Tim Brewster

Date	Opponent	Location	2008 CHS Prediction
8/30/08	Northern Illinois	Minneapolis, MN	W
9/06/08	at Bowling Green	Bowling Green, OH	L
9/13/08	Montana State	Minneapolis, MN	W
9/20/08	Florida Atlantic	Minneapolis, MN	L
9/27/08	at Ohio State	Columbus, OH	L
10/04/08	Indiana	Minneapolis, MN	L
10/11/08	at Illinois	Champaign, IL	L
10/25/08	at Purdue	W. Lafayette, IN	L
11/01/08	Northwestern	Minneapolis, MN	L
11/08/08	Michigan	Minneapolis, MN	L
11/15/08	at Wisconsin	Madison, WI	L
11/22/08	Iowa	Minneapolis, IN	L

	Coaches Hot Seat Prediction		2-10

Coaches Hot Seat Analysis

Tim Brewster committed one of the cardinal sins of the coaching business when he let his mouth get ahead of team and coaching ability upon his hiring at Minnesota, and after talking a big game Brewster got his ass handed to him in '07, including a loss at home to I-AA North Dakota State. The real problem with Tim Brewster going 1-11 in his first year at Minnesota, is that he replaced a coach in Glen Mason that had taken the Gophers to 5 straight bowl games, and on bowl trips in 7 of the last 8 years. Glen Mason did not burn it up at Minnesota, but he averaged 6.4 wins a year in Minneapolis, and his teams were always competitive against other teams in the Big Ten. Minnesota would not have been able to beat about 25 teams in I-AA football last season, forget about competing on the I-A level, and Brewster has to know that he is under tremendous pressure as he enters his 2nd season at Minnesota. What Tim Brewster does have going for him is the 11 years of experience from being on Mack Brown's staff at North Carolina and Texas and his overall enthusiasm that he brings to his football team. Brewster's enthusiasm and energy has really helped Minnesota on the recruiting trail with a 17th team recruiting ranking according to Rivals.com in '08, which is a minor miracle after posting a 1-11 record in '07. The biggest problem that Brewster has going forward is the Big Ten is getting much better very quickly, and there are going to be 4 to 5 teams in very near future that have a legitimate shot to win the Big Ten title every season. It will be very difficult for Minnesota to become a part of the 4 to 5 teams that will rotate as the Big Ten champion anytime soon, and thus Brewster's short-term goals must be to get to at least a .500 records each year, and take his Gophers team on postseason bowl trips, which have to be the minimum standards for the head football coach at Minnesota.

One thing that could help improve the terrible Minnesota defense is that former Duke head coach Ted Roof was hired as the Gophers new DC. Ted Roof put some very good defenses on the field under George O'Leary at Georgia Tech, and if Minnesota has any hope of winning some games in '08, their defense must play at a much higher level.

Coaches Hot Seat Bottom Line

We predict that Tim Brewster and Minnesota will have a 2-10 record in 2008. Minnesota opens the '08 season at home against MAC opponent Northern Illinois, and if the Gophers were playing NIU in Jerry Kill's 2nd year, this might be an entirely different game. With Kill just being in his first year at NIU, Minnesota should be able to get a win in this game, which starts their record off at 1-0. Minnesota travels to Bowling Green in week 2, and Bowling Green is coming off an 8-5 record in '07. In a close game for a half, Bowling Green should pull away in the 2nd half to get the win over the Gophers, which drops the Minnesota record to 1-1. Montana State travels to Minnesota in week 3 and I-AA MSU beat Colorado in Boulder to open the season a few years back, but this MSU team will not be a power in the I-AA or even the Big Sky Conference. In an interesting game for a half, Minnesota pulls away for the win finally, to run their record to 2-1. Howard Schnellenberger brings his FAU team to Minneapolis in week 4, and the defensding Sun Belt champs have a very good football team. In a very good game with very even foes, we see FAU getting a win in this spot, which drops the Minnesota record to 2-2. Minnesota kicks off the Big Ten schedule in week 5 with a trip to play the mighty Ohio State Buckeyes. OSU will just have way too much for the Gophers, and a loss in Columbus drops the OSU record to 2-3. Bill Lynch brings his Indiana team to Minneapolis in week 6, and the Hoosiers seem to get better with each passing week under Lynch's tutelage. The Hoosiers look too strong for the Gophers in this game, and another loss takes the Minnesota record to 2-4 after six games. Minnesota travels to Illinois in week 7, and Brewster can certainly tell his team that if Ron Zook and the Illini can turn around that program, then Minnesota can do it as well. The Illini should rack up a lot of points in this game to get a win over Minnesota, which runs the Gopher record to 2-5. In week 8 Minnesota travels to W. Lafayette to play Joe Tiller's last team at Purdue, and there is very little chance the Boilermakers will allow this game to get away. After eight games, Minnesota is 2-6. In week 9, Pat Fitzgerald brings his feisty Northwestern team to Minneapolis, and in what should be a great Big Ten game, we see the Wildcats coming out with the win. After nine games, Minnesota is 2-7. Rich Rodriguez and the Wolverines visit Minnesota in week 10, and Rodriguez should have Michigan playing pretty well by this time in the season. In a good game, we see Michigan getting the win, and another loss drops the Gopher record to 2-8. Minnesota travels to Wisconsin in week 11, and the Badgers will have way too much for the Gophers in this game. After eleven games, Minnesota is 2-9. Minnesota ends the season with a visit by the Iowa Hawkeyes, and this may be a game that Iowa and Ferentz might need to win very badly. In a good game, we see Iowa coming out with the win, which drops the Minnesota 2008 regular season record to 2-10.

As we said above, Glen Mason had a decent football program going at Minnesota when he was fired, and if Brewster and the Gophers do go 2-10 in '08, some very serious questions will begin to be asked about Brewster's tenure at Minnesota, and if he will even be able to get the program back to at least where Mason had it. That will be a very important question to be asked and answered by the folks at Minnesota, and a 2-10 record by Brewster in '08, will mean without a doubt that he will be coaching for his job at Minnesota in 2009.

2008 Coaches Hot Seat Prediction: 2-10

Will Tim Brewster be back for the 2009 season? YES