First, as always, the disclaimer: The comparisons between current Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck and former Gophers coach Tim Brewster start and stop with their outgoing styles. Fleck was brought in after coaching an undefeated regular season at a D-I school. Brewster had never been a head coach or coordinator in his life when he was hired by the Gophers.
Big difference.
There's nothing wrong with genuine enthusiasm, and there's no reason Fleck can't succeed with the Gophers even though Brewster did not.
OK, with that throat-clearing out of the way, a lot of people have suggested it would be fun to compare Fleck's opening news conference Friday with Brewster's opening news conference almost exactly a decade ago in January 2007. Both were boisterous events filled with colorful phrases and visions of success. And let's face it: every news conference starts to sound the same after a while. So: let's have some fun. Below, you will find 10 quotes — five from Fleck and five from Brewster — from their first news conferences with the Gophers.
Can you guess who said what? The answers are at the end of the story.
1. "We share a vision of winning the Big Ten and having Rose Bowls. And I'm not afraid to say that because that's the way I live my life. I'm not afraid to hide behind something and say, you know, I can't promise you something. I'm going to promise you a lot, because that's the way I live my life. And that's what I want to be able to create here at the University of Minnesota."
2. "Our expectation is to win a Big Ten Championship now. We're not interested in any rebuilding process. I'm very fortunate that I'm not coming into a situation that is decimated where there are no players. There are players here. … They've won a lot of games. They're not void of talent, so we're in a little different situation here than it is at most places that are going through the hiring process."
3. "I tell you this, I'm very confident in doing the job I do, and you're going see that confidence flow through our players."