The phychology of 'Brew's Crew'

[Goldmember]

If Brew was producing anywhere close to the results Zook did at UF, we wouldn't be having this discussion. When an Outback Bowl followed by a Peach Bowl are not good enough to keep your job, you're either unrealistic or you're Florida/USC/Ohio State. I don't think firing a coach who's clearly flailing (and failing) four years in, is going to be perceived as a 'short leash'. Especially when the previous coach was here for 10 years. Besides, Joel Maturi is hardly known for being cutthroat or lacking patience. Quite the opposite.

We are four years removed from one of the most controversial firings in the recent history of college football. Perhaps few in Minnesota see it that way. But thats the way the nation (and the coaching community) looks at it.

 

[howeda7]

We are four years removed from one of the most controversial firings in the recent history of college football. Perhaps few in Minnesota see it that way. But thats the way the nation (and the coaching community) looks at it.

Seriously? Or am I missing your sarcasm? I don't think anything Minnesota does is capable of achieving that status. I was against Mason's firing, and to be sure the timing sucked, but it was hardly controversial. Just poorly handled by a dithering administration.

 

[RodentRampage]

HAHAAH!! +1.

I was willing after last year (yes, even after that SDSU game) to give Brew this last year. I mean, even when he was first hired many many MANY MANY people were saying that the best way to judge a college coach was give him a minimum of 4-5 years to recruit, develop and play out his talent. After his first two years, I was willing to give him through year 4. 3 games into his year 4, I'm less than positive about his future with the Gophers. And fully expect a coaching change at the end of the year, barring any big wins our Gophs may get this year.

I was willing to give Brewster 4 years. The mistake that some are making is to mistake their opinion for knowledge. Just because someone thought that Brewster wasn't going to work out, doesn't mean they knew this, even if it turns out (as it appears to now) that he is not going to work out. As has been pointed out, there have been many coaches who have faced calls to be fired in their early years and went on to do well. If these people were wrong. Having guessed right doesn't mean you had knowledge.

I think Brewster will be fired at the end of the year. I hope the Brewster supporters can move on, and I hope the long time Brewster opponents can move on as well.

 

[RodentRampage]

We are four years removed from one of the most controversial firings in the recent history of college football. Perhaps few in Minnesota see it that way. But thats the way the nation (and the coaching community) looks at it.

Evidence please. I've never heard it claimed that it was controversial, let alone one of the most controversial. If it was so controversial, surely some school would have hired Mason.

 

[ruralgopher]

I'm not going to google it so don't ask, but I know that Stewart Mandel has talked about it.

 

[Ole]

We are four years removed from one of the most controversial firings in the recent history of college football. Perhaps few in Minnesota see it that way. But thats the way the nation (and the coaching community) looks at it.

No controversy whatsoever in my mind.
Just because national pundits don't think we can do better than mediocre doesn't make it true.
It was only controversial if you didn't follow the program closely and only knew of the gophers in tiny national spotlight blips over the last coaches' 10 year career here.
I get what your saying though, most people in the college football world thought we had a great situation here. We knew better locally though.

 

[Bisker82]

Seriously? Or am I missing your sarcasm? I don't think anything Minnesota does is capable of achieving that status. I was against Mason's firing, and to be sure the timing sucked, but it was hardly controversial. Just poorly handled by a dithering administration.

Especially since he had just given him a contract extension. IMO, it was time for a change; you can't be 10 years in to a program and declare that you are still in re-building mode.

 

[GophersInIowa]

I was willing to give Brewster 4 years. The mistake that some are making is to mistake their opinion for knowledge. Just because someone thought that Brewster wasn't going to work out, doesn't mean they knew this, even if it turns out (as it appears to now) that he is not going to work out. As has been pointed out, there have been many coaches who have faced calls to be fired in their early years and went on to do well. If these people were wrong. Having guessed right doesn't mean you had knowledge.

I think Brewster will be fired at the end of the year. I hope the Brewster supporters can move on, and I hope the long time Brewster opponents can move on as well.

+1,000

I've been willing to give Brewster the benefit of the doubt throughout his 3+ years as our coach. I've said he needs to have at least 4 years. There are people that don't like his personality, his coaching, his recruiting so much that they nitpick everything he does. I've been defending him against these posters for the most part because some of it is just way over-the-top. If that makes me a part of the "Brew Crew" or a "Kool-Aid drinker", then so be it.

I think for the most part people on here fall into three categories:
1. Those that have hated him from the beginning and will nitpick everything he does. If someone defends Brew, they tell them they're a Brewster backer.
2. Those who have supported him throughout giving him the benefit of the doubt and want to give him his time to really see what he can do. Many are now thinking he is not the right guy for the job.
3. Those who have supported him the whole and still think he will turn the program around.

I came into this year expecting good things. The USD loss was a turning point for me. I don't think Brew is the man for the job right now. He could change my mind again though. We have to win some big games this year and get to at least 6 wins or else I think we need to move on. However, just because I think he probably shouldn't be our coach after this season, doesn't mean I think he doesn't do things well. That's what bothers me about a few on here; if you say anything positive about the guy, you're automatically delusional and a Brew Crew guy.

 

[cncmin]

I wouldn't call myself part of Brew's Crew, but I am going to continue supporting Gopher football while waiting to see what happens the rest of the season. Knee jerk reactions do nobody any good and I think a lot of the people you're referring to are taking the same approach I am.

A loss to NIU next week and Brew should be packing his bags. But what if we win next week and, say, go 4-4 in conference? Then I say we stick with him and see what he can do.

The season is young. We haven't played a SINGLE Big Ten conference game yet. A little patience is in order.

If we go 4-4 in conference I'll eat my used underwear. Can I get a commitment from you to do the same if we fail to get to 4 wins? Maybe we can make a YouTube caveat on this deal?

My god man, you are in total denial of the travesty that is this team.

 

[cncmin]

I'll admit being a "Brewster Backer", I also believe a change should be made.
I came to this conclusion after watching the SD game.
That FCS loss is not acceptable. It hurt in 07', but the transition year for me gave Brewster a pass. Coaches get fired after FCS losses, it's just a fact.

I also think the team is getting better this year and will get better.

I also love brewster's personality and energy. SCREW stoic coaches, I'll take Brewster's personality over Ferentz or Tressel any day. It's the winning that has not come through, they are unrelated IMO.
I saw what Brewster was laying out here, his gameplan so to speak. It didn't work out.
Some was his fault, some was bad luck, he was hot on the trail of alot of impactful recruits that would have made a big difference but barring a real impressive turnaround, it's time to make a move after the season.
However,
I'm also not one to rag on Brewster constantly, that type of attitude is stupid. Booing and yelling for his head while at The Bank is not acceptable to me as a sports fan.
Unfortunately we have alot of really bad sports fans in this town. No patience, no loyalty, no knowledge of the game. It's all about entertainment and bandwagon jumping.
People in this town LOVE to hate on coaches and players, you can make an impressive list of Minnesota fans' favorite punching bags. Even on teams that win.

The season IS NOT over yet, i for one am hoping for a ride this year, up and down. I fully expect to have one big game fall in our favor(I picked an upset at Camp against wisky), and probably have another one flop. (I picked NIU as the flop for my preseason predictions, who knows)
Go Gophers!

To be clear, the only main thing that I can't stand about Brew is his insistence on not trying something new to try to spice up the team. His love affair with the worthless Adam Weber is the #1 problem I have with him. I don't care who he puts in there, but Weber has proven for 2 1/2 years in a row that he is worthless as a 3-dollar bill, yet Brew won't budge. It produces horrible lack of confidence in the team, and it shows. His insistence on using Weber loses us games that we should easily win, and loses us fans that we should easily have.

 

[Maximus]

You could have made this same statement about 15 years ago when Wacker was coach. Except for the fact that chatrooms weren't around back then. Al Gore had just invented the internet a few years before then

Except Wacker beat heavily favored Iowa in 1992, only team to beat Wisconsin in 1993 and beat defending Rose Bowl champs in Madison in 1994. (throw in win against Syracuse in 1996)....in what year does Brew's resume rival that?

 

[50PoundHead]

I like Brewster. I think we needed a change from Mason (for a variety of reasons) and Brewster was a change of pace. howeda7, I think you're confusing the acceptance by most everyone willing to give Brewster a chance that his tenure has probably run its course with "jumping off the bandwagon." Those are two entirely different things.

I'll cheer for the Gophers if he comes back and I'll cheer for the Gophers if they get a new coach.

 

[Word]

I don't think firing a college coach in the middle of the season does any good. Let the season play out and decide at the end. If it's decided that the season as a whole was a failure, let Brewster go. Firing him right now will only hurt recruiting. I imagine many of the best coaching candidates are currently employed, so you almost have to wait until the end of the season to hire them. The only exceptions would be Leach and Mangino.

 

[Formo]

To be clear, the only main thing that I can't stand about Brew is his insistence on not trying something new to try to spice up the team. His love affair with the worthless Adam Weber is the #1 problem I have with him. I don't care who he puts in there, but Weber has proven for 2 1/2 years in a row that he is worthless as a 3-dollar bill, yet Brew won't budge. It produces horrible lack of confidence in the team, and it shows. His insistence on using Weber loses us games that we should easily win, and loses us fans that we should easily have.

Wow. Weber is worthless? Are you kidding?! I know you are not, but deep inside I'm hoping you are, because the fact that Weber owns a good chunk of Minnesota's major passing records proves that he's not as worthless as a $3-bill.

Have you considered one bit that maybe.. JUST maybe, Weber is the best QB we have on our roster right now? Because of that fact, and coupled with the tidbit that with Web at QB, you can have both him and Gray on the field at the same time, gives the team the best chance to win any given Saturday. And since Brew's seat is white-hot, he isn't going to play a kid that doesn't give the team as good of a chance to win because that's exactly what Brew needs to keep his job.. Wins.

I remember Gray having a bit of fumblitis a LOT last year.

 

[RodentRampage]

To be clear, the only main thing that I can't stand about Brew is his insistence on not trying something new to try to spice up the team. His love affair with the worthless Adam Weber is the #1 problem I have with him. I don't care who he puts in there, but Weber has proven for 2 1/2 years in a row that he is worthless as a 3-dollar bill, yet Brew won't budge. It produces horrible lack of confidence in the team, and it shows. His insistence on using Weber loses us games that we should easily win, and loses us fans that we should easily have.

You have got to be kidding. Brewster's biggest fault is his insistence on trying too much new. He made a radical shift from Mason's offense to the spread, and abandoned that two years later for a radical shift to the pro style.

 

[Ole]

To be clear, the only main thing that I can't stand about Brew is his insistence on not trying something new to try to spice up the team. His love affair with the worthless Adam Weber is the #1 problem I have with him. I don't care who he puts in there, but Weber has proven for 2 1/2 years in a row that he is worthless as a 3-dollar bill, yet Brew won't budge. It produces horrible lack of confidence in the team, and it shows. His insistence on using Weber loses us games that we should easily win, and loses us fans that we should easily have.

Good lord, stop it already.
Weber is not frickin worthless. He's the #2 scapegoat of this fanbase for the past 3 years and it's getting stupid.
If Gray was better, he'd be starting and it's not even close, honestly if Gray was even close he'd be starting. He's not, neither are any of the other QB's.
I can't really think of any one game Weber lost on his own in his career. He's had some bad ones, but come on. Trying something new to spice up the team? You mean like playing Gray at WR? That has actually worked really well so far.

 

[GophersInIowa]

cncmin's whole existence on this board is to tell us over and over that Weber is "worthless" and not a Big Ten QB.

 

[RodentRampage]

Except Wacker beat heavily favored Iowa in 1992, only team to beat Wisconsin in 1993 and beat defending Rose Bowl champs in Madison in 1994. (throw in win against Syracuse in 1996)....in what year does Brew's resume rival that?

I'll play. Brewster has twice exceeded Wacker's season high, winning 7 games in 2008 and 6 games in 2009 while the best Wacker could do it 4 wins. Brewster has also equalled Wacker's best Big Ten record, with two 3-5 records, while Wacker got up to 3-5 only once.

 

[evegoe]

I'll admit being a "Brewster Backer", I also believe a change should be made.
I came to this conclusion after watching the SD game.
That FCS loss is not acceptable. It hurt in 07', but the transition year for me gave Brewster a pass. Coaches get fired after FCS losses, it's just a fact.

I also think the team is getting better this year and will get better.

I also love brewster's personality and energy. SCREW stoic coaches, I'll take Brewster's personality over Ferentz or Tressel any day. It's the winning that has not come through, they are unrelated IMO.
I saw what Brewster was laying out here, his gameplan so to speak. It didn't work out.
Some was his fault, some was bad luck, he was hot on the trail of alot of impactful recruits that would have made a big difference but barring a real impressive turnaround, it's time to make a move after the season.
However,
I'm also not one to rag on Brewster constantly, that type of attitude is stupid. Booing and yelling for his head while at The Bank is not acceptable to me as a sports fan.
Unfortunately we have alot of really bad sports fans in this town. No patience, no loyalty, no knowledge of the game. It's all about entertainment and bandwagon jumping.
People in this town LOVE to hate on coaches and players, you can make an impressive list of Minnesota fans' favorite punching bags. Even on teams that win.

The season IS NOT over yet, i for one am hoping for a ride this year, up and down. I fully expect to have one big game fall in our favor(I picked an upset at Camp against wisky), and probably have another one flop. (I picked NIU as the flop for my preseason predictions, who knows)
Go Gophers!

Too reasonable of a post.

I guess I'm in the rare boat that thinks Brew is doing a decent job with the program. People in Minnesota love to beat up their sports teams, and there's negativity all over this place. Seeing the game ball going to Hoese after the MTSU win was pretty special.

http://www.bigtennetwork.com/generi...424548001&bclid=1612721577&bctid=607007616001

Brew's biggest downfall has been having coordinators come and go, forcing new philosophies and personalities each season on his players. I think it'd be tough for the U of M to land a Skip Holtz, Kyle Whittingham, Greg Schiano, Dan Mullen, Chris Petersen, Gary Patterson type... much less keep him around for a few seasons if they have any success.

The game plan for the USC game was solid--the Gophers didn't make enough breaks, but they had a chance to pull it out. I hope they do the same in their games with PSU, tOSU, Iowa, and UW... giving themselves a chance to win the game.

 

[cncmin]

Wow. Weber is worthless? Are you kidding?! I know you are not, but deep inside I'm hoping you are, because the fact that Weber owns a good chunk of Minnesota's major passing records proves that he's not as worthless as a $3-bill.

Have you considered one bit that maybe.. JUST maybe, Weber is the best QB we have on our roster right now? Because of that fact, and coupled with the tidbit that with Web at QB, you can have both him and Gray on the field at the same time, gives the team the best chance to win any given Saturday. And since Brew's seat is white-hot, he isn't going to play a kid that doesn't give the team as good of a chance to win because that's exactly what Brew needs to keep his job.. Wins.

I remember Gray having a bit of fumblitis a LOT last year.

Weber sucks dude. Real bad. He has zero ability to do anything good on the football field; moreover he cannot help his team win football games.

I remember Gray having a bit of fumblitis a LOT last year. Yeah, he did fumble a lot, and yet Weber's fumble/run rate this year seems to greatly exceed Gray's from last year, so is your statement not simply hypocrisy?

By the way, I do NOT want Weber on the field at all. I don't care who is on the field - he is a lame duck who will not lead us to more than 3 wins this year. If you're going to lose, then put someone in who will at least gain experience (!!)

 

[cncmin]

Good lord, stop it already.
Weber is not frickin worthless. He's the #2 scapegoat of this fanbase for the past 3 years and it's getting stupid.
If Gray was better, he'd be starting and it's not even close, honestly if Gray was even close he'd be starting. He's not, neither are any of the other QB's.
I can't really think of any one game Weber lost on his own in his career. He's had some bad ones, but come on. Trying something new to spice up the team? You mean like playing Gray at WR? That has actually worked really well so far.

I don't think you get what I'm saying. I'm not saying "play Gray" - I'm saying play ANYONE other than Weber. Weber IS worthless. Can't pass, can't run, can't look off to a second receiver, can't scramble, and most of all CANNOT WIN. Only very few of you with your maroon and gold blinders on don't see it.

My second team is Penn State. JoePa blindly stuck with horrible Morelli for way too long. Was it simply coincidence that Penn State suddenly became a dominant team again the year after Morelli finally left the team? Was it simply coincidence that the New England Patriots became a dominant team when Tom Brady took over at QB? Is it simply coincidence that every team - even FCS teams (!) stack the box to stop our run because they have zero fear of our passing game?

The answer to all of these questions is a resounding NO.

 

[thailleagle]

I don't think you get what I'm saying. I'm not saying "play Gray" - I'm saying play ANYONE other than Weber. Weber IS worthless. Can't pass, can't run, can't look off to a second receiver, can't scramble, and most of all CANNOT WIN. Only very few of you with your maroon and gold blinders on don't see it.

To some Adam Weber is better then Tim Tebow...

 

[cncmin]

To some Adam Weber is better then Tim Tebow...

...and our coaching staff is full of infallible geniuses.

 

[thailleagle]

...and our coaching staff is full of infallible geniuses.

And USD is on the same level as Wisconsin...

So by losing to NDSU 3 years ago by 6 points & USD this year by 3 points we're actually improving...

 

[cncmin]

And USD is on the same level as Wisconsin...

So by losing to NDSU 3 years ago by 6 points & USD this year by 3 points we're actually improving...

well I don't know about that, but certainly USD has a MUCH better quarterback than we do, and it showed as he propelled them and a bunch of rag-tag athletes to an away victory over a Big Ten team with a 5th-year senior QB....

 

[Maximus]

I'll play. Brewster has twice exceeded Wacker's season high, winning 7 games in 2008 and 6 games in 2009 while the best Wacker could do it 4 wins. Brewster has also equalled Wacker's best Big Ten record, with two 3-5 records, while Wacker got up to 3-5 only once.

First 3 years in the conference
Wacker 6-18 (took over 2-9 team)
Brewster 6-18 (took over 6-6 team)

 

[monk10]

 

[steffyboy]

Wow. Weber is worthless? Are you kidding?! I know you are not, but deep inside I'm hoping you are, because the fact that Weber owns a good chunk of Minnesota's major passing records proves that he's not as worthless as a $3-bill.

Have you considered one bit that maybe.. JUST maybe, Weber is the best QB we have on our roster right now? Because of that fact, and coupled with the tidbit that with Web at QB, you can have both him and Gray on the field at the same time, gives the team the best chance to win any given Saturday. And since Brew's seat is white-hot, he isn't going to play a kid that doesn't give the team as good of a chance to win because that's exactly what Brew needs to keep his job.. Wins.

I remember Gray having a bit of fumblitis a LOT last year.

Weber is way to inconsistent to call him a good QB. For every great throw he makes there are two bad ones. In a way Brewster and Weber will either put together a respectable remainder of the season and get another 4-5 wins or they will be considered goats together. The Gray comparisons should also go away until he gets a whole game beneath his belt. I don't see how anyone can compare the two when Gray gets no opportunity as a QB. If anyone saw the spring game in Gray's Freshman year you could conclude that he has much more talent than Weber but we never had a chance to see it in a real game. Brewster never had the guts to unleash him. Kind of like the situation this year with Kolb and Vick. One game breaker verses a guy that the program wants to be loyal to. I think Brewster's loyalty will ultimately translate into him digging his own grave. Andy Reid gets it and his team has a better chance at winning because of it.
Brewster is in his hour of desperation and it is obvious that he is unwilling to take a risk. Gray as a WR is easy for opposing teams to prepare for, but at QB he would pose a much larger task for Big Ten defenses to get ready for than Weber. Brew will probably be sacked at year's end, and the Gray role at QB probably won't be judged until next year.