Maturi hired Brewster who had never been a pro or college head coach, or coordinator. In Brewster Maturi saw a high energy 46-year-old who had a national reputation as a recruiter, a badly needed job skill at a place like Minnesota where much of the roster must be assembled with players from other states. In Brewster he also hired a coach who had been a valued assistant to elite head coaches like Mack Brown of Texas and Mike Shanahan from Denver. “I thought he (Brewster) was the best coach that we had available to coach at the University of Minnesota,” Maturi said.
For many years college athletic departments have needed to show fiscal restraint. It’s been rumored that Maturi, who had to pay expensive buyouts to terminated football and basketball coaches, hired Brewster because he could pay him less (about $1 million per year) than other Big Ten head football coaches earn. “No, I hired (basketball coach) Tubby Smith shortly thereafter and we paid him a buck or two,” Maturi said in reference to Smith’s salary and incentives that have the potential to push him well beyond $2 million.
There’s a huge challenge to having a successful college football program and the initial anticipation that comes with a new coach doesn’t ensure success. Dan Hawkins, for instance, has flopped at Colorado after making Boise State a program that emerged from the college football wilderness under his leadership.
“There’s a good example,” Maturi said. “Hawkins at Colorado. He’s the one who got Boise State going, right? Would you agree with that? Because I get a lot of people now telling me I should go hire coach (Chris) Petersen (Hawkins’ successor) and I am respectful of that. There are no guarantees (of success).”
After three seasons Brewster still has Maturi’s confidence. “I still like what I think he brings to the table and I am still optimistic about our future,” Maturi said.
Maturi believes there are lots of positives about the Brewster era. Among the most significant are Brewster’s efforts to establish relationships with the state’s prep coaches, Gophers football alumni and with boosters. There also have been “no major violations” of NCAA rules, Maturi said, and Brewster has been fiscally responsible with his program. Maturi said, too, that Brewster has been “outstanding” in the athletic department supporting “other causes and coaches, and there’s a belief that we have more better players (now) in the program.”
In fairness to Brewster, Maturi and others recognize that his head coach has only had time to deliver two recruiting classes, 2008 and 2009. Football is a sport requiring large numbers of able players and success is often determined by both talent and experience.
Maturi said people can manipulate statistics any way they want to make a point but during the interview even he came back more than once to the Gophers 6-6 record. If the Gophers win their bowl game they finish with a better record than in 2006 when coach Glen Mason’s team was 6-7. Otherwise, the record (including 3-5 conference records) will be the same and that concerns Maturi.
“If we lose our bowl game, and we certainly hope we’re going to win it, we’re identical to the program we took over three years ago,” he said. “Identical and I believe after a much tougher schedule. And I know we all want more than that, but it hasn’t shown on the field, but it hasn’t regressed (either).”