College football preview: Moment has arrived for Gophers coach

Tim Brewster has rehearsed the speech thousands of times in his head. He's thought about what he wants to say, how he wants to say it and the impact he hopes it makes.

He's waited 21 years to give this speech. Twenty-one years of climbing the coaching ladder, from preps to pros, with a brief stint selling cars back in those early days.

Tonight, a few minutes before 7 p.m., Brewster will gather his Gophers football team in the locker room and give the speech he's waited so long to deliver — his first pregame pep talk as a college football head coach.

Brewster has stood before countless audiences in the 227 days since taking over the program. But this one is different. You can hear it in his voice, see it in his eyes. He wants to nail it.

"This is something I've dreamed about all my life," he says. "And it's almost here." Brewster allowed an inside look at his week leading up to tonight's season opener against Bowling Green. From staff meetings to fan greetings, Brewster's week was a whirlwind of activity, preparation and emotion, with tonight's kickoff always at the forefront of his thoughts.

Sunday, 2 p.m.

The sun shines brightly as Brewster walks onto the track behind the football facility. Today is Fan Fest, an annual event that includes interactive games for kids, tours of the facility, free food and a chance to meet the players and coaching staff.

Public relations is an important part of any head coach's job, and the week of the season opener is filled with pomp and circumstance. Brewster spent nearly three hours earlier in the morning at the State Fair, doing a radio show and an autograph signing/pep rally. He is a busy man again at Fan Fest.

Any fan who wants a picture, handshake, hug or minute of his time gets it. Brewster hugs grown men, kneels for photos with young kids and kisses tiny babies. He is clearly in his element, a master salesman surrounded by eager customers.

"This just reinforces all the reasons why I wanted to come here," he says. "This is part of the job, and I love it. Obviously I wear down at times just like everybody else does. But I wake up every day excited about being the football coach at the University of Minnesota."

Brewster is constantly on the move, rarely stopping for longer than a few minutes. He tries to greet as many fans as possible, and he makes sure to ask every one of them whether they will be at tonight's game.

He stops and chats with the parents of one of his players. Brewster gives them a favorable report and then ends the conversation by saying, "I love speed." The player's father smiles.

One fan asks Brewster to pose for a picture with him and his 5-year-old daughter. Brewster grabs the girl out of her father's arms and holds her tight for the photo.

Brewster makes a point to remove his sunglasses before every picture, even if he's staring into the sun. It's so subtle few, if any, even notice. But it's important to him, he says.

"They want to see who I am," he says. "See my face. That's who I am."

After 90 minutes of mingling, Brewster takes the stage inside the practice facility for a mini-pep rally. He promises that his team will play "like our hair is on fire." The crowd cheers loudly.

Upstairs, his office is empty. A yellow notebook pad on his desk contains a message from some fans who had visited his office. It reads: "Go Gophers! You rock coach. Luv You. The girls from section 131, 132, 206."

Monday, 4:45 a.m.

Brewster pulls his Cadillac into his parking spot. While most of the Twin Cities still sleeps, Brewster is raring to go.

"It's a good time of the day," he says.

Brewster bounds up a flight of stairs to his office, quickly changes into his workout gear and is back out the door for his daily run in less than 10 minutes.

It's dark and the streets are empty as he makes his way through Dinkytown and along the Mississippi River. He doesn't listen to an iPod when he runs. Instead, he prefers to scroll through his "mental checklist" of that day's schedule.

Brewster makes good time on his 6-mile run and is back at the Gibson-Nagurski football facility well before 6 a.m. He retreats to his office for a water and cool-down. The room is mostly dark and quiet, except for some soulful music playing softly in the background. Brewster appears at ease as he props up his feet and reclines in his chair.

This is the calm before his daily storm.

His emotions are raw and genuine and in plain view as he shifts between topics in a casual conversation. He mentions a number of people he'll be thinking about today, those who helped him get to this place in his life.

He talks about his family, of course, his wife and three boys and his parents. But he also mentions his former Little League coaches — by first and last name — and people he met as head coach at tiny Central Catholic (Ind.) High, where he lined his own field and washed the uniforms and fielded a varsity team with only 23 players.

Just then, a picture of former Texas quarterback Vince Young hanging on the back wall catches Brewster's eye and he smiles as he recalls the letter he received from Young last week, telling him to "do what you do." Letters and messages from friends, former bosses and players he coached arrive at his office daily. Too many to name.

The note from Tony Dungy meant a lot. Brewster points to a wall where a mural of Dungy and him will soon go up. His office will be complete then. The office already is posh but comfortable. So comfy that 12 players knocked on his door the other day and asked if they could hang out. Brewster said yes, of course. His door is always open.

Every detail, every personal touch in his office has a Minnesota feel to it. From new maroon carpet, to the custom-made coffee table that features a hand-carved wooden outline of the state, to the large picture of a northern Minnesota lake on the wall behind his desk.

Brewster says he's determined to connect the state and the program's storied history with its future.

"It's coming," he says. "Boy, you can feel it."

Monday, 7 a.m.

Brewster has showered and eaten breakfast when he walks into the defensive team room. The assistant coaches and graduate assistants are already sitting at a large table, papers and notebooks in front of them.

Brewster takes a seat and immediately begins firing off questions about Bowling Green. Defensive coordinator Everett Withers does most of the talking, but Brewster asks questions of everyone.

The pace is fast and intense. Brewster jots down notes between sips of coffee. He is extremely meticulous and organized and detailed.

He wants to know everything about Bowling Green's offense. He asks about players' height, weight, hometowns. He asks how many catches certain receivers had last season. If a Bowling Green player has a difficult name to pronounce, the coaches make sure they give the proper pronunciation.

The exchange feels like an oral pop quiz. Brewster's assistants clearly have done their homework, which is what he expects.

There are a few light moments, a couple of laughs, but the meeting is mostly businesslike. It's still early, but no one yawns or rubs his eyes. Coaches are creatures of the night and early mornings, and Brewster's staff is no different.

The debriefing lasts about 15 minutes.

"All right, guys," Brewster says, getting up from his chair.

He leaves the room and walks down the hall to the offensive team room. There, he repeats the same scenario with his offensive coaches. He rattles off questions, takes meticulous notes. Again, nothing is left uncovered.

At 7:35 a.m., recruiting coordinator Dan Berezowitz pokes his head in the door and tells Brewster that former Gophers All-America running back Bob McNamara is in his office. Brewster finishes up his meeting and walks briskly to his office. (He doesn't know how to walk slowly.) McNamara and Brewster spend five minutes talking about a fundraising idea for TCF Bank Stadium. McNamara wishes him luck in his first game.

"It's going to be great," Brewster says.

Brewster's entire staff gathers at 9 for its daily morning meeting. Brewster, sitting at the end of a long conference table, receives updates from his support staff, goes over the day's schedule and addresses his coaching staff.

A clock counting down the time before tonight's kickoff is on the wall behind him. Kickoff is 28 minutes closer when Brewster concludes the meeting.

"Let's go to work," he says. "It's game week."

Tuesday, 1 p.m.

Brewster arrives at the team room across from the player lounge for his weekly news conference. A large contingent of media is waiting.

Tuesday is a big media day throughout college football, and this is Brewster's first game-week news conference. Predictably, everyone wants to know two things: Who is his starting quarterback, and what are Brewster's emotions heading into his first game?

Brewster lays out the process that led him to select redshirt freshman Adam Weber as his starting quarterback. It was a good competition between Weber and junior Tony Mortensen, he says. But Brewster says he and offensive coordinator Mike Dunbar mutually arrived at the decision that Weber gives the team the best chance to win.

A quarterback competition can be a delicate situation for any team and coach. It has to be handled properly so that there is no ambiguity, and it's evident Brewster is satisfied with how the competition unfolded.

Both quarterbacks were given an equal shot. Both were supportive of each other. And when it was over, the starter was obvious. He called both quarterbacks into his office on Monday and told them his decision together. The meeting went well, he says.

"We're all in this thing together," Brewster says.

The questions quickly shift to Brewster. He is asked about his expectations for the season, his emotions, his family, his pregame speech, how he will act on the sideline.

He stresses that the game is not about him, but in a very real sense, it is. He knows it. It is his team, his vision, his night. You can only coach your first game one time, after all.

"I feel very comfortable going into this football game and how I'm going to be able to respond," he says.

Like most college coaches, Brewster closes practice during game week. It's time to limit outside distractions and install the game plan. The team gets an extra day of practice this week because school is not in session yet, and the time is not wasted.

Brewster closed the doors to the indoor facility for Monday's practice, making it feel like a "steambox." The team practiced hard for two hours and then ran sprints.

Brewster has repeatedly promised two things: His team will be in top-notch condition and also will be fresh and healthy for the opener. He accomplished both objectives in fall camp.

Brewster's practices are up-tempo, intense and detail-driven. No standing around and no loafing. Each practice begins with a walk-through and a stretching period that includes chants, laughs and a group dance. Then, it's down to business.

The coaches take a hands-on approach to everything. Every mistake is corrected, every good play praised. Coaches scream and teach and give celebratory chest-bumps to players, sometimes in the same conversation.

"We want to be extremely aggressive in everything that we do," Brewster says.

Thursday, 10 a.m.

"The hay is in the barn," Brewster says.

He likes that expression. It means his team is prepared. It is ready for the game, ready to hit someone else.

The heavy lifting is done, and everything is downhill from here. A short practice at the Metrodome in the afternoon, a radio show appearance at night and a light walk-through on Friday. At this point in the week any preparation is more mental than physical, Brewster says.

"Then we go to the hotel," he says.

And then it's game day.

Brewster admits time has been "creeping" the past few days. He's used some of that time to publicly challenge Gophers fans to show up tonight. He promises they will like what they see.

"Our style will be very attractive," he says.

But he knows his tenure will ultimately be judged by wins and losses. It's that way for every coach, and tonight Brewster will officially step onto that stage for the first time.

But first he must give his pregame speech, the one he's waited so long to deliver. Brewster says he doesn't want to be long-winded or over the top. But he promises his players will "feel my passion."This is the culmination of a lifelong dream," Brewster says. "It's going to be a lot of fun."

Chip Scoggins • ascoggins@startribune.com