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University of Minnesota Athletics
Gopher Blog - Brewster's Mid-Season Report
10/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
University of Minnesota head football coach Tim Brewster took a few minutes out of his busy schedule this week to sit down and chat with GopherSports.com about his team at the season's midway point. Here's a look at that interview:
GopherSports.com: What are your overall impressions on the first half of season?
Coach Brewster: I’m pleased with our won-loss record, but obviously disappointed we’re not 6-0. I’m proud of our football team because they have worked extremely hard to improve from last season. Our team is being rewarded for its commitment and dedication.
I think that we’ve got to pleased with our first half performance. Just an amazing amount of hard work has gone into getting to this point. But the success of our season will be determined by how we finish. We did a great job in the nonconference schedule but we know our season will be determined by how we finish in the Big Ten. We’ll certainly want more wins and to say that it’s a total success at this point is short. We need to finish and that’s another thing we’ve built this program on, being a fourth-quarter football team, being a second-half football team. Our motto as a team is “one game at a time, and one play at a time.” If we continue with that mindset, I think we’ll have a chance to finish strongly because we have an opportunity to do something special with this group.
GS: What were the key changes that have led to the improvement over last season?
CB: We’re all much more comfortable with each other in the second year together. We went through a lot of change last year and change in a program is a very difficult process. Last year we saw how difficult it can be. We feel like we are taking the proper steps to build a championship program here and that’s what we’re doing. We’re building a program that can win a championship and that’s the exciting thing about this. We’re not where we want to be yet, but we’re very clear in our vision of where we want to be.
GS: What does the team need to do to keep playing at an increasingly higher level?
CB: I won’t allow the team to get complacent because I am a very driven football coach and we’ve gotten to where we are because of our commitment to work ethic and commitment to being students of the game, studying the game. I don’t think complacency will ever be part of our vocabulary. We’ve tried to define ourselves as a hard-nosed, physical football team with an outstanding work ethic. That’s how we’ve built the team and we’ll just keep going.
GS: What kind of progress has the offensive line made?
CB: Injuries are part of the game and they’ve been a big part of our season so far. We have a mentality of next man up. But that’s not an excuse. People do not care about excuses. They care about whether or not you win or lose. We, as coaches, need to do a great job of developing young football players because now, young players have a huge role in the team each year. Your ability to develop young talent will be consistent with your ability to win.
GS: How do you see the running game developing?
CB: We need to run the football. Minnesota has always been a football team with a strong running attack. We want to continue to have a strong running attack. We want to strive for balance offensively. We want to beat teams with the passing and running games, whichever the defense dictates. My mindset is to be a hard-nosed and tough football team. We want to be able to grind it out and run the football and I’ve been extremely pleased with our ability to do that. When we’ve been backed up and put in a corner, we’ve had to drive the length of the field like we did against Indiana. We had a seven-minute, twenty-one second drive at the end of the game and we grinded out the clock. I want to continue in that vein of being a hard-nosed team and having everyone know that we’re going to rush the football.
GS: Any players surprise you in the first half of the season?
CB: No, I think that everyone is doing a solid job. We’re extremely young as a team, one of the youngest in the country. I’m very pleased with what we have now. Again, it goes back to how we’re going to finish. The youth on the team is no longer young. Now we’ve got a group of guys who have been in the fire and tested a little bit and will be tested strongly down the stretch.
GS: Who do you see stepping up as a playmaker on the offense?
CB: I think there are a number of guys who can step up and be a playmaker and each week we try to get someone to step up and be a playmaker. We have a lot of guys who can call themselves playmakers like Adam Weber and Eric Decker. Duane Bennett was a playmaker and DeLeon Eskridge is a playmaker. We’ve got other guys that have the ability to be that kind of player and we want them to be able to step up.
GS: What steps does the offense need to take to win down the stretch?
CB: We have to keeping working, keep growing, keep searching. Keep asking and demanding of our team. We are extremely demanding of our team and I think they like that. We demand a lot of them and we get a lot out of them. We need to keep understanding what it has taken to get to this point, which is a lot of hard work and commitment. If we continue on in that same vein, we will be fine.
GS: What are your overall impressions of the improved defense?
CB: Our commitment is to be a great defensive football team and that’s been my commitment since day one. I was disappointed with our defensive performance last year. We were a poor defensive football team last year. But last season is last season, it’s done and gone. This season our team has been different. I’m really excited about our potential. We’re second in the nation in turnover margin and we’re doing the things that successful teams do. We stress alignment, assignment, and tackle, while being extremely aggressive in attacking an opponent. I couldn’t be more pleased with our defensive mentality.
GS: What kind of role has Coach Roof’s arrival played in the improvement?
CB: I think Coach Roof, the entire defensive staff and the whole defense have played a large part in it. It’s amazing what you can accomplish when it doesn’t matter who gets the credit. We’re in this as a team and we’re not into giving individual credit. I think it’s all about a staff and our team. It’s amazing what we can accomplish without having to give credit. Last week we played great on defense against Indiana, but our offense held the ball for over 37 minutes. What kind of role did that play in our win? So again, it’s a team success.
GS: Who has stepped up as a leader for the defense?
CB: We’ve got great leadership. Our guys really have accepted leadership roles. Steve Davis is playing great. Willie Vandesteeg has elevated his play. Last season he was hurt and he struggled and this season he’s playing at a level that’s consistent with an all-Big Ten performer. Those types of guys like Tramaine Brock and Garrett Brown are playing great. There’s no shortage of guys doing a nice job for the team.
GS: Any areas the defense needs to focus on to maintain down the stretch?
CB: We just do the things that great defenses do - alignment, assignment and tackle. We have to have the mentality that we will take the ball from the offense on every snap. We have to dictate the tempo to the offense. There’s no magic to it at all. It’s a mindset and being dictated by our defensive staff. Our players have really accepted that mindset.
GS: Has anyone on special teams stepped up as an unsung hero?
CB: Well our Special Forces have been excellent, for the most part. Joel Monroe grabbing the Big Ten player of the week, and I’m very pleased with him. Justin Kucek may be the best punter in the country, and will be an award nominee. Our coverage units have been great with guys like Mike Rallis, who has just been outstanding. Troy Stoudermire is another guy who has helped our special forces in the return game. Our Special Forces coordinator, John Butler, really deserves a lot credit for making this part of our team very strong. We do not treat special forces as a secondary part of our game, and understand that how we cover and return kicks and punts can really change the entire game. It’s a very exciting part of the game.
GS: How significant is Joel Monroe’s consistency for the team?
CB: It’s really big for us. With a kicker like Joel and having him in pressure situations, like against Indiana to put the game out of reach and having them come with all they had to block it, he just put it right were it needed to be. It’s exciting to see the confidence in your kicker were he wanted that kick, and had the strong mentality that he was going to go out there and put it in. That’s what you want to see out of your kicker.
GS: In what ways has Kucek stepped up his performance?
CB: I don’t think that Justin has had a bad punt all season, and that is very important for our team. He is a master of what we call the “flop punt”, which is getting his punts downed within the 10-yard line. By making the opposing team's offense have to play on the short side of the field, and drive 80 or 90 yards down the field is very important for us. Justin has just done an amazing job in helping our football team this year.
GS: What are your overall thoughts on the rest of the season?
CB: I am very excited for the rest of the season, but we must remain focused on one play and one game at a time. I really love our football team and I love their preparation. They come in on Mondays and are ready to prepare for the next opponent. Having a team like this that is team-oriented is huge for our program. Our guys understand that having chemistry is the most important part of a team for having a successful season. It’s really fun to coach our team, because they really seem to like one another. That makes it a great environment to be a part of, and to coach in.
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