Tim Brewster
Playing career
As a football player coming out of high school, Brewster was in between playing wide receiver and tight end. He enrolled at
Pasadena City College, at the time a major
junior college program, and was recruited along with five other players to transfer to the
University of Illinois where they were looking to throw to a tight end.<sup id="cite_ref-Scroggins012107_1-0" class="reference">
[2]</sup> At Illinois he was a two-time All-
Big Ten Conference selection as a
tight end.<sup id="cite_ref-Scroggins01_2-0" class="reference">
[3]</sup> At the end of his first season he played against the
University of Alabama in the 1982
Liberty Bowl,
Bear Bryant's final game.<sup id="cite_ref-Scroggins012107_1-1" class="reference">
[2]</sup> In his final season he captained the Illini during their run to the 1984
Rose Bowl.<sup id="cite_ref-Scroggins01_2-1" class="reference">
[3]</sup> He was a player at Illinois at the same time current
Minnesota Vikings head coach
Brad Childress was an assistant coach.<sup id="cite_ref-Reusse02_3-0" class="reference">
[4]</sup> He graduated with a degree in
political science. The Illinois program named him of the Fighting Illini's ten greatest receivers in 2008.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference">
[5]</sup> Following his college career, he made an unsuccessful attempt at establishing a professional playing career in the
NFL. He was cut during
training camp for both the 1984
New York Giants and the 1985
Philadelphia Eagles.
[edit] Coaching career
[edit] Early college
Brewster found out about a young head coach starting at the
University of North Carolina,
Mack Brown. Not really knowing him, but hoping to get a position, Brewster drove to
Chapel Hill and convinced Brown to hire him as an unpaid volunteer assistant for the 1989 season.<sup id="cite_ref-Scroggins012107_1-5" class="reference">
[2]</sup> He gained a full-time job before the following season, and served as a special teams coach, tight ends coach, and recruiting coordinator under Brown.
When Brown was hired as head coach at the
University of Texas following the 1997 season, Brewster followed him and worked as tight ends coach from 1998-2001.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference">
[6]</sup> As a recruiter for Texas, he helped land a number of highly touted players, including
Vince Young.<sup id="cite_ref-Shelman01_6-0" class="reference">
[7]</sup>
[edit] NFL
After 13 years with Mack Brown, Brewster decided to try coaching in the National Football League to "enhance my Xs and Os [. . .] and study the game at a level without distractions" that come with college players and NCAA requirements.<sup id="cite_ref-Scroggins012107_1-6" class="reference">
[2]</sup> Brewster gained his first NFL coaching experience when he was hired as the tight ends coach for the
San Diego Chargers, a position he held from 2002 to 2004. He is widely credited with the rapid ascent of
Antonio Gates, who went from an undrafted free agent in 2003 to a first-team All-Pro and
Pro Bowl selection in 2004, only his second year in the NFL. Brewster was held in such high esteem by his peers that he served as assistant head coach during the 2004 season. He was hired by the
Denver Broncos as their tight ends coach prior to the 2005 season, and served in that capacity for two seasons before moving on to the
University of Minnesota.
[edit] Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach
On
January 15,
2007 it was reported on
ESPN.com that Brewster was the choice of University of Minnesota
athletic director Joel Maturi to replace
Glen Mason as the Gophers head coach.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference">
[8]</sup> Various local news outlets, including
WCCO and the
Star Tribune, could not confirm the veracity of the report. The following day,
January 16, Minnesota associate athletic director Tom Wistrcill confirmed that Brewster was indeed the University's choice, with the contract signed in the early morning<sup id="cite_ref-Scroggins01_2-2" class="reference">
[3]</sup>. He was officially presented as the new head coach on Wednesday,
January 17 at the
McNamara Alumni Center on the University of Minnesota campus. At his first press conference, Brewster stated that his immediate goals for the program were to "win the Big Ten championship" and "take the Gopher Nation to Pasadena."<sup id="cite_ref-Shelman01_6-1" class="reference">
[7]</sup>
Brewster signed a five-year contract worth $1 million annually: $400,000 in base salary, $400,000 in supplemental salary and $200,000 in deferred compensation that will vest after his contract expires.<sup id="cite_ref-Shelman01_6-2" class="reference">
[7]</sup> Additionally, he can earn up to $700,000 in annual bonuses if the Gophers reach several goals including: win the Big Ten title ($200,000; $75,000 for second place), the national championship game ($300,000 for reaching the game; an additional $50,000 for winning), any non-title BCS bowl game ($200,000; $100,000 for each bowl game played on New Year's Day or after that is not a BCS game; $25,000 for pre-New Year's Day bowl games), as well as reaching maximum goals in two academic categories, the Academic Progress Report (up to $50,000) and sixth-year graduation rates (up to $100,000 for 75%).<sup id="cite_ref-Strib051707_8-0" class="reference">
[9]</sup> He decided not to retain any of his predecessor's assistant coaches.<sup id="cite_ref-Scroggins011907_9-0" class="reference">
[10]</sup>
