In two short years as the head football coach at the University of Minnesota, Tim Brewster has taken some big steps toward getting Golden Gopher program back to its rightful place in the world of college football. Brewster has used his positive outlook and boundless energy to bring in two highly-regarded recruiting classes. On the field, the Gophers returned to postseason play in 2008 and were ranked as high as No. 17 in the nation for part of the season.

In 2008, Brewster’s squad raced out to a 7-1 record to open the season. The Gophers were ranked No. 17 in the BCS at the end of October. Minnesota took part in the 2008 Insight Bowl, as Brewster led the Gophers to one of the biggest single-season turnarounds of the year.

A renewed emphasis on recruiting may be the most visible phase of Brewster’s plan to help Minnesota football make history again.

That was proven out in February of each of the past two seasons. Brewster and his staff signed a consensus top-25 recruiting class that some experts even rated among the nation’s top 15 in 2008. The significance of this accomplishment would be difficult to overstate at one the nation’s traditional recruiting powers let alone Minnesota, where the average Rivals ranking for the Gophers’ previous six recruiting classes was 54th.

Brewster and staff followed that up with a 2009 class that ranked in the top third of the nation.

But recruiting is just one building block of a blueprint Brewster developed while helping Mack Brown turn North Carolina from ACC doormat into a national power and rebuild Texas into one of the country’s elite programs.

Brewster came to Minnesota after spending the previous five years as an assistant coach in the National Football League, including the 2005 and 2006 seasons as the tight ends coach of the Denver Broncos.

In addition to his productivity as a college recruiter, Brewster has also built a strong reputation for developing players during his 23-year coaching career.

Last season, wide receiver Eric Decker and defensive end Willie VanDeSteeg both earned first-team All-Big Ten honors. Decker set a Minnesota record for receptions in a season for the second consecutive year and became just the third Gopher wideout to record a 1,000-yard receiving season. VanDeSteeg finished his Minnesota career as the school’s all-time leader in tackles for loss and finished No. 4 all-time in sacks.

It marked the first time the Gophers had multiple first-team All-Big Ten selections since 2005. VanDeSteeg’s honor was also the first time a Minnesota defender had been voted to the first team since 2004.

In his first season at Minnesota, Brewster mentored then-freshman quarterback Adam Weber, who broke nearly all of the Gophers’ single-season passing and total offense records during the 2007 season. Weber continued to improve in his sophomore campaign and was a 2008 second-team All-Big Ten selection.
In all, Minnesota had six athletes earn all-conference accolades in 2008, the most since the Gophers had a half-dozen on the 2005 All-Big Ten squad.

In 2007, Brewster also helped coach safety Dominique Barber to second-team All-Big Ten accolades and personally worked with punter Justin Kucek, expanding his repertoire with the effective and efficient flop punt and helping him evolve into one of the conferences top punters.

Brewster was named Minnesota’s 26th head football coach on Jan. 17, 2007 after spending the previous five seasons as an assistant coach in the National Football League.

On the professional level, Brewster helped rookie Tony Scheffler lead the NFL in average yards per reception by a tight end with a 15.9-yard average. His tight ends also contributed to the Broncos finishing fourth in the AFC in rushing yards per game (134.5) during 2006.

Brewster's tight ends helped the Broncos post a 13-3 record and capture the AFC West title in 2005 en route to advancing to the AFC Championship Game. Jeb Putzier ranked fourth among NFL tight ends (2nd in AFC) in yards per reception average, posting a 13.0-yard average on 37 receptions for 481 yards. The blocking of Brewster's unit helped the club rank second in the NFL in rushing (158.7 ypg.) and place third in the league in fewest sacks allowed (23).

In 2005, Brewster also tutored rookie tight end Wesley Duke, who played basketball only in college and was an undrafted free agent. Duke caught a 1-yard touchdown pass for his first career catch at Buffalo (12/17/05) and started for the Broncos in the AFC Championship Game against the Steelers (1/22/06).
Brewster served as the San Diego Chargers tight ends coach from 2002-04 and held additional responsibilities as the club's assistant head coach for the 2004 season. He oversaw the rapid development of Antonio Gates, who like Duke, played basketball only in college and was an undrafted free agent.

Under Brewster, Gates would earn first-team All-Pro honors in 2004 from the Associated Press and was a Pro Bowl selection after playing only his second year of football since high school. He set an NFL single-season touchdown record (13) for tight ends in 2004 while ranking third in receiving yards (964) and fourth in receptions (81) among NFL tight ends.

In 2003, Gates' first NFL season, Brewster helped the young talent rank third for the Chargers with 24 receptions. While his tight ends showed progress as pass catchers, Brewster's unit was adept at blocking in a potent rushing attack that gained more than 2,100 yards on the ground in each of his three seasons with the team.

Before working for San Diego, Brewster coached collegiately for 14 years at the Division I-A level. Brewster enjoyed tremendous success as tight ends coach at the University of Texas (1998-2001) and as tight ends coach at the University of North Carolina (1989-97), where he also coached special teams and was the Tar Heels' recruiting coordinator. He worked on Brown's staffs at both schools and developed six tight ends who signed NFL contracts, including four who were selected in the NFL Draft.

In four years at Texas, Brewster's tight ends played a key role in the team advancing to a bowl game each season (two Cotton Bowls, two Holiday Bowls). He tutored two tight ends who earned All-Big 12 Conference honors, including 1998 first-team selection Derek Lewis, and coached two players who signed NFL contracts in Lewis and Bo Scaife, who was drafted in the sixth round by Tennessee in 2005.

Brewster's tight ends at Texas blocked for a 1,000-yard rusher in each of his four seasons at the school, highlighted by Ricky Williams' 2,124-yard (sixth-most in NCAA history) Heisman Trophy-winning season in 1998. Brewster developed Lewis into a scoring threat as well in 1998 as the tight end finished the year second on the Longhorns with six touchdown receptions in a season that ended with a Cotton Bowl win.

He honed the skills of a pair of converted Longhorns defensive ends in 1999 as well as true freshman Scaife, helping the tight ends total 24 receptions for 267 yards with four touchdowns. Scaife became a 2001 honorable mention All-Big 12 selection under Brewster's tutelage only one year after missing the entire season with a major knee injury.

In nine years at North Carolina, Brewster mentored four All-Atlantic Coast Conference selections at tight end and helped the school advance to six consecutive bowl games from 1992-97. As recruiting coordinator, his efforts secured the talent that helped the 1997 team go 11-1 and win the Gator Bowl.
Brewster, who served as a volunteer assistant at North Carolina for the 1989 season before earning a full-time position in 1990, oversaw the development of four Tar Heels tight ends who signed NFL contracts: Alge Crumpler (Falcons, 2001-present), Freddie Jones (Chargers, 1997-2001; Cardinals, 2002- 04), Greg DeLong (Vikings, 1995-98; Ravens, 1999; Jaguars, 2000) and Deems May (Chargers, 1992- 96; Seahawks, 1997-99). Crumpler and Jones were second-round choices in the NFL Draft while May was a seventh-round selection.

Brewster guided Crumpler to second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference distinction and honorable mention All-America accolades from Football News as a sophomore in 1997. He also mentored Jones to a first-team All-ACC selection in 1995 and again in 1996 when Jones set a North Carolina single-season record for receptions by a tight end (32) to garner third-team All-America honors from Football News.

His tight ends at North Carolina were critical to the team's rushing success as their blocking helped clear the way for five different 1,000-yard seasons, including Natrone Means' back-to-back 1,000-yard years in 1991 and '92. DeLong, a first-team All-ACC tight end in 1994, twice earned ACC Lineman of the Week honors for his blocking in 1996 under Brewster's tutelage.

Brewster spent 1987-88 as head coach at Central Catholic High School in Lafayette, Ind., directing a wide-open offense that won 15 of 23 games during that period. He developed Indiana's passing leader in both of his seasons as head coach.

He began his coaching career in 1986 at Purdue University, where he coached tight ends and offensive tackles as a graduate assistant.

A former two-time All-Big Ten Conference selection at the University of Illinois, Brewster led the nation's tight ends in receiving in 1983 and captained the Illini to the 1984 Rose Bowl vs. UCLA. (Watch Brewster at Illinois) Brewster, who graduated from Illinois with a bachelor's degree in political science, played in the training camps of the New York Giants (1984) and Philadelphia Eagles (1985).

Brewster was born Oct. 13, 1960, in Phillipsburg, N.J. He and his wife, Cathleen, have three sons: Eric, Clint and Nolan.

Brewster At A Glance