Can we give this Brew some room to breathe?

Apparently the Mark Craig article in the Strib I discussed last week has created some reactionaries. Check out this Tom Dienhart article from Rivals.com.

Nice headline, huh?

Dienhart really put together some top-notch journalism there. Wrote two paragraphs of background, and then he essentially copied a small part of the Mark Craig article. Well done sir. And while I didn't particularly enjoy Craig's article, it did tell us some things about Maturi and Brewster. Maturi is actively gauging things, and success this season is important in his decision. Maturi said:

"If we go 2-10, the odds of me extending [his contract] probably aren't real good. If we go 10-2, the odds of me extending him might be better, provided everything else is OK, we don't have major violations, we don't have this, we don't have that." All in all, I suppose this is what a good AD does, right? Continuously evaluate. Still, I can't help but wonder if this pressure applied is being amplified by the media thanks to Maturi's comments.

Well, we know one thing for sure. We won't be going 2-10 this year, since we clocked Northwestern in the 4th quarter last Saturday, to seal our 3rd win of the season. But, we probably won't be going 10-2 either though... ...so where does this put Coach Brew? Who knows, but its clearly to early to tell.

I will say that while at the Northwestern game, a number of us in attendance saw one Mr. Joel Maturi making his way to the sideline mid-4th quarter, no doubt to congratulate the team (maybe a little prematurely? Has this guy watched our games with NU the last few years?). I'll now completely speculate as to the converstation he had with Brewster. It might have gone something like this:

Maturi: Great win Tim. Great win.

Coach Brew: Hey Joel, we gotta ways to go yet here, keep your chili hot, but let's talk later, okay?

Maturi: Alright, alright Tim - you do your thing. Just remember we're evaluating your progress this season, you want to be re-upped, right?

Coach Brew: Yeah, but not if its like this. Why are you publicly letting every sportswriter in town in on your eval process... HEY, CAMPBELL! CAMPBELL!!! ISO ON KAFKA! ISO ON KAFKA!... Look Joel, this really isn't the time.

Maturi: I know, I know. But I just want you to coach like there's pressure on you.

Coach Brew: There IS pressure on me... ATTABOY WILHITE!! OFFENSE GET OUT THERE! I WANT SIX!

Maturi: Well I see you've got this well in hand. I'll go sit back down. Don't forget to go easy on Wisconsin next week. I worked there for 9 years, remember?

Coach Brew: (under his breath) I can't think of a better reason than to beat them by 6 TDs...