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University of Minnesota Athletics
Tim Brewster's Philosophy
8/9/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
ON WHAT HE LOOKS FOR IN RECRUITING:
“The No. 1 thing we’re looking for in our players is toughness. Second, we’re looking for passion, and third we are looking for smart guys. The fourth thing we always want to address is that we’re looking for playmakers. Regardless of position, we need playmakers on this football team. That was one of the things that we really want to focus on the last two weeks of recruiting - getting guys who we feel can do something with the ball and score points.”
ON RECRUITING IN MINNESOTA:
“My stated goal when I took this job was that we were going to recruit the state of Minnesota extremely hard and we are very passionate with what we do to reach out to the players in this state. We want them to come play for us at the University of Minnesota and be Golden Gophers.
“We’re going to do everything in our power to make sure that the top players in this state come to the University of Minnesota. We want to identify these players early, get on them and stay on them from the beginning. We’re going to make sure that every guy in this state who wants to play here and who we feel can help us win, they’re going to come here and play for us.”
ON RECRUITING NATIONALLY:
“There are 16 states represented in this year’s class and the exciting thing is the tremendous reception we are seeing and continue to see from kids in all regions of the country. These players are excited about what’s going on here at Minnesota.”
ON PASSION:
“What we’re doing is creating a tremendous excitement about the U here in the state of Minnesota. We’re going to work real hard and have a lot of fun and I think that these kids are understanding that’s the way it’s going to be here at the U. Each and every day, I’m more excited about being the head coach at the U, because it’s such a tremendous sell and I don’t think it’s a hard sell at all.” (Watch Tim Brewster speak at halftime of a Gopher Basketball game shortly after his hire)
ON INTENSITY:
“My staff is a reflection of me. I want our team to be tough, I want our team to be passionate and that is how we coach. I love our staff and how they go about their business each and every day. We are asking our football team to play to a certain level each and every day and we as coaches have to do the same thing. We have to reach that level and push that bar every day. That is the challenge I have issued to the staff. You can’t come out one day and be jacked up running down the field with a guy and the next day not do it. You have to be who you are but you have to be consistent with how you bring it.”
ON ACADEMICS:
“What are we wanting out of our guys? We want our guys to graduate, first and foremost. We want them to graduate. We want them to represent themselves and their family in fine fashion every day. We want to win a Big Ten championship.”
ON DEFENSE:
“We want to attack the ball and swarm to it. We want to stop the run and become a physical defense. These are simple concepts, but those concepts are what winning defensive football is all about. We plan to limit explosive plays and create turnovers. Those are the things your defense needs to do to help your football team win.”
ON OFFENSE:
“We want to force the defense to play a particular scheme and then attack the weaknesses of that scheme. We believe the Spread Coast offense gives us the abillity to do that through the use of our personnel and formations. We’re going to build on last year and continue to do a lot of great things on offense.”
ON SPECIAL TEAMS:
“A lot of people give lip service to being a good special teams unit. At Minnesota , we call it special forces. What we have done is made the commitment -- time-wise and field-wise -- to the fact that guys aren’t going to get a rest when it comes to our special teams. We really want to be good on special teams. I would like to see us be the best special teams unit in the country. The big thing is that our best special teams players are going to play on the special forces.”
