressing right with this team. Even if all elements aren't completely clicking, there are pieces that show that progress is being made, whether people want to acknowledge them or not.

Now in two years if we go 6-7 and another Insight Bowl loss, I would never call that success after he's had 5 years in the program. But RIGHT NOW, I'm not going to be all bent out of shape and calling for his head after three years when he's at least made a couple bowl games, something other coaches taking over programs like ours probably wish they could say.
 

#1 In general, there is a misconception about the quality of Brewster's coaching ability, because he hasn't won a lot yet and our offenses have failed to produce. Our defense is better and would be considerably better statistically if the offense were even moderately productive. I think the distinct improvement of the defense coupled with markedly improved recruiting and retention are worthy of him keeping his job a little longer.

#2 I think you're taking a few posts suggesting a poor record next year to mean all or majority of Brewster supporters believe that to be the case. One thing is for sure, next year will be an interesting test for the team. I wouldn't be surprised to see this team win 3 games or 9 games.

#3 One thing I noticed a lot of this year at games, were people complaining about everything, outloud the entire game. It's like the felt the need to bring everyone around them down. I don't think people who are anti-Brewster are anti-gopher per se, but I think their preconcieved notions and lack of perspective prevent them from recognizing real progress. I was almost immediately anti Wacker, so I understand what motivates the negativity. People think either Brew can't coach or he's setting the program back. But I digress, I think the rampant negativity has created an atmosphere where any percieved failure is amplified which drowns out any positives.
 


GopherFish said:
Not a crappy Bowl like the Insight Bowl against Iowa State. I think there are way too many bowls if teams with losing records like the Gophers can say they have played in a Bowl.
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In my above response, where I mention people who would crap on the program with no apparent thought....I'm talking about people like GopherFish.

If you don't think a 6-6 team from the Big Ten deserves a bowl, that's fine and dandy. Some days, I totally agree with that.
But if you don't think Illinois or Michigan would have preferred the Insight Bowl to no bowl, or that the University of Minnesota would have rather had our season than Purdue's, you're just being an ass to be an ass. Going to a bowl is a benchmark, and a goal that over half of the teams in D-1 football did not reach. If you don't think that's what the U of M should be shooting for, I agree with you. But don't pretend it doesn't count for anything just because you expect more.
 

I now see the light. Brewster has a very stellar 37% winning percentage and an equally impressive 25% winning percentage in the Big Ten. We should sign him up for a lifetime contract before another team tries to snatch him away.
 

Thanks to the few guys that actually answered my questions, or at least addressed issues relevant to them. I think several posters made good, factual comments about Brewster that do make the situation seem a little more positive. As for all of the other back-and-forth arguing over Brewster, he's obviously getting another year to prove himself, so that issue, whether you like him or not, is really not an issue at all. I don't think there's a person on this board who wouldn't be thrilled to see Brewster become a great success, or at least measure up to his own opinion of himself, but all any of us can do is support the team and wait to see what actually happens. It should be interesting.
 

GopherFish said:
I now see the light. Brewster has a very stellar 37% winning percentage and an equally impressive 25% winning percentage in the Big Ten. We should sign him up for a lifetime contract before another team tries to snatch him away.
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"you're just being an ass to be an ass." Ol Red Poo makes a good point, I guarantee Michigan would love to trade places with us.

Our friends in Ann Arbor had a impressive 12.5% Big Ten win percentage.
 



dayjoh said:
"you're just being an ass to be an ass." Ol Red Poo makes a good point, I guarantee Michigan would love to trade places with us.

Our friends in Ann Arbor had a impressive 12.5% Big Ten win percentage.
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GF, you are one of the few posters at this forum that gets it. If more people involved with Gopher football demanded a winner, 5 and 6 win seasons would not be viewed as a success.
As for Michigan wishing to trade places with us, are you crazy??? Michigan will win 10 more Rose bowls before we make it to one. Care to wager?

SouthMetro
 

SouthMetro said:
GF, you are one of the few posters at this forum that gets it. If more people involved with Gopher football demanded a winner, 5 and 6 win seasons would not be viewed as a success.
As for Michigan wishing to trade places with us, are you crazy??? Michigan will win 10 more Rose bowls before we make it to one. Care to wager?

SouthMetro
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You are absolutely right. I'm demanding a winning football team, and why don't you throw in a side of a balanced state budget single-payor healthcare system, an immediate end to global climate altering emissions that will see my current vehicle replaced with a brand new cold fusion-powered model and a systematic end to spiraling world populations whilst ending world hunger.
 

Monty519 said:
I guess you can call me a supporter because I think he should get at least 2 more years and I don't think he's been doing a poor job at all.

#1 - Because the players are placed in position to succeed. That offense failed to convert NUMEROUS chances to either put points on the board or get 1st downs and they just flat out didn't execute. I'm not placing all the blame on Weber, but he is a crucial piece of it. The defense looked extremely well coached to me, as they executed their gameplan rather effectively IMO, and there have been many times this season I have felt that way about the defense. The offense, they get chances, they just don't convert, and sometimes, as coaches, you can take blame for that, but it is also up to the players to make plays, and they just didn't make enough, plain and simple.

#2 - The schedule I think is the main thing holding a lot of people back. That and the fact that we will have a young defense on the field. I think personally we won't see a ton of dropoff, but we may see some inconsistency from this team because of the youth. I don't think 7 or 8 wins is out of the question really, maybe more if we get good breaks. But it could also be less with bad breaks.

#3 - Brewster has gone 7-6 and 6-7, he hasn't touched 3-9 territory since the first year. If in 2011, he goes 3-9, it's an obvious decision to move along, especially since he recruited the majority of players that will be on that roster. But to act like the guy has been a complete and utter failure after two bowl season is a joke to me, really. Michigan would kill for a bowl game right now and they hadn't missed a bowl game prior to last year for 30 some odd years and had just beaten Florida. I think people gottta realize during coaching changes, things can get a little messy, hence why I believe a little patience is in order.

Let's watch these young cats come in and get some playing time before we go selling Brew off as a failure and all that. If these kids are as good as advertised (which is FAR from a guarantee, but historically speaking, there's some credence to the relationship between recruiting rankings and performance), then we should see an improved product over the next couple of years, whether it is straight up wins, or at least in phases of the game. If we don't, it will be blantantly obvious that Brewster is not the answer, and hopefully not too many of the recruits he brought in leave the program when he is canned so we don't have to start completely all over again with the new coach.
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+1 great post #3 is right on the money
 

SouthMetro said:
GF, you are one of the few posters at this forum that gets it. If more people involved with Gopher football demanded a winner, 5 and 6 win seasons would not be viewed as a success.
As for Michigan wishing to trade places with us, are you crazy??? Michigan will win 10 more Rose bowls before we make it to one. Care to wager?

SouthMetro
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Wow...you've got a whole little village of straw men here.

1- I don't see anyone claiming a 6 win season is a success. We ALL want more from this program than that. We all want a Rose Bowl, and that' a perfectly reasonable demand. But if you think we get there by calling for our coach's head after every mediocre season, you're just plain wrong. I know it's been mentioned a million times on these boards, but go look at Barry Alvaraz or Kirk Ferentz's starts, and tell me those programs would be better off if they had "demanded a winner" and moved on after the first couple of years.

2- No one thinks our program is in better shape than Michigan's. No one thinks we didn't have a better season than them, though. Rich-Rod would love to have had the season we did.
 



File this under what's done is done:

a) if you've never been a coordinator or a head coach, your first head coaching job should not be at a BCS school

b) if by hoodwinking an AD you beat rule A, you are not allowed to hire a coordinator who has never been a coordinator (cuz they're liable to make college students learn 500 hand signals).
 

GopherFish said:
Not a crappy Bowl like the Insight Bowl against Iowa State. I think there are way too many bowls if teams with losing records like the Gophers can say they have played in a Bowl.
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The Gophers did not have a losing record when they played in the bowl game.

Try harder.
 


I'll try to answer the questions as well...

#1: I don't know that Brewster is a good coach. I think the last two seasons that he has gotten about as many wins out of his teams as he should have. There are also some other little things (there are also things that indicate he isn't a good coach)...our special teams seems a lot sharper under Brewster than it did under Mason, and that is a sign of coaching. I think our defense doesn't make the collasal mistakes that seemed to haunt Mase defenses at least once a game. So I guess my final answer is that we don't really know he is a good or bad coach, however, I would rather see what we have in him than rebuild with a new coach (who likely will also need 3-4 years).

#2: I'm predicting a 7-5 season next year. I think going 7-5 at the University of MN with that schedule is an achievement. The schedule is just a tough schedule, I don't think the best MN teams over the year could put much better of a record against that schedule. For example, I believe that 7-5 next year would probably be equivelent to about 8-4 this past season....if Brew had gone 8-4 this year, I don't think many people would be saying it wasn't a success.

#3: I don't think that people who want Brewster fired aren't true fans. I think there are a lot of people who don't really follow the Gophers that think Brewster should be fired (they just read the newspapers and really casually follow the Gophers), however I don't think that the opposite is true. If Brewster goes 3-9 next season, I will absolutely be in favor of letting him go.
 

"Going to a bowl is a benchmark, and a goal that over half of the teams in D-1 football did not reach."

Actually, it's well less than half that didn't reach a bowl game. That pretty much puts it in perspective how little a team has to do (i.e go 3-5 in your conference) to qualify for some of these minor bowls. Only 43% (52 in total) of the 120 FBS teams failed to make a bowl this year. Can you say watered down? The proliferation of bowls has become the high school equivalent of going to 4 classes in Minnesota basketball. ... completely unnecesary, and turning a trip to the state tournament that used to mean something into a right instead of a privilege.
 

SouthMetro said:
GF, you are one of the few posters at this forum that gets it. If more people involved with Gopher football demanded a winner, 5 and 6 win seasons would not be viewed as a success.
As for Michigan wishing to trade places with us, are you crazy??? Michigan will win 10 more Rose bowls before we make it to one. Care to wager?

SouthMetro
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How much are you willing to wager?
 

Next year all depends on the offense. I think the defense will be OK, but not spectacular. If the offense comes around that defense will be pretty good. This year's defense would look great if the whole game wasn't on their shoulders.

The offense can come around if 1) The team manages to get the offense to work or 2) The offense is changed to do what the players are capable of. In principle, it's a potent offense if we can get it to work. But if they players can't do it, then the offense needs to adapt to what the players are capable of doing.
 

SelectionSunday said:
"Going to a bowl is a benchmark, and a goal that over half of the teams in D-1 football did not reach."

Actually, it's well less than half that didn't reach a bowl game. That pretty much puts it in perspective how little a team has to do (i.e go 3-5 in your conference) to qualify for some of these minor bowls. Only 43% (52 in total) of the 120 FBS teams failed to make a bowl this year. Can you say watered down? The proliferation of bowls has become the high school equivalent of going to 4 classes in Minnesota basketball. ... completely unnecesary, and turning a trip to the state tournament that used to mean something into a right instead of a privilege.
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The prestige of being invited to a bowl game has decreased, but the prestige of getting invited to a better bowl game remains unchanged. It is a benchmark, but one of many benchmarks.

I don't agree about the basketball tournament, and I certainly don't agree that it has anything to do with rights or priviliges. Having one class might allow a once-in-a-lifetime event of a small town winning the tournament, but for all practical purposes, it means that small schools might as well not even have teams.
 


Maroon said:
This is not a smart-aleck question in any way. I just don't pay enough attention to recruiting and where kids are from, etc. So who are these kids that you're referring to that have stayed home that had other offers? Can you list them?
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Apparently not.
 

hyaluronic said:
How much are you willing to wager?
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I have no idea how old either of you are. But I'm pretty sure you'll both be dead before Michigan makes 10 more Rose Bowls. You may or may not be dead before Minnesota makes one. It could be a hard bet to collect on either way.
 

Maroon said:
Apparently not.
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There is this fantastic website called Rivals in which you could look this stuff up yourself...

This year:
Lamonte Edwards chose MN (had offers from Iowa and Wisconsin)
Jimmy Gjere chose MN (had offer from Wisconsin)


Last year:
Ra'shede Hageman chose MN (had offers from Iowa and Wisconsin)

Two Years ago:
Sam Maresh chose MN (had offers from Iowa and Wisconsin)

While Brewster hasn't been able to "shut down the borders", I don't think there can be much argument that these kids likely wouldn't have played for the U under Mason.
 

Maroon said:
Apparently not.
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Are you seriously this lazy? In addition to Bob Loblaw's list:

Matt Garin: http://rivals.yahoo.com/minnesota/football/recruiting/player-Matt-Garin-80605
Moses Alipate: http://rivals.yahoo.com/minnesota/football/recruiting/player-Moses-Alipate-69103
Shady Salamon: http://rivals.yahoo.com/minnesota/football/recruiting/player-Shady-Salamon-61237
Anthony Jacobs: http://rivals.yahoo.com/minnesota/football/recruiting/player-Anthony-Jacobs-50101

That took about three minutes. Keep up the great work and, by all means, keep on "getting it!"
 

Duluthguy said:
I'll be honest, the Insight Bowl caused me to lose my last little bit of faith in Brewster. I was really hoping the team would show some meaningful improvement after 15 extra practices (other than fewer penalties), and that would be reason enough to believe in a brighter future. Now, I'm grasping for reasons to be optimistic, and I need be be educated on what exactly I'm not seeing.

Question #1: I agree with those who say Brewster is a good recruiter. I can also see merit in the argument that he needs more time to coach his own recruits. But, what exactly do you see to make you believe that Brewster is a good coach?

Question #2: If so many here believe that Brewster is such a good coach, why are so many posters already predicting such a poor record for next year? I know it's a tough schedule, but Brewster says it will be his best team yet. Good Coach + Best Team Yet + Fourth Year of Program = More Victories? Seems like every year posters keep pushing back their timetable for the team being good. Aren't most of the reasons for the low expectations ultimately the lack of improvement under Brewster so far? Wouldn't most posters have predicted 5 wins with that schedule four years ago?

Question #3: I know some anti-Brewster "haters" can be obnoxious (can't we all?), but why do so many posters insist that being anti-Brewster means that you are not a true Gopher fan? If Brewster is 3-9 in 2011, would you support his firing then? Would this then mean that you're not a true fan?

I cheer for the Gophers, not whoever the head coach may be, so I'll still be hoping for the best next year. I just can't find much of a factual basis for believing in Brewster's abilities. Maybe if the talent level overrides his shortcomings... maybe if he stops being blindly optimistic and critically evaluates the job he's done so far (or Maturi forces him to do so) ... maybe there's hope.
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How does having the 8th-ranked recruiting class in the Big 10 for next season qualify as good recruiting? His classes just keep getting worse and worse. One 4-star guy is coming in next season (Scout.com).
 

"The Gophers did not have a losing record when they played in the bowl game.

Try harder."

They didn't? I must have watched the wrong team this year. They are gold and in the Big Ten correct?

SouthMetro
 

Oh I apologize, you were obviously including the wins against the high school teams that are played to disguise horrific conference records and get the young lads to toilet bowls. Again i'm sorry.

SouthMetro
 

SouthMetro said:
Oh I apologize, you were obviously including the wins against the high school teams that are played to disguise horrific conference records and get the young lads to toilet bowls. Again i'm sorry.

SouthMetro
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C'mon...really?

There are a lot of things to criticize with the Gophers and Brewster, but this year's schedule really isn't one of them. If I were a troll on this board, I'd probably find another bridge to live under.
 

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