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Posted August 6, 2007
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U Recruit Fast, Even by Florida Criteria
Guess
who the fastest prep high school football player in Florida was last fall?
Here’s a hint: he stands 5-foot-8, weighs 160 pounds and starts practice
as a Gopher freshman today.
Minnesota football coach Tim Brewster told Sports Headliners on
Saturday that Harold Howell, from Jacksonville, was the fastest
football player in talent- rich Florida last season. Howell, who runs
about a 4.3 40 yard dash, figures prominently in Brewster’s plans as a
punt and kickoff returner. Brewster said on Saturday the coaching staff
probably will look at Howell today as a possible cornerback.
The
Gophers are thin at cornerback and Howell will be considered, even if
it’s only for one day, as a replacement for Dominic Jones who
recently was dismissed from the team. Howell played defensive back and
receiver in high school where he also starred as a return man, scoring
three touchdowns on kickoff returns and four on punt returns.
“If
we give Harold Howell a crease, if we give that young guy a chance, he
is out (gone), in a hurry, right now…,” Brewster said. Running back
Jay Thomas, another game breaker, also figures in the kick off and
possibly punt return plans.
Can
he play cornerback in the Big Ten Conference as an 18-year-old,
160-pound freshman? Brewster said “we’ll have an idea (today) whether
it’s something physically that he (Howell) wants to do.”
There’s been talk, too, the Gophers may look at another true freshman at
cornerback, Curtis Thomas from Aldine, Texas. The 6-foot-1,
200-pound Thomas is listed as the starting free safety, is one of the
team’s more highly anticipated recruits, and already has a reputation as
a leader and player who badly wants to win. |
“If
we give Harold Howell a crease, if we give that young guy a chance, he
is out (gone), in a hurry, right now.”
Tim Brewster
Tim Brewster
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Brewster: Gophers Won’t Make Excuses
A
newsworthy aspect of Brewster’s media day on Saturday was the
announcement that he won’t make excuses if the Gophers don’t perform.
Seldom has a coach or manager made such a public statement but the new
Gopher coach is looking for results. If he and the team don’t produce,
he isn’t planning to be a spin doctor.
Brewster reiterated his goal to win right away, again taking aim on a
Big Ten championship and trip to the Rose Bowl. While predicting a
bright future in recruiting, the expectation is to win now. “Patience
is not one of my better virtues,” he said.
He
praised his players for improving their conditioning and strength. Last
winter after being named Gopher coach he said the players needed to be
in “better shape.” He said Saturday the way players look now is “mind
blowing in physical appearance and conditioning.”
Brewster’s most enthusiastic and newsy remarks included comments about
his offensive and defensive coordinators, Mike Dunbar and
Everett Withers. Famed Texas coach Mack Brown, who once
employed Brewster as an assistant, told the Gopher coach that the
58-year- old Dunbar had been on his list of offensive coordinator
candidates if the Longhorns were shopping. “He’s just a sage old
veteran,” Brewster said.
Dunbar joined the Gophers after building his reputation at California
and before that Northwestern. Withers, 44, came to the Gophers from the
NFL’s Tennessee Titans and before that had coaching stops at Texas and
Louisville. Brewster predicted that Withers will one day become a head
coach. “He is a flat-out star in our profession,” Brewster said. “I am
going to do everything I can to make it happen.”
Brewster also said the Gophers need to learn to close out games,
stopping the trend of blowing leads such as the infamous Texas Tech bowl
loss. “We’re gonna finish games on offense, finish games on defense
(and) in the kicking game,” he said. “I am looking for players that…
love the game and will finish.”
Brewster said senior linebacker John Shevlin, being counted on as
an important defensive contributor, has a sore back. Even if Shevlin’s
practice time is limited, the goal will be to have him ready for the
team’s opening game with Bowling Green on September 1.
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John Shevlin
“Patience is not one of my better
virtues.”
Tim Brewster |
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Worth
Noting
After
yesterday’s 1-0 win over the Indians, the Twins are 49-1 when leading
after eight innings.
Catcher Joe Mauer has the best percentage in
the American League for throwing out runners attempting to steal bases.
He’s 14-28 on the season.
Santana slump: Johan Santana, the Twins Cy Young award
winning pitcher is 0-3 in his last four starts with a 4.85 ERA. In
those four appearances he’s given up five home runs and now has allowed
29 homers during the season (in Santana’s career his season high for
home runs is 29).
I
don’t know how much more Minnesota can do for New England. We’ve got
the Boston area covered in four sports with our former stars: Randy
Moss and Laurence Maroney (Patriots), Kevin Garnett
(Celtics), David Ortiz (Red Sox), and Manny Fernandez
(Bruins).
St.
Louis, with Marc Bulger and backup Gus Frerotte, might
have the best quarterbacks in the NFC. Frerotte played with the
Vikings from 2003-04. The
Rams are in town Friday night to open the Vikings pre-season schedule.
Sporting News ranks the Rams quarterbacks No. 1 in the NFC
followed by the Eagles, Saints and Cowboys. The Viking
quarterbacks drew a No. 16 ranking, last place.
The
exodus of writers at the Star Tribune includes sports writers Pam
Schmid, Jay Weiner and Steve Aschburner, all of whom
accepted buyouts. Gopher basketball beat writer Jeff Shelman has
switched from sports to news. The Gopher assignment is currently open.
Star Tribune space devoted to sports has declined this year.
Fans
of the 1986 Boston Celtics NBA championship team recall that Hall of
Famer Bill Walton wore jersey No. 5. That’s Kevin Garnett’s
new number with the Celtics.
Tim Brewster hosted a senior night for his players last Saturday at
Jax Café. Speakers scheduled were former Gopher football players
Billy Bye, Desi Williamson and Lee Hutton.
About
35 former Gopher teammates attended Charlie Sanders' induction
into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last weekend, according to John
Bell Wilson. Wilson, a long time Gopher booster and former
basketball manager, said there are 241 players in the Hall of Fame
including six former Gophers, Bronko Nagurski, Bud Grant,
Leo Nomellini, Bobby Bell, Carl Eller and Sanders.
Wyatt McCoy, the Mounds View eighth grader who won the state high
school class AA singles tennis title last spring, is recognized for his
accomplishment in the current issue of Sports Illustrated. The
magazine reported in its Faces in the Crowd section that McCoy is the
first eighth grader “in the 79 year history” of the Minnesota tournament
to win the singles championship.
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Manny Fernandez
John M. Williams, DDS
Cosmetic & Family Dental Care
612-521-7611 |
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