Brewster rumor- Strib

[Barony]

Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi has heard a lot of rumors over the years. Some are true, some not. The latest: Minnesota football coach Tim Brewster's name has reportedly surfaced for the recently-vacated Kansas job.

Maturi said, frankly, that he's tired of such rumors, but he understands they go with the territory. And if a coach wants to look around for another job, Maturi said he isn't going to stop him.

Wouldn't that be a shame? Great car salesman, terrible coach.

[zamboni]

Kansas has said he is a longshot on their radar. Guys way under .500 here, who would want him?

[CJH]

The rumor is his agent put this out to try and get a contract extension. I think its backfiring on him, with the record he has going.......

[SkunkedAgain]

I don't think that you toss coaches under the bus for not producing in three years. With that mentality, we'll either need to land the greatest coach ever or we'll continue to hire and fire good coaches because they can't turn it around in three years. I saw that 89% on the Strib poll wanted Brewster gone. Pawlease....

Some of the best coaches in college didn't win until a few years into their careers.

[Bryce]

So is his staying another moral victory for the rodents?

[zamboni]

I don't think that you toss coaches under the bus for not producing in three years. With that mentality, we'll either need to land the greatest coach ever or we'll continue to hire and fire good coaches because they can't turn it around in three years. I saw that 89% on the Strib poll wanted Brewster gone. Pawlease....

Some of the best coaches in college didn't win until a few years into their careers.

We aren't saying we need a BCS bowl anytime soon, but fact of the matter is college coaches need to show improvement, and Brewster isn't.

[SkunkedAgain]

Agreed. I too think that the program has been going in the wrong direction offensively. Defensively I think that they've been getting better. My main point is that I don't know where everyone got the magic number of three years, but in this situation I think that Brewster should get at least a fourth year to get things moving.

[CJH]

I would be fine with that if he could settle on an offensive system. Good programs have stability in the type of offense they run and recruit kids that fit that system. We have a whose mismatch of stuff going on the offensive side of the ball.

The defense was solid this year and I was happy with the improvement. Just needed more passrush, which is always hard to find.

[PierBridge]

I'm pretty sure`Kansas will be attempting to get more of a prominent coach than Brew!

[Big Dave2]

Ask Nick Saben how long it takes to win. He won a National championship at LSU in 4 years and He's about to win one in Alabama in 3 years.

At Michigan state it took him 1 year to take a team that had not had a winning record for 5 years and at least put them above .500. By his 5th year they were 10-2 and won the Citrus bowl giving Mich State their best season since 1965.

[JBMasterAngler]

Sure there's been alot of coaches that took more than 3 years to become a winning program, but at least those coaches knew what they were doing within the first 3 years. Brewster is clearly in WAAAAAY over his head! This team will NOT improve any for next year...3-9 record at the absolute best! Everyone defends him by saying he's a great recruiter, well I'm still convinced the new stadium did about 90% of the recruiting for him. Last year was a fluke, the 2nd half of that season showed his true coaching talent. This year he got a couple good wins, but also a couple very lucky wins. We finished 6-6 DESPITE brewster being our coach! Bring on Turner Gil...or do I dare say Skip Holtz?

[Big Dave2]

Wednesday (Maturi and Brewster) edition: Wha' Happened?

Posted by Michael Rand

So what to make of the short piece today about Tim Brewster, the Kansas job and Joel Maturi's reaction? Well, our interpretation is this:

*Brewster gets the feeling Maturi might not be all that wild about him, so maybe he's poking around -- even indirectly -- at other vacant jobs.

*Maturi is telling the truth when he says he is tired of hearing rumors and that he wouldn't stop Brewster from going to Kansas or taking some other job. He might even love to say it less diplomatically, but he settled on this: "I don't think it's inappropriate, if the coach is doing what he thinks is in his best interest."

*Brewster has two years left on his original contract after this season is over. In college football, that's pretty much the time to either extend or fire a coach because letting him go down to the final year of his contract creates questions of instability for recruiting. Indeed, the Gophers just lost a four-star running back recruit to TCU -- and part of the reason was the perception that Brewster might not be around.

*Maturi is probably on the fence about what to do, but he would also probably love to have the decision made for him by Brewster leaving. Firing Brewster would involve a buyout; letting him take another job would not. Also, Maturi's hands would be cleaner because it wouldn't look as much like his hire from three years ago had flopped, but rather he had moved on to greener pastures.

*All that said, prevailing sentiment is that Brewster isn't going anywhere -- at least not on his own. He hasn't proven enough to command even jobs that would be considered lateral moves. That will leave Maturi to make a call that has risks in both directions: fire Brewster and essentially start over again, producing some chaos and possibly losing seasons for a team trying to fill a new stadium and create excitement; or extend him and run the risk that things go from mediocre to worse -- leading to a deeper hole for the program and an even bigger buyout down the road with more seasons left on Brewster's contract.

*Maturi could be using this opportunity, through the media, to build some equity and gauge the appetite in Gopher Nation for switching coaches. According to our unscientific poll (as of just before 9 a.m) almost 90 percent of voters think the Gophers are better off with a new coach. Then again, that could backfire if Maturi ends up giving Brewster an extension.

Regardless, it will be interesting to see how this all plays out in the next month or so. Your thoughts?

[TR21HP]

I believe it was just wishful thinking that Brewster was leaving, on the fans end as well as Maturi. Brewster hasn't been able to assemble a strong, consistent staff and that is what is needed at this level along with star specialty players on offense ala running backs and receivers.

[SkunkedAgain]

Big Dave - That was my statement above. We didn't (and MN won't) hire a Nick Saban so what do you want? MN went bargain basement on a prospect coach. I tend to cut more slack to a coach who is learning how to be a coach, than if we got Lou Holtz or Saban.

JBMaster - Most sportswriters that the Gophers would do slightly worse than last year, based upon a tougher schedule. We did get more Big 10 wins this year than last, but lost non-conference.

I see a coach that isn't excelling, but the ship isn't falling apart. There are good things (defense) and bad (offense) so I'm willing to cut him some slack. It's apparent that I'm in the minority, but it's worth getting some contrary opinions out to the mob!

[zamboni]

From WHB810, Kansas City's site:

Making Sense of the KU Coaching Search

Seems that everywhere I go these days, I get the same question: “So who’s KU going to hire to replace Mangino?” Heck, last night my wife and I had our Parish Priest over for a visit to bless our new home. His first question over dinner, “What’s gonna happen with this whole KU coaching search?”

The most direct answer I can give is that anything I say would be a guess, just like everyone else. Lew Perkins, as is his M-O, will continue to conduct his coaching search in extreme privacy.

The best we can do is take what we do know about Lew Perkins, and try to understand what that should tell us about how he’s likely handling this search.

The first thing that comes to my mind is ego. I find Lew to be a prideful man, whose main expectation for his athletics department is that his peers around the country consider his organization to be “first class.” He’s aggressive when it comes to raising money, and he’s not afraid to spend it. We’ve seen that with the contracts he’s given to Bill Self, Mark Mangino, and Bonnie Henrickson. We’ve also seen it with the facilities he’s built (or refurbished) during his time in Lawrence.

This is why I will not rule out the possibility of Jim Harbaugh coming to Kansas. I realize that the initial reaction from most of the members of the national media is laughter, when they hear Harbaugh’s name linked with Kansas. Their response is understandable on many fronts, the first of which is the idea that Captain Comeback might be in line for more prestigious jobs in the near future.

But, knowing what we know from Lew, can we really imagine anything that would make him happier than to walk into a news conference in the next couple of weeks with his arm around the guy that everyone in the nation said would never take the job? Furthermore, IF Lew thinks that Harbaugh is a worthy candidate, can we imagine that he’d be scared off from at least making a significant offer just by the fact that people across the country [PoorWordUsage]-[PoorWordUsage] the idea? I know I can’t.

Dennis Dodd told us this morning that Harbaugh is in line to make 1.5 million per year with a new contract at Stanford. Mangino was making 2.3 million at KU. It stands to reason that Lew is prepared to offer the next KU coach even more.

I’m not predicting that Jim Harbaugh will be the next coach at Kansas. I’m just not willing to dismiss the idea as quickly as other members of the media.

As for the other candidates that have been mentioned (Gill, Holtz, Fedora, Sumlin, Edsall, Butch Jones), they’ve all got positives, and I wouldn’t absolutely rule any of them out.

I do believe that Perkins will move swiftly through this process, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s got his man by the end of the week.

***************************************************************

in all the candidates mentioned, Brewster isn't one of them, and why would they want him?

[zepman]

His name surfaced after a few on that list withdrew from consideration.

[Big Dave2]

Big Dave - That was my statement above. We didn't (and MN won't) hire a Nick Saban so what do you want? MN went bargain basement on a prospect coach. I tend to cut more slack to a coach who is learning how to be a coach, than if we got Lou Holtz or Saban.

I guess all I was saying is that if you get the right coach, wins should follow. Nick Saben wasn't always the Nick Saben that he is now. He was fairly unknown when he took the job at Michigan state and he started turning that program around almost immediately just like he has since been able to do at LSU and Alabama.

[zamboni]

His name surfaced after a few on that list withdrew from consideration.

He said it himself on the news it was a rumor.

[Badger]

Chillie is signed....please sign Brewster as well!LOL

[pinkfloyd4ever]

I'm not a big college fan, but pay attention to the gophs. I think Brew is over his head too, I think its cool for the players to play a bowl, but on the flip side, don't call yourself a bowl eligible team with a losing conference record and win 6 is a squeeker over SDSU.

[so haaad]

Notre Dame picks Kelly to revive football

Cincinnati’s head coach Brian Kelly accepted the Notre Dame job. Any thoughts? I'm not sure if he's the right fit for Notre Dame. He'll definitely help the offense, but I thought Notre Dame would go after someone with a more recognizable name for recruiting reasons.

It sounds like the Cincinnati players aren't real happy with Kelly's announcement, especially right before their awards banquet and major bowl game. I'm sure it would be tough to tell a school like Notre Dame to delay their offer, but it still looks like he's abandoning ship right before the final fight. I'm sure I would jump ship too if someone gave me a few million dollars a year to coach football!

[SkunkedAgain]

It's all about recruiting and if he doesn't want to miss out on top recruits in his first year, he's got to get the announcement out. It sucks for Cincinnati and their players, but at this point his new work is more important.

[CJH]

He's a good coach. He won two DII National Championships and has Cincinnati (!!!!!!!) undefeated. Plus they lost their #1 QB and are still winning. If you can recruit to Cincinnati.........

I think its a great hire! Plus its his dream job, so I can't blame him.

It would be better if he waited until after the Bowl, but I blame the system more for it than him.

[so haaad]

SkunkedAgain and CJH, nice posts and I agree with you both. The timing of him leaving really is a shame, but ultimately is a result of the business side of what college football is today.