Six Things To Know About
Improving A College Football Program

The University of Minnesota was 1-11 last season. This year they could finish 10-2. Shouldn't we be paying attention?

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Could Tim Brewster spend a January 1st in Pasadena sometime in the next few years? He could, and frankly, that's pretty amazing.

[Ed's note: For a report on Washington State coach Paul Wulff, who is currently going through what Tim Brewster went through last season, you can click here.]

Last season, the Minnesota Golden Gophers were 1-11. Granted, they lost six of those games by a total of 23 points, but they also lost 27-21 to North Dakota State. This season, up to the games of November 1st weekend, the Gophers are 7-2. With the final three opponents being rebuilding Michigan, underachieving Wisconsin and similarly underachieving Iowa, it's possible Minnesota could finish 10-2, also known as a nine-game improvement in one season. For a team in a BCS conference, such jumps are rare. We wanted to learn more about how to do this, so we got fifteen minutes of time from head coach Tim Brewster. His thoughts follow.

1. SELL POSITIVITY
"When I took this job, one of the first things I told people is that Minnesota football is one of the best-kept secrets in America," says Brewster. "The program has six national titles and 18 Big 10 titles. No one remembers them because they were a long time ago. But, the point is, we don't have to be mediocre or accept that level. We've already been champions. We just need to get back to that level. You need to put a positive PR spin on it."

2. RECRUIT, RECRUIT, RECRUIT
"With all the teams running a spread in the Big 10, they make you play in space. You need kids that are bigger, stronger and faster than the kids we were getting. Last year we went 1-11, but we had the 17th-best recruiting class in the nation and the third-best in the Big 10. You have to sell what you have. For us, it's a few things: getting the program back to that championship level, our city—Minneapolis is beautiful and kids coming here love it—and a new stadium we'll be playing in. We sell the hell out of that. Out of 45 visits, we had 31 kids sign on Signing Day. That's around 72 percent. That success ratio is off the charts. Recruiting is the absolute name of the game in college football: you gotta focus on it 24-7-365 if you can."

3. TAKE LESSONS FROM THOSE YOU WORKED WITH
"I was with Mack Brown for 13 years. He's the godfather to one of my sons. He's my guy. I called him up after their loss to Texas Tech on November 1st. From him, I took how he has his finger on the pulse of college football. He's amazing. The way he recruits, organizes everything, runs the program—nobody does it better than Mack. He taught me it's not always about Xs and Os. You want to be able to out-diagram another coach, sure, but take this example. After Mack, I was in San Diego and I was coaching guys like Antonio Gates and LaDainian Tomlinson. You have those guys, sometimes it doesn't matter who is calling plays better."

"In San Diego, with Marty Schottenheimer, I learned the value of toughness. Marty used to say to me, "Hey Brew, winning isn't hard." I'm saying back to him, "What? Yes it is!" He says, "No, it's not hard once you learn how to prepare." There is nobody I know tougher than Marty and he instills that in his football teams. That's what I'm trying to do here. At the most basic level, I want a hard-nosed, physical football team."

GETTING A CALL FROM MIKE SHANAHAN IS LIKE GETTING A CALL FROM GOD.

"After that, I got the call from Mike Shanahan in Denver. He says 'Hey Brew, I want you to come work with me.' This is like getting a call from God. To me, Mike is the finest football coach in the world today; definitely he is from an offensive standpoint. You sit with him and watch him work an offense and dissect weaknesses in the other team by formation and motion, you learn so much. But the biggest thing I got from him was this: he's a stone-cold killer. You see him out there before a game and he has this steely-eyed gaze which says 'I can beat you.' He conveys that to his teams in such an amazing way. A Denver Broncos team before a game, no matter who they're playing, no one in that uniform thinks they're losing. I love Mike. He's my guy."

4. FORGET PATIENCE
"It takes time to build programs, but I can't walk that line with patience. I'm an impatient guy. Someone asked me recently, 'When do you want Minnesota to start winning?' I said, 'Yesterday.' "

5. RAISE THE EXPECTATIONS
"When I took the job, I got serious heat around here because I came in saying I wanted to win the Big 10 and take Gopher Nation to the Rose Bowl. To me, though, why are you waking up every morning and coming in to coach if that's not your goal? The only limitations to your success are the ones you put on yourself. For me, you ask me who it's hardest to recruit against the Big 10—listen, of course there are great coaches in the Big 10, tough programs to recruit against. I want to be recruiting against Pete Carroll, Urban Meyer, Nick Saban—those guys are the best of the best. Let's throw down head-to-head for a recruit and see who wins."

6. KNOW YOUR ROLES
"Honestly, about 50 percent of marriages end in divorce. You get to points where 90 percent of the kids you're looking at bringing in here don't have a father figure. So I tried to put my staff together with really strong men, guys who can be that for these kids. We'd love for everyone who comes in to Minnesota to have been an altar boy, but it doesn't happen. You need to surround kids with a system, discipline and a way of doing things. Kids want that. They want to know how to be a better person and a better football player. I try to make sure everyone is surrounded by good influences."

"The other thing is, you need to create a mindset that goes with the team chemistry. I want Gophers out there holding each other accountable and responsible. The dynamic has to be outstanding. I want people on the field telling each other, 'I got your back.' "

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