Good Bye to Brew.

In case you didn't hear by now, the Tim Brewster era of Minnesota Golden Gopher Football is officially over.  Athletic Director Joel Maturi broke the news following the loss to Purdue, and even sent an official email to season ticket holders.  Here's what it said:

Dear Gopher Football Season Ticket Holder:

I want you to be among the first to know that this morning I informed Coach Brewster of my decision to terminate his contract immediately as head football coach. While I appreciate the passion and commitment that Coach Brewster has shown, it is time for a change. In the interim, I have appointed Jeff Horton as the head coach for the remainder of the season.
This decision greatly impacts the future of Gopher Football and the goals we have for this program. Our vision is clear - to produce a team that we can be proud of and return Gopher Football to its rich history of consistently competing for championships.
I believe we are in a great position to attract the right coach to lead our program. We have a new, state-of-the-art football stadium and a world-class academic institution located in a major metropolitan market. Additionally, the Big Ten conference continues to thrive with the addition of Nebraska, divisional play, and a conference championship game.
I understand your frustration with the current state of Gopher Football. But we are convinced that we are going to find the right person to lead our program. I encourage you to continue your support of Gopher Football, and especially our student-athletes, throughout the remainder of this season and in the future.
Go Gophers,

Joel Maturi
Director of Athletics

Fair enough.  I can live with Horton finishing out the season, and I agree that it had to be done.  I'm am surprised it happened in mid-season, and also surprised that Maturi made this move when he could of waited Brew's contract out and let the next University Prez and AD make the big hire.  But in the end, the heat had to be too much for Maturi not to fire Brewster, applied no doubt by the boosters who were rightfully demanding at least signs of improvement.  Signs that were no where to be seen over the past 6 games.  Maturi received a lot of heat for hiring Brewster back in 2007, but his phenomenal hire of Tubby Smith nullifies this (now clear) ineffective hire in my mind.  This next hire will be the one that makes or breaks Maturi's legacy as AD (well that, and getting Tubby's extension signed).

Let the speculation on our future head coach begin.

Coach Brew - how long should his leash be?

While doing my semi-daily check on the local "Fishwrap West's" site, I found a lengthy Mark Craig article about Coach Brewster's future wearing the Maroon and Gold.

While it was nowhere near a gem of Reusse-level negativity, it did seem a bit critical in areas that bother me.

Namely, Brewster's positivity.

Why is it when a new coach comes in to a middling program that can't seem to get over the hump of being a mid-tier Big Ten team (aka 'the Mason Era'), and spouts off how he wants to change the culture of the team, and confidently states he's going to take us to the Rose Bowl, he's hung out to dry by the local media? Did we want another guy to come in and just quietly take the team to the Sun Bowl or the Insight.com Bowl every year? Obviously not - we had that already in Mason. We need an overachiever - and to me Brewster still fits that bill. Without getting too in-depth on the article (you can read it for yourself here), the key things that stood out for me were:

1) Maturi's sobering realism - he obviously knows that positivity and recruiting aren't the end all be all.

2) Brewster's unwavering committment to getting in-state recruits. Helicopter anyone?

3) Marquis Gray's reason for coming to the U, and not another Big Ten team - Brew's swagger and confidence.

This 3rd year should be the hinge point for the Gophs under Brewster's tenure. I think we are already seeing the sea level change for this program, with a good win over Air Force, and playing tough against Cal. The team's attitude as a whole seems to be more confident and sure of who they are, especially on defense. Let's cross our fingers this continues into the Big Ten opener vs. Northwestern tomorrow.

How long should Coach Brew's leash be? I say anything over 7 wins this season gets him an extension, given our schedule for 2009. Under 6 wins or less, let's take a 'wait and see' approach and consider extending him early 2010 if we play well (i.e. take down USC).