The Tim Brewster Era - Public Relations... is there a method to his madness or is he just tremendously mad?

by GopherNation on Jun 3, 2009 11:00 AM CDT in Gopher Football Comment 12 comments

Part 1 in a series of posts on the Tim Brewster Era.

Public Relations
Program Leadership
Off the Field Issues
Recruiting
On the Field
Year Three

Public Relations - a method to his madness or is he just mad?

This may be the biggest area of weakness or strength depending on who you ask or what your point of view is. One of our brilliant TDG writers would tell you Brewster has been a nightmare from a PR standpoint (I don't want to say who but his initials are PJS). I do not want to put words in PJS's mouth but I think I'm safe in assuming what I just typed is fairly accurate. Brewster came in making statements that months later proved to be outrageous...

"The other thing I wanted to talk about is the type of football team we're going to have and what the expectations are for this football team. My expectations from day one are going to be to win the Big Ten Championship. That's what the seniors deserve and what everybody deserves."

"Our expectation is to win a Big Ten Championship now. We're not interested in any rebuilding process. I'm very fortunate that I'm not coming into a situation that is decimated where there are no players. There are players here. Glen Mason did an excellent job at this university and coached these kids well. They've won a lot of games. They're not void of talent, so we're in a little different situation here than it is at most places that are going through the hiring process. I'm very excited that it's not a complete rebuilding process."

These were quotes made within the first few days of being hired. Clearly outlandish and inaccurate. Maybe Brewster was disillusioned with the talent he had, maybe he was just trying to instill confidence in his team or maybe he didn't know what he was doing. Regardless of his intentions people took notice and when his team stumbled to a 1-11 record it looked foolish.

Personally I love that he walked into the Bierman building and dared to say the words "Rose Bowl." I think the building shook when he uttered those words, but why be afraid of the Rose Bowl? That's the goal. Maybe he fails but I appreciate raising the bar and trying to attain new heights rather than lowering it and always meeting mediocre expectations. I'm not giving him a 'A' in this department as he often goes overboard and leaves himself open to the butt of jokes. But raising the bar and getting people excited is not a crime.

Clearly Brewster needs work in this department. From a coaching standpoint I can see the value in getting your players to believe they are capable of more than they think they are capable of. From the standpoint of the athletic department I see the value in getting your fan base excited and purchasing tickets (which happened). From a recruiting standpoint clearly Brewster's excitement and passion helps to draw kids into his program. But there has to be some restraint shown. There is a time to be a salesman and a time to be realistic, he has not learned this balance. I believe in getting people excited and I love that rather than lowering expectations to a point that he can't help but exceed them he is raising the bar. But you also do not want to make your program look foolish and be the butt of jokes. Guys like Paterno, Tressel and Bowden are able to get their kids to play at a high level, win on a regular basis and recruit talented kids while still being able to call it like they see it. I admire his passion and enthusiasm but this is an area that could stand some improvement.

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A couple notes:

(1) The only reason to hire Brewster in Mason’s place would be to go to BCS games and the Rose Bowl. To claim the ceiling was anywhere else would be to implicitly admit that firing Mason was a mistake. So, I don’t blame him for saying the same thing that Jim Tressel and Danny Hope said, and what Bill Lynch’s replacement will say next December.

(2) The second block quote, unfortunately, made Brewster look AWFUL after the 2007 season, because if you had the building blocks in place, you don’t bench Pinnix and play Bennett. You don’t switch to the spread without the personnel. On retrospect the naivete was ridiculous to have to sit through.

(3) Obviously the rubber hits the road with Brewster this year, even though I don’t think he’ll get fired this year even if they go 2-10. He’s had 3 D-coordinators and 2 O-Coordinators in 3 years. We’ve had 2 drastic shifts in offensive playing styles in 3 years. Minnesota is obviously the canvas for this novice to learn how to paint.

The 2009 schedule is somewhat daunting. If the Gophers stumble this year he’s going to have to turn into a master salesman for the 2010 season because he can’t rely on the “we’re getting a new stadium” bit anymore. He’ll have to go beyond “Player X is a tremendous player” and “send your kids to Minnesota” and Tweeting “I need playmakers” and actually show he knows what he’s doing on the field as a head coach, because there is no evidence yet of that.

Looking to 2010, as we know, nothing gets a fanbase more anxious to fire its coach than when USC comes into town and drops 50 on your team (see Washington 2008, UCLA 2007, Nebraska 2007, Notre Dame 2007). Brewster better watch what he signed up for in 2010.

As an aside – the Michigan AD recently said at an alumni luncheon that Minnesota turned down the opportunity to play in the re-dedication game in the 2010 opener at Michigan (as a hybrid non-conference game on September 4th). Stupid decision – playing for the Jug would have been a great way to “re-open” the Big House.

by JG2112 on Jun 3, 2009 11:55 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

A Learning Curve

That’s part of the learning curve of a new coach and he is getting better about not making brash comments while still exuding conficence. Most of the so called “foolish comments” he made were very early on and he didn’t realize how empty Mason left the cupboard. I do admire the fact that Brewster hasn’t tried to blame Mason, he just keeps going about his business of recruiting more speed and size than we have had in a long, long time.

by Narby on Jun 3, 2009 12:33 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

This goes back to the question that started it all.......

……why wouldn’t Minnesota hire a guy with coordinator or head coaching experience? Since when is Minnesota a place where you learn on the job with spectacularly bad results (most losses in year 1, worst home shutout in year 2)?

Mark Dantonio, Brian Kelly, Charlie Strong, Rick Neuheisel, and many others were available in winter 2006. We didn’t have to hire a neophyte.

by JG2112 on Jun 3, 2009 1:18 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't blame Brewster for trying (and getting) the fanbase excited with his first couple statements as head coach

But wouldn’t you, if you were in Brewster’s shoes, keep the expectations reasonable and aim to exceed them than to reach for the stars knowing anything less in the fanbases’ eyes is failure?

Now, all people seem to remember about this guy are those quotes and anything he says now that differs shows that he is potentially back-tracking from his initial goals. The guy means well and he truly believes in what he says, so I applaud him in that regard – as well as scheduling USC and Texas in the future; I believe in measuring a program by putting them up against the best on the field of play and he’s doing exactly this. But, as the famous quote goes:

“It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.”

by Twin Cities Hawk on Jun 3, 2009 12:54 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

"He truly believes in what he says...."

If you listen to his quotes and his exhortations about his players and team, it’s all boilerplate. I could train a parrot with the same 6 catchphrases and it could do the Tim Brewster show. “New stadium,” “I love Minnesota,” “tremendous player who loves to play football.”

by JG2112 on Jun 3, 2009 1:15 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I've taken notice

that Brewster is not the only one who acts like this. Read Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician (Syracuse SBN blog), he interviewed their new coach and commented on how he used the word “tremendous” a LOT. sorry, for not taking the time to find the link for you.

what you say here can, and will, be used against you

by GopherNation on Jun 3, 2009 9:11 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

here is the link

http://www.nunesmagician.com/2009/5/15/876061/a-tremendous-chat-with-syracuse

what you say here can, and will, be used against you

by GopherNation on Jun 3, 2009 9:16 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

He is an optimist

but I like the things he is saying. Check out this video of “why choose Minnesota” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH3vH7MRmIc&feature=related
Somebody has to change the culture of mediocrity at the U and it’s good to see that he is making an attempt to do that.

Also, I am sure many of you have already seen these videos, but if you haven’t, check out the most current stadium vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7t1cxgAlas

by GreasyLlama on Jun 4, 2009 9:45 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

A for effort

If you had an effort grade category on Brewster, I would give him an “A.” I think there is a better chance the program will crash and burn before we see roses, but it won’t be for lack of effort. I really admire the effort he has put forth, especially when compared to Mason. At least we have the possibility of getting to the next level with Brewster. I haven’t felt that way since Holtz was in town.

by Texas Gopher on Jun 4, 2009 3:10 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

There was another Big 10 coach

who walked into a struggling program talking about Rose Bowls.

In year 3 Hayden Fry made good on his word.

There’s a difference between talking like you know how to win and actually knowing how to win. We’ll see which side Brewster is on in the next year or two. My guess is that he’s more used car salesman than he is great coach, based on the fact that pretty much every coach that has gone on to be successful after a rocky start never regressed so much from year 1 to year 2.

by rockyh on Jun 10, 2009 12:23 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I'm curious how he regressed from year 1 to year 2?

I’m not saying he got it all figured out in year two, the Gophers struggled. But year 1 was an abysmal disaster, year 2 was at least competitive (save the Iowa game).

We led in the 4th qtr @ Wisconsin, and the loss of Decker crippled our offense in the NU/Mich games. 0-55 was unbearable but I’m just asking.

what you say here can, and will, be used against you

by GopherNation on Jun 10, 2009 4:57 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

You're right, 7-6 is better than 1-11

But they lost their last five games while allowing an average of 37.0 ppg. Add in that only two of their wins came against opponents with winning records – powerhouses Montana St. and FL Atlantic – and I wouldn’t call their season a vast improvement on 2007. Decker is a stud; that declaration can’t be argued and I would be remiss to say otherwise. However, as good as Decker is, last I checked he doesn’t play defense. Toss in the musical chairs game Brewster is playing with his coordinators and I wouldn’t call his first two years “textbook.”

by Twin Cities Hawk on Jun 12, 2009 1:42 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs