What is "Success" in 2010?

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Anything less than 7-5 overall, 4-4 in conference would be very disappointing, anything more would be pleasing.

I think the offense will get better becasue they can hardly get worse. The big question will be all the new players on defense.

My end of season projection...

at Middle Tennessee State W
South Dakota W
Southern California L
Northern Illinois W
Northwestern W
at Wisconsin L
at Purdue W
Penn State L
Ohio State L
at Michigan State L
at Illinois W
Iowa W
 

Consistency....and beating a team we shouldn't (OSU, PSU, Iowa, USC). For me, 2011 is when the bar gets raised.
 

I Guess I Just Don't Get It

We have a coach who took a 6-7 Insight Bowl participant who defeated Iowa for the pig, straight down to 1-11 in year one. Heading into year four, we are once again playing in the Insight Bowl, back to 6-7, but not beating Iowa or Wisconsin. Supposedly, we have far greater talent heading into 2010 than 2007, yet, some here assert 5 to 7 wins will be a success??? We start 2010 with 2 gimmes for petesake. If he stays, anything less than 8 or 9 wins in 2010 is another roaring failure! After all, we have been told we will have the next Ndamukong Suh leading the defense and the next Vince Young leading the offense in 2010.
 




Another bowl game.

I personally would add in a win over Wiscy/Iowa, and an undefeated home season :p. (Visualizing success).
 

Obvoiusly records don't mean much because if you told most people we would go 6-6 this year, they would have said, yeah, that sounds about right. It's more than just records. If that's the mindset you are going to take, you can't look at the final record hardly at all then. How about we focus on these things:

1) Quarterback play MUST improve. Along with that, the offense itself will obviously improve dramatically as those third down throws that miss suddenly become 1st and 10, or even touchdowns in the case of that ISU game when two easy TDs were missed. In turn this gives the offense more rhythm and more plays to succeed with.

2) Running game needs to take a step up and be more consistent, which is reliant on both better RB vision as well as better run blocking and then 2nd and 9 becomes 2nd and 4 or 5, a much different offensive approach ensues.

3) The young defensive talent needs to begin to rise up, starting with the defensive line play, specifically the edges.

Those are the three main pieces IMO for any type of success in 2010. Going into a season where more of the "talent" is more and more experienced it's really not out of the question that all three of these things could happen, and don't be surprised if you see 8, even 9 wins with good breaks. More likely 6 or 7. Looking at the schedule, I can see wins against MTSU, SoDak, NIU, Northwestern, Purdue, and yes, finally a rivalry win against Wisconsin. A win @ MSU or Illinois as well, and that's 7 wins. Play competitively against USC, OSU, PSU, and Iowa and you have yourself a decent year. This is where the breaks come in, where you could steal a big home win against one of those four.

It's really quite simple. If none of those things happen, then the on field product will show itself and Brewster will be handled accordingly. I wouldn't make assumptions either way though as the talent that will be on the field for 2010 will be better than it has been in who knows how long. Give this a chance before you blow it off as crap.
 

First off, I'm a Brewster backer

To me success from a w/l standpoint is in the neighborhood of 8-4. I justify that by saying that in order for next year to a success by any defination we need to be better on the O-line, better at the running back position, better decision making at the QB position, and better a the wideout position. I think that we will get better in all of those areas with a full season under our belt with this system and another year of development with our young talent.

Assuming our D doesn't regress, and I don't think that it will, 8-4 looks very doable to me.

-Rural
 




With OSU, PSU and Iowa at home in addition to Michigan off the schedule (bad as they are, but still a thorn in the side of the Gophers), 7 wins should be the minimum expectation - either 6 wins + bowl win or 7 wins + bowl loss. Anything less would mean no bowl, and at that point I can't see Brewster coming back.

2011 schedule shapes up much worse, with away games at USC, OSU, Michigan and Iowa. If you're thinking about a title run through that gauntlet I think the timing is poor!
 

I'd consider it a mild success if we can convert a 1st and goal from inside the 2 yard line into 7 points.
 

Winning a Trophey is Sucess

We need to start with one Trophy and make it to the Insight Bowl would a great year!
 



I don't know if success can be known without massive over achievement. We are just beginning the journey. Finally we will have a team of Brewster recruits, fast and athletic. But these kids are nto going to be experienced to make a great impact. We won't know if they are successful until the program succeeds or fails in the future.

For me it will be the same as this year. Trying to gauge if the players are improving and if it looks like we are progressing towards something. We will have to show some assemblance of being able to run an offense. It won't simply be enough to see if the various athletes are improving and depth is developing as this year.
 

I will grade it on 3 areas: Total wins (regular season only as the decision must be made then), Trophy/'Big' wins, and Improvement in game day coaching and discipline. The grades will be as follows:

Total Wins:

8 or more = A 4.0
7 = B 3.0
6 = C 2.0
5 = D 1.0
4 or less = F 0

Tophy/Big wins (USC, PSU, Wiscy, Iowa)
2 or more = A 4.0
1 = B 3.0
0 = F 0

Improvement in Gameday coaching/Discipline: This is more subjective. The measurable totals will be # of penalties and # of timeouts burned due to simple inability get plays in on time, as well as # of off-field incidents.

Significant improvement in these areas (say 30% or more in the measurables with general gameday sideline improvement) = A 4.0
Some improvement = C 2.0
Flat = D 1.0
Worse = F 0

An average score of 3.0 means Brewster can stay. An F in any area makes him fireable even if the overall is over 3.0.
 

Unfortunately, many of the ideas of 'success' here actually indicate the program has already failed in Brewster's tenure.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: NO ONE back in January 2007 would have, upon Brewster's hiring, said to themselves, "SWEET! We'll be back to a successful 5-7 or 6-6 by 2010!"

Expectations in 2007 are the barometer for success. We've failed.

That said, the real question isn't what is 'success' in 2010. Success would be as some have pointed out: 8-4, a trophy win, or an upset victory, or better than the Insight Bowl, etc.. Unfortunately, with where the program is now, that is not likely.

So be honest: you're not looking for success in 2010, you're looking for enough positives and hope to get you at least thinking the program is at beginning to right itself after 3 years of treading water (at best).

I still HOPE we can be successful next year. After all, success is often a lightning bolt that no one foresees. Maybe Gray will come in and take the Big Ten by storm and no one will be able to stop him. But that's merely hope. Based on the evidence, improvement is all I can expect, and that doesn't equal success. Not yet anyways...
 

tato2001 said:
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: NO ONE back in January 2007 would have, upon Brewster's hiring, said to themselves, "SWEET! We'll be back to a successful 5-7 or 6-6 by 2010!"

Expectations in 2007 are the barometer for success. We've failed.
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Everyone always thinks things are better than they're going to be.

I will turn 30 years old in a little less than 2 months. Back when I was 17 and King Turd of Sh*t Hill, when the world was my oyster, I figured I'd be making six figures, easy, and have a high-profile, high-visibility job by the time I was 30.

Since none of these things are even remotely true, should I deem myself a failure? What do you suggest I do? Slit my wrists and call it a day?
 

dpodoll68 said:
Everyone always thinks things are better than they're going to be.

I will turn 30 years old in a little less than 2 months. Back when I was 17 and King Turd of Sh*t Hill, when the world was my oyster, I figured I'd be making six figures, easy, and have a high-profile, high-visibility job by the time I was 30.

Since none of these things are even remotely true, should I deem myself a failure? What do you suggest I do? Slit my wrists and call it a day?
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Nope. You should realize that you were young and naive when you were 17, and had a silly definition of 'success'. I think if you look around at your fellow high school graduates, some of them ARE making six figures easy and have high-visibility jobs by the time they are 30. If you still measure success by making six figures and whether or not you have a high-visibility job, hate to break this to you, but you HAVE failed relative to them. If that's still your idea of success, you're probably working on ways to get to where they already are. I'm guessing you've changed your definition of success, or would acknowledge you haven't succeeded YET.

With football, though, measuring success is EASY, doesn't CHANGE, and EVERYONE agrees on the definition: Wins. End of story. It's a sport. Each game has one winner and one loser. 'Good losses' might measure improvement, but no one sets a definition of success to have a losing record and good losses 4 years after they start.

Do you think it was naive of anyone to expect the Gophers to be better than 5-7 or 6-6 by 2010 back 2007? That's pretty depressing.
 

I don't think I had the same expectations as you.

The reason why I was sick of Mason was that I didn't think Mason could ever coach a team that got over the hump. My definition of success was merely to have a team that makes a bowl every year (once we get rolling), would play on Jan 1 (Capital or Outback) every 2-4 years and compete and make a Rose Bowl.

My expectations were probably a bit more conservative than yours. I followed the Big 10 when Kirk Ferentz was hired, when Barry Alvarez was hired, when Mason was hired....and I think to expect to be playing on a Jan. 1 bowl game is unrealistic after 3 seasons. Of Ferentz's 11 seasons, 6 of them he has won 7 or less games, 5 seasons he didn't break .500 in the Big 10, and he is one of the best coaches in college football.

I am not saying their weren't expectations by some people (local media and some posters), but I never thought a guy who was known as a recruiter was going to come to the U of MN and win big while his first full (real) recruiting class was Jrs.

I was not pumped when we hired Brewster, but if your expectations were higher, I really think you haven't watched a ton of college football. If Brewster ever succeeds (admitted, it is a big if), it will be in years 5 and 6 when he has a program full of his recruits. If you expected a guy who was never even a coordinator before to come to MN and X and O a bunch of Mason recruits into a Jan. 1 Bowl, i'm sorry, but you were unrealistic.
 

tato2001 said:
Do you think it was naive of anyone to expect the Gophers to be better than 5-7 or 6-6 by 2010 back 2007? That's pretty depressing.
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In a word, yes. Actually, I don't think it's naïve, just unrealistic. I don't at all consider it realistic to expect a program that has been mediocre (at best) for the better part of 5 decades to come in and set the world on fire in 3 years. We could have very easily won 8 or 9 games this year, I will grant you that. But we just as easily could have won 4 or 5. We are exactly at Mason levels (or even slightly better, considering strength of schedule), and yet Brewster's feet are being held to the fire? It just blows my mind. Anyone who looked at this year's schedule realistically, and saw more than 8 wins at the very best, is deluding themselves into thinking Rome can be built in a day.

Some programs are able to turn things around quickly. Some implode even further. The vast majority, however, regress to their previous state. I don't understand how Brewster can be castigated for sitting smack dab in the middle of the bell curve. The upcoming talent indicates we will be moving toward the right of that curve. If that is not the case by 2011, send him down the river. Until then, sit back and enjoy depth and breadth of talent that hasn't been seen around here in at least a decade.
 

Buddylee's successful season: *ahem...

1. Upset at least one ranked team (USC at top of wishlist).

2. At least one trophy game win

3. At least a tying record at home (tough considering schedule, but doable).

4. Make it to any bowl, EXCLUDING Little Caesars and the Insight

5. 8-win season or better

I feel like getting that list completed will show clear and substantial improvement on a local AND national perspective, and believe me, this program NEEDS it!
 

ruralgopher said:
First off, I'm a Brewster backer

To me success from a w/l standpoint is in the neighborhood of 8-4. I justify that by saying that in order for next year to a success by any defination we need to be better on the O-line, better at the running back position, better decision making at the QB position, and better a the wideout position. I think that we will get better in all of those areas with a full season under our belt with this system and another year of development with our young talent.

Assuming our D doesn't regress, and I don't think that it will, 8-4 looks very doable to me.

-Rural
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Here is the tough part. OSU, Iowa, PSU, and UW all beat top 15 teams in bowl games. That is only the second time it's happened since the BCS started (saw that on ESPN last night). Of the four, I think only PSU will lose key parts (QB, Bowman, ...). The other three return their QB's.

I think anything better than 0-3 against that group is good (and obviously would be an improvement over this year). A lot of new players on D, and a shaky offense make me think that 7-5, 4-4 is about as much improvement as we'll see from the Gophers.

They could start 6-1, 3-0 however if they upset UW (and lose to SC), which would make TCF a rockin' madhouse when PSU comes to town.
 

OK, but to me there is a difference between a succesful season and a season where Brewster should be fired. To me a Succesful season next year would be 8-4, but I think that barring NCAA scandal Brewster should be given a 5th year regardless of nexlt years w-l record.
 

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