Gophers dive into deep end of recruit talent pool

Tim Brewster didn't have much success on the football field last fall, but his first official recruiting class is the U's best group of athletes in decades.

By GOPHERS INSIDER CHIP SCOGGINS

Last update: February 6, 2008 - 5:44 PM

When Tim Brewster introduced his first recruiting class three weeks after taking the Gophers football job a year ago, he insisted that it needed no asterisk, even though most of the prospects were handpicked by his predecessor, Glen Mason.

In reality, it was a semi-recruiting class, a small sampling that could not possibly provide a true account of Brewster's reputation as a recruiting whiz.

Today, Brewster will unveil his first official class, and various national recruiting analysts place it in the Top 20 nationally and third in the Big Ten, which is a major development when considering the team's recruiting history, Brewster's short time on the job and a 1-11 record in his debut season.

Brewster has not been bashful in professing his love for recruiting and ability to attract top-shelf talent.

It remains to be seen if Brewster can turn better talent into more victories, but he has delivered on his promise to upgrade the talent level through recruiting with his first full class.

The Gophers are expected to sign 31 players, which is an unusually large class but something that was needed to be done, given the team's miserable retention rate the past few years.

Brewster and his staff were able to address specific needs on offense and defense, specifically at wide receiver and in the secondary. They also landed a high-profile quarterback and help at running back, added size along the defensive line and upgraded the overall speed and athleticism -- particularly on defense, which was woefully inadequate last season.

It is easily the highest-rated recruiting class Minnesota has attracted in decades, and it could have been even better had Brewster been able to lock up the state's talent, which he mandated upon arrival. Mason faced annual criticism for his inability to keep the top Minnesotans from leaving the state, and now Brewster is learning that it's easier said than done.

Brewster landed commitments from only one of the top five players in state, Champlin Park linebacker Sam Maresh. It's not the result Brewster wanted, and with a crop of talented players on the horizon (See: Cretin-Derham Hall sophomore Seantrel Henderson), it's something to watch closely.

But to Brewster's credit he managed to offset those instate losses by getting blue-chip prospects from other states. The class includes recruits from 16 states, which is a wide net cast by this staff. While Mason's staff tended to focus hard on a few states, particularly Ohio, this staff seems intent on canvassing the country for talent.

The Gophers landed two Kentucky recruits, four high school teammates from Dallas, seven junior college transfers (six of whom are defensive players) and the No. 1 player in Indiana -- four-star quarterback MarQueis Gray, one of the nation's top dual-threat quarterbacks.

In all, Brewster's 2008 class includes seven four-star prospects (on a scale of five), according to Rivals.com rankings, and will finish in the Top 25 nationally. By comparison, from 2002-2007, the Gophers signed only four four-star recruits total and had an average national ranking of 54.

That's a big difference.

Granted, recruiting rankings can be a nebulous evaluation method that doesn't necessarily guarantee future success on the field. But they do provide some measure of the talent level joining programs each year, even if the casual fan has no idea how they are tabulated.

Also, if those rankings were used in the annual criticism of Mason's recruiting efforts, then the same rankings must also be used to judge Brewster's success. It's an apples-to-apples comparison.

This class clearly demonstrates Brewster's willingness to go after high-profile recruits -- and then stay in contention, no matter how long it takes. Four-star safety Keanon Cooper of Dallas switched his commitment from Texas Tech to Minnesota on Tuesday. Brewster might not always land the big fish, but he's more than eager to get in the game.

The ultimate proof must come on the field in the fall, of course. But Brewster's first true recruiting class is considered one of the biggest surprises in college football on national signing day, and coming on the heels of a 1-11 season, that speaks volumes.

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