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University of Minnesota Athletics
Brewster: Competition Key Ingredient
8/2/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
During his media session today at the 2010 Big Ten Kickoff, head football coach Tim Brewster talked at length about the internal competition for playing time in the program on the eve of fall camp and just how important it is to the success of the program.
Now in his fourth year at Minnesota, Brewster said he was pleased with the strides the program has made in fostering competition through upgrades in talent and that he was looking forward to seeing those battles continue during fall camp.
"One common attribute that every football team in America has today is great competition," Brewster said. "We feel like for the first time in my three years at the University of Minnesota, now going into our fourth year, that we've got great competition across the board. This spring (competition) made our team better. The competition that we had at quarterback, the competition that we had in the offensive line, and the great competition at tailback."
The competition in the offensive backfield will certainly take another leap forward in the next few weeks, when true freshmen Lamonte Edwards (Woodbury, Minn.), Donnell Kirkwood (Delray Beach, Fla.) and Devon Wright (Coral Springs Fla.) join returnees Duane Bennett, DeLeon Eskridge and R.J. Buckner on the practice field.
Brewster added that though the staff has a good idea about the direction and shape the Gophers starting lineups will eventually take, he said that it was critical for each player to compete in each and every practice.
"Our kids need to understand that on a daily basis you've got to compete for your job," said Brewster. "If you're deciding today not to compete for your job, well, we've got somebody that can step in and replace you and could replace you for a long time.
"I've told the story about (former New York Yankee) Wally Pipp to our team quite a bit. They understand that story very well. It's great that we have that kind of competition."
Brewster also expects many of the program's younger players to make big impacts for the team this fall, especially on the defensive side of the ball where the Gophers return just two official starters.
"We've got a very young defensive football team," he said. "But it's a very talented defensive football team. And, again, the competition is what's going to make us great. So as we move forward, we'll have competitive situations throughout the fall."
