Team preview: Minnesota

The Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook previews the 2007 Minnesota Gophers, exclusively on Insider.

Originally Published: July 13, 2007
Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook
Editor's Note: ESPN Insider has teamed with Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook to provide a comprehensive look at all 119 Division I-A teams. To order the complete 2007 edition of Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook, visit www.blueribbonyearbook.com or call 1-866-805-BALL (2255).

(All information as of June 20, 2007)

COACH AND PROGRAM

Ten years, 64 wins, seven bowl games, albeit none of the New Year's Day variety. For many schools, that would be enough to keep a coach around.

But Minnesota wanted more for its football program. And the school thinks it found it in Tim Brewster, who replaced Glen Mason. The final straw for the Mason regime came in the Insight Bowl. The Gopher led, 38-7, but couldn't hold off a furious Texas Tech rally in a 44-41 loss. The next day, Mason was gone and the search began for his replacement.

While the Minnesota basketball job was filled last March by Tubby Smith, who won the 1998 national championship at Kentucky and was a successful head coach at two Division I schools before that, the football position is being run by a first-time head coach. In fact, Brewster hadn't even been a coordinator before taking over in Minneapolis.

That didn't matter to Minnesota officials, who liked Brewster's energy and ideas. He's a man with a plan. "For 21 years, I prepared for this opportunity," Brewster said. "I had a plan in place. I had a year calendar in place for every meeting, every practice. I was able to hit the ground running. I was able to put together the staff very, very quickly. I think all of that's important as far as immediate success of the program."

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