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No Escape Clause
in Brewster Contract
Tim Brewster
told Sports Headliners on Sunday he hasn’t signed his contract as
University of Minnesota football coach, but agreement is "imminent.” He
said there’s some “dotting of the i’s and crossing of the t’s” required
but he expects the contract to be finalized within 30 days. The agreement
will not include an escape clause allowing Brewster to leave the
University for another school such as Texas. His ambitions for the
Gophers include some day winning a national championship.
Brewster has been working as the Gophers new
coach since January 17. It’s not unusual for a coach to work initially
without a contract. Former coach Glen Mason hadn’t signed
his contract in the fall of 1997, his first season as Gopher coach.
Brewster is expected to sign a five year, $1
million contract. The absence of an escape clause was discussed on
Sunday with the 46-year-old Brewster who became a head coach after many
years of being an assistant in the NFL and for college teams. While he is months
away from coaching his first Gopher game, Brewster has brought optimism
and expectations to the program not seen here since Lou Holtz was
resurrecting Minnesota football in the 1980s. Those afflicted with
paranoia, or just good memories, recall Holtz had a clause in his
Minnesota contract allowing him to leave for Notre Dame.
So let’s assume that during the next few years
Brewster has his Gophers challenging for a Big Ten Conference title and
playing in New Year’s Day bowl games. And let’s assume his former boss
at Texas, 55-year-old Mack Brown, decided to retire. Would
Brewster gallop off for cowboy country or other places where talent is
plentiful and college football is a religion?
“This (coaching the Gophers) is a dream come
true for me,” Brewster said. “The University of Minnesota meets all the
needs that I have, all the goals that I had to be a head coach at a
tremendous state university in the Big Ten. So I look to have a long,
long stay at the University of Minnesota.
“I would love to put down roots here with my
family. It’s a wonderful place. … Most importantly are the people. The
people I have met here at Minnesota have been just phenomenal to me and
my family.”
But wouldn’t a place like Texas, where Brewster
helped recruit players who led the Longhorns to the national
championship, be tempting? “My focus and attention is reclaiming the
status (18 conference titles, six national championships) here at the
University of Minnesota with the football program,” he said. “I’ve got
my hands full with this job and I am just totally excited about this
opportunity. To be honest with you, I have no thought or consideration
whatsoever of thinking about another (place). I’ve got a big, big job
to do. I want to win a national championship here at the U. I believe
we can and that’s going to take some time. I am committed to that time.
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There’s some “dotting of the i’s and crossing of the t’s” required
but Brewster expects the contract to be finalized within 30 days.
Tim Brewster
"I want to win a national championship here at
the U. I believe we can and that’s going to take some time."
Tim Brewster |
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Moss, Culpepper
Still Newsmakers
Will Randy Moss end up in Green Bay or
some place other than Oakland in 2007? Can
Daunte Culpepper
recover from his devastating knee injury of 2005 to become a productive
quarterback for Miami? I asked Dean Dalton, the former Vikings
assistant coach and now a knowledgeable NFL analyst in the media, for
his views on Moss and Culpepper, the former Vikings stars who have
struggled to find success since leaving Minneapolis.
Moss, 30, hasn’t been as effective in two
seasons in Oakland as he was here. His pass receiving numbers with the
Raiders include 1,558 yards and 11 touchdowns in two years. His last
two seasons here: 2,399 yards, 30 touchdowns.
The big play wide receiver, though, has
sustained his reputation as a malcontent. “There’s a chance they (the
Raiders) will trade him,” Dalton said. “He’s a premier guy. He won’t
bring the premier value he would have even a year ago. They’ll
probably look to shop him. . . .”
There was a report last week the Packers were
interested in Moss. Will Moss’s reputation preclude other teams from
being interested? “Yes, absolutely,” Dalton answered. “In today’s era,
especially after seeing what Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith
did with two teams that were built with a core of high character
players and the success they had, teams are going to tend to get away
from the headaches of the prima donna types and focus on players that
put the team first.”
Dalton, who was an assistant with the Vikings
for seven seasons through 2005, was enthusiastic about Culpepper who had
difficulty rehabilitating his right knee last off-season and only played in
four games in 2006. His numbers included two touchdown passes, 929
yards.
Can Culpepper recover physically and
mentally? “Yes,” Dalton said. “One thing about Daunte Culpepper is he’s
one of the most intense competitors I’ve been afforded the chance to
work with. I think strongly that if his knee is healthy enough to play
and he’s not premature in his rehab like he was last year, he will come
back and come back strong. And I feel that he once again can get in
that upper echelon of quarterbacks in the NFL.” |
Randy Moss
“One
thing about Daunte Culpepper is he’s one of the most intense competitors
I’ve been afforded the chance to work with."
Dean Dalton on Daunte Culpepper
Daunte Culpepper
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Worth Noting & Quoting
Joe Mauer
quoted in Sports Illustrated: “I worked hard this off-season to get my
legs and core in shape. This is probably the best I’ve ever felt coming
into a spring.”
Harvey Mackay
and Lou Holtz are good friends whose friendship began when Mackay
sold Holtz on coming here to coach the Gophers in the 1980s. The two
golf together occasionally and recently played in Arizona.
Safety Nolan Brewster, Gopher coach
Tim Brewster’s son, will be a high school senior next fall and a
coveted college recruit. Tim said on Sunday no decision has been made
on whether Nolan will remain in Denver for his senior season or move
here but is “leaning” toward finishing up at Mullen High School in
Colorado. The Gopher coach said he and his wife haven’t sold their home
in Colorado, nor have they chosen a community to live in here.
Bill Lester,
executive director of the Metrodome, was surprised by a report earlier
this year from the NFL Players Association ranking the dome’s field
surface among the worst in the league. The dome’s FieldTurf surface,
installed in 2004, is the same as used in Tampa Bay’s stadium and Lester
said that facility draws praise. Several years ago the dome’s
previous surface
was much criticized. “Sometimes it’s just tough to overcome a
reputation,” Lester said.
The Minnesota High School Football Coaches
Association does outstanding work in promoting and serving the interests
of football in the state. Executive director Ron Stolski and
other association leaders are excited to be working with Brewster.
Membership in the association is growing and now totals over 800. Coaches can find more information at
www.mshsca.org/football. Stolski, 67, has coached high school
football for 45 years, 32 at Brainerd.
The
MIAC has chosen its men’s basketball award winners and for a second
consecutive season University of St. Thomas senior center Isaac
Rosefelt is the league MVP. Saint John’s University junior wing
Brady Brink was chosen Sixth Man of the Year and Steve Fritz
of St. Thomas Coach of the Year.
Gustavus Adolphus College junior guard Jess Vadnais was chosen
the MIAC women’s MVP. Bethel University sophomore center Annegret
Nautsch
was named the conference’s Sixth Player of
the Year. Co-Coaches of the Year are College of St. Catherine coach
Gary Rufsvold and Macalester College’s Ellen Thompson.
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Photo courtesy of Minnesota Twins
Joe Mauer
The
MIAC has chosen its men’s basketball award winners and for a second
consecutive season St. Thomas center Isaac
Rosefelt is the league MVP.
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