Hartman: Brewster has nothing but high praise for LT

If the Vikings listen to Gophers football coach Tim Brewster, they will sign former Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson on his visit here Thursday.

Brewster spent three years on the Chargers staff as tight ends coach from 2002 to '04, taking on additional duties as assistant head coach in 2004.

"He takes an extremely professional attitude to a job," Brewster said of Tomlinson, perhaps the NFL's greatest running back of the past decade. "He's one of the hardest-working players I've ever been around. He's one of the classiest players. He does a great job of helping young players."

Asked if Tomlinson, who turns 31 this summer, has anything left, Brewster said: "Absolutely, in the right situation. I think the Vikings' situation is a perfect situation for LaDainian. He can be a complementary back to Adrian Peterson. LaDainian catches the ball extremely well, picks up the blitz and still can run the football very well."

Asked if he thought Tomlinson could help Peterson, Brewster said: "I think he could help Adrian in a lot of different ways. He does a great job with ball security. He could be a great mentor for Adrian Peterson."

Brewster said Tomlinson did some incredible things on the football field. He ran for over 1,815 yards and scored 31 touchdowns for the Chargers in 2006, when he earned NFL MVP honors.

"He's done some amazing things. I still think there is an opportunity for him to do a lot of good things yet," Brewster said. "He's an outstanding leader, tremendous leader. He's great in the locker room. He's a great teammate.

"I got to know him very well. We were together almost every day for three years."

The Vikings are big on having quality people, and Tomlinson's reputation is that he is a man of high character.

"LaDainian is unbelievably smart, a very intelligent football player," Brewster said. "I think he would be a great pickup for the Minnesota Vikings. LaDainian Tomlinson would be a great asset to any organization."

Brewster was surprised the Chargers released Tomlinson, who averaged 1,388 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns per season in his nine seasons in San Diego.

"I don't know if it was a money issue or what the issue was," he said. "I had three great years with LaDainian. He's not a good football player, he's a great football player."

Yes, and Vikings coach Brad Childress has heard these great words about Tomlinson from Brewster himself. We all sat at the same table Saturday night at the St. David School benefit dinner, and Brewster was telling Childress what a good move it would be for the Vikings if they signed Tomlinson.

Smith's future? Phil Knight is the chairman of Oregon-based Nike, one of the top sporting goods companies in the world. Knight is a big University of Oregon booster, and in 2007 he made a $100 million contribution to the school athletic department, which helped result in the construction of a new 12,500-seat Ducks basketball arena that is scheduled to open this fall and will be named for Knight's late son.

Oregon is expected to be looking for a new men's basketball coach -- Ernie Kent reportedly told Ducks players he is not returning after the Ducks finished eighth in the poor Pacific-10 this season -- and Knight is a big supporter of Tubby Smith. The Gophers coach says he hasn't been contacted about the Oregon job, is happy at Minnesota and is not interested in moving.

One person worried about losing Smith is Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi, who knows Knight could be involved in making Smith one of the highest paid coaches in the country if he decides Smith is the man for the job.

So stayed tuned. Anything could happen, although in a long conversation I had with Smith this week, he talked about all of the top talent being developed in this state and how good the future looks here.

But there are also a few things he doesn't exactly like here, and even though he is going to get his basketball practice facility, sometimes the dollars and better conditions to coach help somebody make a decision.

Jottings NFL rules allow each team to schedule one of their four exhibition games by themselves. For the Vikings, it will be against Denver here, with the date to be set.

Minneapolis native Marc Trestman, who coached the Montreal Alouettes to the Canadian Football League's Grey Cup title this past year, was named CFL Coach of the Year. In the offseason, Trestman has been working with several top college quarterbacks to help improve their chances in the NFL draft. ... Ryan Jones, a graduate assistant football coach for the Gophers in 1990 and 1991, is now a scout for the New York Giants and attended Gophers pro day on Wednesday.

It's a new baby boy, Cole Thomas John Birk, for former Vikings center Matt Birk and his wife, Adrianna, joining their three daughters.

With a 2010 Spanish League championship, Timberwolves first-round draft choice Ricky Rubio and Regal FC Barcelona face 2010 Serbian League champion Partizan Belgrade in the final game of the Euroleague Top 16 playoff round, a game that will air on NBA TV at noon Saturday.

All the Gophers wrestling recruits for this fall have completed their respective state tournaments, and each and every one won a state championship. They are Joel Bauman (189-pound champion) of Kerkhoven, Minn.; Chris Dardanes (135) and Nick Dardanes (140) of Oak Park, Ill.; Randy Hanson (125) of Bethel, Alaska; Seth Lange (130) of Sturgis, S.D.; Tyler Lehmann (189) of West Fargo, N.D.; and Dylan Ness (145) of Bloomington.

James (Jay) Youngquist, a Gophers pitcher in 1969 and a longtime umpire, was killed Thursday when the twin-engine plane he was piloting crashed into a house in Louisa, Va. He was 63.

Gophers baseball coach John Anderson is working on trying to line up former Gophers players Terry Steinbach, Paul Molitor and Dave Winfield to throw out the ceremonial first pitch when his team faces Louisiana Tech in the first game to be played at Target Field. Anderson also hopes to line up Southern California for a game at Target Field and have ex-Twins and USC infielder Roy Smalley and Winfield involved to commemorate the 1973 College World Series semifinal between the Gophers and Trojans. In that game, USC came from seven runs down in the ninth inning to win 8-7 after Winfield threw eight shutout innings. USC won the championship the next day.

Sid Hartman can be heard weekdays on WCCO AM-830 at 6:40, 7:40 and 8:40 a.m. • shartman@startribune.com