Tim Brewster and his Golden Gophers lost at home to South Dakota yesterday 41-38. While it might not be the lowest point for this very bad program, it is one of the lowest points. Brewster has more than worn-out his welcome and it is beyond time for University of Minnesota AD Joel Maturi to send him on his way.The problem for Maturi will not be getting rid of him -- Brewster's buy-out is lower now than it was before Maturi gave him his extension. The problem will be finding a coach who can generate some fan interest, coach the players, and give some sort of credibility to a program that lacks it in mass quantities. It shouldn't be that hard to do this...but for Minnesota, it seems like a huge task.
And, before you jump the gun and think the administration will fire Maturi and let his replacement find a new head football coach, don't even bother with that thought process. Maturi won't go anywhere unless he wants to leave. He's less than three years away from retiring, President Bruininks is in his final year (along with many other high-level administrators at the U of M) and there is zero chance Maturi is shown the door.
So where does Maturi go from here?
Our first choice? Tony Dungy. He has family in Minnesota, he's a former Gopher, a former Super Bowl winning head coach, and he oozes confidence and credibility. If I am Maturi I talk to Dungy and I offer him 2-3 times whatever he wants to coach again. Problem is...it seems pretty clear Dungy doesn't want to coach right now and maybe not ever again.
That is a problem --but we have an answer. Maturi should make his way over to Winter Park and scoop up Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier.
Frazier has won Super Bowls as a player and as a coach. He was mentored by and coached with Dungy for two years with the Colts. If Dungy has a clone, it is Frazier. He coached for the Bengals and the Eagles as defensive coordinator and prior to his NFL coaching experience, he coached for 11 years at the collegiate level.
The majority of that time was spent as the head coach at Trinity College. He started that football program from scratch and his work culminated in two Illinois Intercollegiate Conference titles. Granted, it isn't the Big Ten, but it is real-life head coaching experience. Add that to his experience as a player and coach in the NFL and you really can't ask for more, especially for a program like Minnesota.
Frazier is over qualified compared to Tim Brewster. Frazier is going to be a head coach at some level next year. He's too good to get overlooked again. Maturi owes it to this fan base to go out and get him.
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4 comments:
this is a great idea in theory and if it worked out this well the gophers would be extremely lucky...i don't think it will happen but all i know is brewsters has to go and we need someone with a name to get this program on the rise (not the broncos TE coach)
The school could get an assistant from a big time program for less than 2 million a year which we be a much better investment of their funds than all their previous attempts. Get a name in here that can recruit four star recruits and especially keep the instate talent. It's been 40+ years--how long should we be patient?
Phil
I like this idea however Minnesota has now become a coach's graveyard. Call Stoll was fired for having only a 500 record two under 500 in the big ten, 6 coaches later not one has surpassed Stoll's record, my point, Frazier would be a terrific pick however he has a better shot as a head coach in the NFl.
Leslie Frazier is better suited as an NFL HC, IMHO.
If I were them, I'd go after a guy like Randy Edsall from UCONN (though it may be a lateral move) or the guy from Navy (Ken something).
Not two very large names, however they bring results, and eventually (or hopefully) they bring fan support.
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