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University of Minnesota Athletics
Tim Brewster Pre-Spring Press Conference
3/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
University of Minnesota head football coach Tim Brewster held a press conference Monday, prior to the opening of Gopher spring practices. The following is a transcript of that press conference:
Coach Brewster’s Opening Statement
I am obviously very excited about spring practice starting. I talk to our players all the time about having our house in order and making sure that we are doing things right in all areas. I am very pleased with our football team. I like our players and the commitment that our players have made as much off the field as they have made on the field. I truly believe that you are not going to have success on the field until you get your house in order and you are doing things very consistently off the field.
I couldn’t be more pleased about our players and their attention to detail. Our players are doing things consistently right off the field. The fall semester was an amazing semester for our kids academically. Our kids understand accountability and responsibility off the field and that is something that you will hear me stress because I truly believe in it. Our football team understands that we have to take care of business off the field just as well as on the field.
I think that these points need to be made because there are people that don’t make enough good points about what these kids are doing, you accentuate the things that they don’t do more then what they do and I think that that is unfortunate. I think our kids deserve to be talked about the fact that 47 of our kids had a 3.0 GPA or better, 27 kids made First Team Academic All-Big Ten last semester. Our kids are not making headlines for the wrong reasons and that is very important to me.
I thought I would start out that way in saying how proud I am of our football team off the field.
Now, as we start spring practice tomorrow, it is extremely exciting what our kids have done in getting bigger and strong. They have made a tremendous commitment to doing the things that they have to do to continue to improve as a football team. Obviously year one was year one, I really felt like we took a large step last year in re-acquainting ourselves with a successful football program and I am very proud of our accomplishments as a football team last year. Now is a hard step. This next step from where do you go from seven wins and being a bowl team to winning ten games, or eleven games. I made the statement when I took the job here that our goal is to win a Big Ten Championship. I have firm belief that it can and we happen after having been here and going onto my third spring. Again, it is about the players.
I really like our players and our players love football. One of the big questions I ask kids, I sit down with them and ask them, “Do you love football?” “Do you have a burning desire and a huge passion to be a great football player?” We have a large number of those kids on our football team and I think that we have that type of team coming back where I think some really good things can happen.
We bring back some really experienced players. I think it has to start with the quarterback. I wouldn’t trade our quarterback for anybody in the country. I think that Adam Weber is an outstanding football player. There are very few players that have taken every single snap their freshman and sophomore year, going into their junior season. There is tremendous experience coming back at the quarterback position. That is the position where you better have a guy that is experienced, talented, and extremely calm under stress. I just like all the intangible qualities that Adam Weber brings to the plate. What is exciting is that we are going to surround Adam Weber with some really play makers who have a chance to really (and I use the term a lot because I didn’t think that we had enough dynamic play makers like Eric Decker. Eric Decker in my mind he has to go into next year as a Biletnikoff finalist, a guy that has to be in the top two, three, or four wide receivers in the country. He is an outstanding football player and he will come back with great experience.
I am really excited about Duane Bennett coming back healthy. He has done an amazing job coming back off of knee surgery. He is 100% and ready to go but that doesn’t mean that I am going to allow him to be tackled this spring. I still may limit the amount of contact he has this spring but I am really pleased with Duane because he is a bigger, stronger, and faster running back and with our emphises of running the football more. We are really going to need him to step up his game and I just really think that last year he was on the cusps, I think being an outstanding Big Ten running back and I think that he will take that step this year.
It is nice to have DeLeon Eskridge coming back after all of the experience he had last year. It is going to be a nice battle. One of the things that I will talk about and what makes us a better football team is competition. I think that we have competitive situations across the board on our football team. We are still not where we need to be depth wise. It will be another recruiting class or so it get to where we need to be. This spring we are really going to have some great competition and I think the running back position is going to be one of the positions. It is going to be an area of strength for us and I am really excited about Hasan Lipscomb. He is coming into the fall as one of the top backs in the state of Texas. He is going to jump in the mix at the tailback position. I really think that that is going to be a position of strength for us.
You look at some of the young receivers like the Brandon Green, Xzavian Brandon, and Da’Jon McKnight, these are all dynamic quality type of playmakers.
I really think that we are going to have one of the most underrated tightends in the country in Nick Tow-Arnett. Nick Tow-Arnett is posed to have an outstanding senior season and in this offense we will feature the tight-end as a pass catcher. He is going to get an opportunity to really show some nice things this year. Last year he made a lot of good plays and I just think that I have been around a lot of tightends, Nick has a chance to be a really good player. Again, another position that is a strength for us with Eric Lair coming back who is a very talented young kid who played last year for us and will be a sophomore. He can really run extremely really. Ra’Shede Hageman coming in was rated by some as the top tightend in the country. We really think that position is going to be good for us along with the wide receiver position lead by Eric Decker.
It is nice that we have some numbers at the position. Numbers at wide receiver, tight end, tailback and at quarterback. The deal at quarterback is going to be this; we have been very fortunate with Adam Weber. He has taken every snap for the past two years as our starting quarterback. We have been very fortunate that he hasn’t been injured. What we have to do is a great job in developing our number two quarterback here and there will be a great deal of emphasis in the spring of the development of MarQueis Gray. MarQueis has to put himself in a position where he can take control of our offense and execute our offense and we don’t miss a beat. We will succeed with him because he is one play away from being our starting quarterback.
Obviously, everyone knows his story. He is an extremely gifted and talented football player. He has done a great job as a student of the game and learning what we want to accomplish with our offense but it is going to be exciting to see him out there on the field tomorrow with a football in his hands. Up to this point we couldn’t work out with a football with the coaches. On their own they could work out and throw the ball and MarQueis has done a great job of getting his development to a certain point. Now it is time for him to step foot on the field and really become a player because we need two.
Adam has done a great job with MarQueis and helping him with his development as a quarterback. He is helping him learn about what it is like as a young player to step in and be asked to lead a team in the Big Ten. We bring back ten starters on offense if I am not mistaken.
You look at us up front and obviously that is an area that has been talked about quite a bit. I think that we are going to have a very solid offensive line. I really like what Tim Davis has brought to the plate. He brings a mental toughness and a physicality to our group. He gets after them and coaches them extremely hard and I think our offensive line will do a nice job of representing Tim’s personality as a coach and we have some good players.
I am really excited about the competition that we have up front when you look at Trey Davis, Ryan Wynn, D.J Burris who is competing for the center job. We have outstanding players competing for a singular job right now. Matt Carufel is stepping in at the right guard spot who transferred from Notre Dame. We really think that he is going to bring us something special. I am excited about the switch of Dominic Alford from left tackle to left guard. I think that Dom is going to give us a physical inside presence at the guard position. He can pull and he can run and do the things that we want to get down athletically. His size is something that we are really looking for and we are really excited about his development inside.
A guy that has come out of nowhere that I really think is a very pleasant surprise for us as we going into spring practice is Matt Stommes. Matt goes into spring as our starter at left tackle. He is 6-7 and is now weighs 304 or 305 pounds. He strength gains have been outstanding and he is an excellent athlete. He didn’t start for us at all last year. We started him at the bowl game after fifteen practices with Tim Davis and I really thought that the strides that he made we excellent. He is an extremely smart young guy and he is our best athlete on our offensive line. He is potentially and the pro scouts that have come in and looked at his prototype. He is almost 6-8 and 305 pounds and arm length at 36 inches. He just has some great measurables.
Jeff Wills is another guy that we have talked about he’s going to get into the battle for right tackle. He is a very large young man, and has worked extremely hard at getting himself in better physical condition. We think that he is going to, along with the other guys, add to the physicality that our offensive line is going to need to really help us.
I think we are going to be much better on the offensive line than many people think. I think a large part of that comes with the competition that we are going to have within our team. We really have some good football players competing hard for some time on the field. If you look at it we really have a fairly experienced offense coming back, and I think a very dynamic offense with some very skilled football players. We have some very big playmakers and that makes it very exciting for me.
Then if you look at the defensive side of things I felt that we bring back a solid front. A friend of mine who coaches at the University of Texas was up here watching our team, and said I’d like to take three or four of those players back to Texas with me. I thought that was very telling about our defensive lineman that a program like the University of Texas would like to have players on our team. I think it is exciting when you look at Eric Small and Garrett Brown on our defense line. Garrett Brown was, in my opinion, one of the most underrated defensive lineman in the Big Ten last season. He is a playmaker and a very physical guy. The two young guys backing them up, Brandon Kirksey and Jewhan Edwards, really excite me. These two young guys seem to be of the quality to be defensive lineman that could be Big Ten all conference players in the future of their collegiate career. To have four very impressive players at the defense line position really will benefit this team.
We will miss Willie VanDeSteeg. He had a great career here at the U, and he had a terrific senior season for us last year. It’s also an opportunity for others to step up and fill the gap left by Willie (VanDeSteeg). Anthony Jacobs is a young guy out of Northfield, and he seems like he could be a very special player. Very strong, very active, and a very explosive player who I think really has a chance this season. Cedric McKinley showed us glimpses during the bowl game of a guy we can lean on as a pass-rusher. He is an outstanding athlete, but a very raw talent that came out of Gulf Coast Community College who really seemed to start to click towards the end of last season. He had two sacks in the bowl game, and really did some nice things at the end of last years campaign. Derrick Onwuachi is another guy that we really think can help us out at the defensive end position. He has great length, and gets off the line well.
The guy that has grabbed our attention this spring is Barrett Moen. He is a guy that is going to play three spots for us. He is going to play shade, a three-technique, and he is going to play outside on the end. Barrett (Moen) is our strongest football player, and he is weighing about 292 pounds and he ran a 4.82 forty. Football is very important to him and he is a tough, physical guy. I just think that he is guy that is really going to help our football team next fall. He deserves a tremendous amount of credit for what he has done as a student, and his hard work and accomplishment developing himself as a football player.
At the linebacker spots, you have to start with Lee Campbell and he is what you want in a mike linebacker. He plays extremely physical between the tackles. Plays down hill and has a tremendous passion for it. Lee is like a throwback player who just really loves tackling and hitting. I am pleased with the development of Simoni Lawrence, and I feel he is on the cusp of becoming one of the best defensive players in the Big Ten. As a pass-rusher, as a guy that drops, and he is just an outstanding athlete. He has great speed and ran a 4.43 for us, and has a nose for the football and loves to play the game. He is helping our defense really create its identity.
We have some very exciting young linebackers in Gary Tinsley who will back up Lee Campbell. He is a guy out of Jacksonville, Florida who is very talented. The next guy is Keanon Cooper. Keanon redshirted last season for us, and this season we are going to look at him in a couple different spots. Sam or Will linebacker, but he is going to be a linebacker for us. He is weighing about 220 pounds right now, and the exciting thing for us is that he might the fastest player on our team. He ran a 4.41 for us, and the kid has tremendous explosive speed. The fact that he redshirted last year really helps him. I think he is going to jump in the fray very quickly, and will be one of our top defensive football players. His teammate joined him this January, and he is going to make an impact on our defense. That player is Spencer Reeves. He is going to school here and will be at spring practice. He is a very gifted, young, and athletic linebacker. Ryan Grant is going to be a three linebacker position for us. We are going to look at him at the Mike, Sam and just try and find the best spot for Ryan. Ryan is tough, hard-nosed, physical player who loves to play the game. He has made great gains in the weight room, and is extremely intelligent and will do a nice job of fitting in with our team. Nathan Triplett is back and gives us some experience.
Where we are probably a bit thin numbers-wise is in the secondary. Traye Simmons is back, Mike McKelton, Mike Rallis, and we are really excited about adding Kim Royston. Kim Royston is a transfer from Wisconsin who had to sit out last year and Kim is really taken a leadership role on our defense. He has great speed and has taken a tremendous amount of pride in playing at home in the state of Minnesota. Kyle Theret is a young guy that battles and competes every snap. He is a veteran guy now, and it is amazing to think he is going into his third year having started the past two seasons. He will have to battle very hard to keep his job this season. We’ve got a number of competitive situations on the back end, and Kyle (Theret) will have to fight for his spot with Tim Dandridge. Tim is a young guy from Detroit who is very athletic and brings some good tools to the position.
Ryan Collado and Johnny Johnson are also playing at the other corner position. Marcus Sherels will be coming back, but will not be involved in any contact at all this spring. Marcus had a shoulder surgery, and has gotten himself back in great shape and will be 100 percent for the fall.
As for our specialists, we lost our specialists and the position of kicker will be an interesting battle. Eric Ellestad is a guy that we are depending upon to do a job for us. He has outstanding talent, but he has to get it done for us on the field. He will be in a competitive situation with David Schwerman, who is a redshirt freshman from Wisconsin. Our long snapper is back in Ryan Coleman. Eric Ellestad and Blake Haudan will do the punting for us this spring. Returner that will be coming back will be Troy Stoudermire doing our kick returns, and we will be also looking at him to try and be a punt return guy. We will also look at a number of other guys for that position.
As far as the spring is concerned, those are the guys that we have in situations who are coming back. I think it is a very positive situation for us. We have some experience, but more importantly we’ve got some talent.
We’ve got some speed, we’ve gotten bigger and stronger. Now, how that is going to correlate to the field; we’ll find out tomorrow. We’ve got fifteen opportunities to get better this spring, and with the maturity of our team they understand that we can’t waste any practice. We’ve got to utilize all fifteen practices to get better as a team. We have to then take those gains, and use that in the weight room to keep getting stronger and faster.
I feel the best about the types of people that are on this football team. We’ve got a group of young men that truly have an accountability and responsibility to one another. Understanding what it means to be a Minnesota Golden Gopher football player. I mean that as much off-the-field as I do on the field. I am very proud to be the coach at Minnesota with the type of young men that we have here.
On freshman linebacker Sam Maresh
“Sam is back, and we are going to try and get him involved as much as we can. He doesn’t have any limitations, but he is not 100% right now. He still has an issue with his calf that they did take a look at, and he is able to try to play through it, but he is not at full health right now. We’re going to ease him into it, and then see how it goes for Sam (Maresh). We’re all pulling extremely hard for Sam, and helping him with the things he’s been through. It really does say a lot about our team, and the dedication they have for each other and this team. I had told the team that I had a present for them when they all got back from spring break. That present was opened at 6a.m., and that present was a mile-and-a half run, and 16 timed hundreds. Sam was able to do the mile and a half and do the hundreds, and did a fine job. This showed the maturity of our team, and being able to stay focused over they’re break and be ready to go when they got back. There is a growth in his calf. Sam and his family went down to the Mayo Clinic in Texas, and it was found not to be a tumor, which they initially had thought. What they have decided is that it is scar tissue from a previous injury. Whether it was him getting kicked in the calf or hit during play sometime they don’t know, but they did say it was from a previous incident. The more I get to know Sam the less I am surprised by him, and his outstanding attitude and willingness to do anything to play for Minnesota. He is just an amazing young man. With all of the trials and tribulations that he has been had to go through, and all of the things he shouldn’t have to go through at this point in his young life he just never feels sorry for himself or saulks. It will be an exciting day on September 12th when Sam Maresh leads us into TCF Bank Stadium carrying that state of Minnesota flag. Sam has a chance at playing this fall, but I don’t want to rush him until he fully ready to go, physically. There is no rush, and I would love to say that he is definitely going to play in the first game, but he will determine that over this spring.”
On learning the new offense with key players missing
“The players have done a great job at studying up on the game plan. Adam (Weber), is going to be on the field going through every rep, and snap, but just not getting any contact. He is not going to be limited, except for getting hit. Duane Bennett will be in on every snap, but I am not sure if I am going to let him get hit. The learning process is going to fine, and we installed this offense fifteen practices prior to our bowl game. So, we are a little further along with this than some people might think. There is a lot of carry over from our old system with much of the same verbage. I haven’t asked our team to wholesale learn a whole new offense. Defensively the verbage is also quite similar. The defense is about 85 percent of the same verbage as the old system.“
On the difference of the new offense
“The difference of the new offense would have to be it’s physicality. We’ve got to be a physical team, and toughness is a term and word that we use when we want to describe our football team. We want to be known as a tough team. We are going to continue to run the option, and MarQueis Gray is going to be part of some things. Adam (Weber) is a very athletic quarterback, and we are not going to lose the athleticism that we have gotten from an option stand point. What we are going to add to that is a physical toughness to our running game, and then I want to continue to be an outstanding, explosive passing team.”
On freshman quarterback MarQueis Gray
“The challenge for MarQueis (Gray) is going to be running our offense. We are going to run a certain style of offense, and what we have to do as coaches is enhance his skills. We will do that by the things that we ask of him to do, and how he takes and does the things we ask him to do. MarQueis is a uniquely gifted football player. I think it is going to be fun and exciting with the things that we are going to be able to do offensively with guys as talented as Adam (Weber), and MarQueis (Gray).”
On junior fullback Jon Hoese
“John is weighing about 240 pounds, and he ran a 4.62 forty (yard dash) and he is an athletic guy. He can not only play fullback but when we are in two tight ends and one back he can be a movement guy. He can line up on the line of scrimmage, or he can shift off or motion. The versatility that Hoese is going to give us is really going to be a plus. We’ll look at Eric Lair in that position also, and the fullback is going to come back with us a little bit this season and will be a bigger part of our offense, and that’s exciting.”
On senior offensive lineman Jeff Tow-Arnett
“He is coming back from his knee surgery and will not participate this spring. He won’t be part of any contact this spring. He will be back in the fall, and jump in the middle of the battle.”
On freshman running back Kevin Whaley
“It’s exciting with a kid of his talent. He has got great speed and great toughness. He isn’t a very big guy, but you look at the depth and the talent that we have in out running game and Kevin is going to be a big part of what we do.”
On senior offensive lineman Matt Stommes
“When he came here he came in as a defensive lineman. It just sometimes happen like that, where it takes a guy a little while to get to the right spot on the team. We felt really good about how he played at right tackle during the bowl game, and the athleticism to have him move to left tackle is a very important position on the offensive line. He has made tremendous strides, and with his intelligence and work ethic he will be a big part of our offense.”
On coaches Jedd Fisch and Tim Davis working together
“I think they’re doing a great job, and Jedd (Fisch) is our offensive coordinator, and he coordinates how our offense will run and Tim (Davis) has a very strong input in that. Jedd (Fisch) has done a great job of coming in here and incorporating our style with what we are going to run. Sitting down with Jedd Fisch for five minutes you begin to understand he is a great guy who is not trying to force feed anything on anybody. We’ve got a nice collective group of offensive coaches , which we think is going to allow us to have an outstanding offensive team.”
On the wide receivers with their new coaches
“It’s exciting when our offensive coordinator has coached NFL wide receivers such as Brandon Stokley, Brandon Marshall, Eddie Royal and some of those guys. He brings great experience to that group and Richard Hightower was with the Houston Texans working with the likes of players like Andre Johnson. We are very fortunate to have a group of coaches who have been around some of the best players in the game. I really think they all have great way of relating with the players in a cutting edge way.”
On a wide receiver stepping up in spring in Eric Decker’s absence this spring
“How is about Ben Kuznia? I didn’t mention Ben (Kuznia) earlier, and he made thirty catches last year and is one of the hardest workers on our team. We have no shortage of young talent on this team, and there will be ample opportunity for guys with Eric (Decker) concentrating on baseball to show what they’ve got. I think it’s great to have players that normally get the majority of reps to sit back and allow others to show what they can bring to this team. Many players will be forced developed, and players such as MarQueis Gray in Adam Weber’s absence will have to develop. That’s a great thing for our football team.”
On the long-snapper spot
“Ryan Grant does have a chance to be our long snapper, and he is a good long snapper. He and Ryan Coleman will be in a battle for that job. Ryan (Grant) will be right in the middle of that battle.
On MarQueis Gray being the second-string quarterback
“As of right now I would say that he is our second-string quarterback. John Nance is another guy young guy, out of Eden Prairie (MN), that will be getting in the mix. I would say that MarQueis Gray is the second guy up right now.”
On Freshman linebacker Keanon Cooper
“In high school he was used as space player. If there was a slot formation he would walk out over slot. I would call his position more of a strong safety type. He is a 220 pound kid who is 6’1’’ and has tremendous speed. We want our linebackers to be able to have speed, and we have linebackers that can really run.”
On recruits coming in the fall
“We have got some really gifted players coming in this fall, and I am not bashful to play young talent. I think they are really talented and have a chance to come in and help us early. We do have an idea already of who are guys are going to be, but I think there is a chance that some of these recruits could come in and battle right away for a spot. After spring there really won’t be many questions on who our players are going to be as we move into the fall.”
On the chances of being a bowl team again this season
“I think last year we were a significantly improved football team, and I think this year we will again continue to be an improved football team. Now, how that shakes out; we’ll see in the next season. I feel that we will continue to improve as a football team from our successes last season. We are adding some very talented players to our program, and we have recruited extremely well for the past two years so I think that will be key to our success.”
On Co-Defensive Coordinators Kevin Cosgrove and Ronnie Lee
“They are very familiar with each other, because they did coach together. One of my biggest recommendations for Ronnie Lee actually came from Kevin Cosgrove. Kevin Cosgrove is a very experienced guy, and he will be our defensive coordinator and be calling the plays from the sideline. Ronnie also brings a great deal of experience, and I just think two sets of eyes at the defensive coordinator position really is helpful. I wanted to promote Ronnie Lee because he has done an outstanding job for me, and I just think the two together will be a really positive thing. Kevin Cosgrove brings such a great energy, and really has been great for our team so far. He brings passion, and that is part of Minnesota football. He is a great recruiter, and has done some great things for us already in that regard. I love positive energy, and that’s what this staff brings; a positive energy. The players can sense that and it really brings the best out of them.”
On getting into TCF Bank Stadium
“It is all a matter of when they allow us to get on the field of TCF Bank Stadium. Right now our target date is to get in there sometime around July 1st. We want to be able to get in there and do some things, and have a number of practices in the facility before September 12th. I haven’t collectively taken the team through it, but most recently I went through it with the Big Ten Network and it just truly is amazing. It’s a great thing for the state of Minnesota, and it has already helped us in unbelievable ways. It has helped with recruiting. Those young men walk into that stadium with their jaws down, and wide eyes. It is something that has been needed at the U for a long time, and fortunately the dream is now a reality.”
On last year’s starters having to battle for spots
“Our guys understand that they need to punch the clock everyday, and really work hard because there is nothing guaranteed. Nobody is entitled anything, and you have to earn what you get. You have to do that on a daily basis, and I think that our kids understand that. In the great programs that are really competitive battles for playing time. We’re not there yet, but I think that we are making strides towards being there with competition happening across the board.”
On the strength of schedule
“I was a big part of making the schedule much stronger. It’s something that I believe in, and I think that kids want to play good teams. I am really excited about going on the road to play Syracuse. It is a tough place to play, and that first game is going to be a very tough opener for us. Then you come back and play Air Force, and then after that a team like Cal. Cal might be one of the top ten teams in the country this upcoming season. Then the season after this we play a team like USC. It does a whole lot more good than it does harm to play those type of teams. I don’t want to play USC every week, don’t get me wrong. I want to play a schedule that makes our fans excited about coming to the stadium, and being a part of something special.”
On responding to the way last season ended
“We had a tough game against Iowa, and I talked to Rick Neuheisel from UCLA who won their opener against Tennessee and then went to BYU and lost 59-0. I asked him what they did after that game, and he responded we went to work.’ Rick has won a few championships, and after a loss like that he went in and pointed out the positives from that game. After the Iowa game I came in the next day and the first thing I said was “How bout Troy Stoudamire.” Set a Big Ten record for kickoff returns which is not a good thing, but you have to have something positive out of the situation. I believe kids respond to that much better, and I am as hard and demanding as any coach but I feel that remaining positive will make the kids play better.”
On going into this season
“I feel very positive about the improvements that this football team has made since the end of last season. We’ve just got to continue to improve every day in the next 15 practices.”
-UM-
