Is Brewster selling the sizzle?

Recruiting is the lifeblood of any college football program.

Tim Brewster's résumé as a recruiter at North Carolina and Texas was a big reason why Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi hired him to be his head coach on Jan. 17, 2007, despite the fact Brewster never had been a coordinator or a head coach at the college level.

In a few months, Brewster will sign his third full recruiting class. It will be big, between 26 and 28 players. Of the 23 already committed, 18 are rated three stars (out of five) or better by Rivals.com, which has the class ranked 28th in the nation and No. 5 in the Big Ten.

More important for the immediate future of the Gophers program are the 2008 and 2009 recruiting classes; Brewster took over too late in the 2007 recruiting season to use that class as a gauge of his success.

How do you grade Brewster's two full classes? The overall athletic ability appears to be better than the final classes of former coach Glen Mason, according to recruiting analysts and other college football observers. But Brewster's recruiting classes have yet to yield a true star or impact player, although it is too early to say that won't happen. Last year's All-Big Ten first team included only one freshman or sophomore -- Michigan State linebacker Greg Jones.

If the Gophers' overall ability level is higher, it has yet to translate into victories on the field. Brewster has a 6-17 Big Ten record, and no league victories in the month of November. But his true test as a recruiter will come next season, especially on defense, where the Gophers will start nine seniors in Saturday's regular-season finale at Iowa.

"I think I know enough about football to say that we have more better football players today than when [Brew-ster] arrived," Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi said. "What we haven't had, recently, is a Marion Barber, a Laurence Maroney, a [Mark] Setterstrom. We haven't had players of that caliber [emerge]. We had [Eric] Decker, who Mason recruited. But there is no question we have more, better talent and our depth is better."

Measuring potential

What's the best way to analyze a recruiting class, short of waiting four or five years to see the results? Many, such as Rivals.com, use star ratings for recruits. It is an imprecise method to be sure; how a coaching staff develops a player is just as important. Example A: Gophers senior receiver Decker was a two-star recruit who blossomed into an all-conference player.

Still, the star system certainly offers a gauge of athletic potential. In Mason's last three full recruiting classes, he brought in a total of 26 players who were rated three stars or more by Rivals.com. In 2008 alone, Brewster signed 24 such players. In 2009 there were an additional 18, and there are another 18 so far for the 2010 class.

Another way to evaluate classes is who the Gophers are beating out for their recruits. During Mason's recruiting classes from 2004 to 2006, 23 of the Gophers' 66 signees received offers from at least one other BCS school. Starting in 2008, 25 Gophers recruits got another BCS offer.

But Maturi is correct: No star has yet emerged. Some from the class of 2008, such as the receiving group of Brandon Green, Da'Jon McKnight and Troy Stoudermire, have shown flashes of big-play ability but not the consistency expected of a star player. Certainly no player has burst upon the scene as a sophomore in the fashion of a Maroney.

But five sophomores will start on offense for the Gophers on Saturday in Iowa. The Hawkeyes, by comparison, plan to start three freshmen on offense.

Are the Gophers headed in the right direction? Brewster said this week more than once he believes his team, 6-5 entering this game, is better than last season's 7-6 team that lost to Kansas in the Insight Bowl. Certainly, not everyone agrees. The reality is the Gophers are headed to a second consecutive bowl game, but they're still on the same bowl tier as when Mason was fired.

"Some [young] players are getting significant playing time now," Maturi said. "The receivers have shown promise, but not consistency yet. The class of that group might be [quarterback] MarQueis Gray. He's shown enough to all of us to think, 'Boy, there's potential.' All of this is encouraging."

Growing into contributors

Next year Brewster could have 11 of his recruits starting on defense. The two returning starters -- safeties Kyle Theret and Kim Royston, a transfer from Wisconsin -- came to Minnesota under Brewster.

Gerry DiNardo is a former coach in both the SEC and Big Ten and is currently an analyst for the Big Ten Network. He maintains a coach shouldn't be judged as a recruiter until all the scholarship players are his.

"Now, everybody is judged every day," DiNardo said. "But the big picture is, until a guy has had the opportunity to fill all 85 scholarships with his players, you can't fully evaluate his ability to recruit. Unfortunately, not a lot of people get that much time."

DiNardo is high on Gray's potential. He likes what he's seen from the Gophers' young receivers, too.

"They have talent," he said. "And remember, they're sophomores who have now played in two different offensive systems. I think that plays into the mix."

On the two-deeps for this week's game against Iowa, eight starters are Brewster recruits. That included junior college players such as linebacker Simoni Lawrence and defensive end Cedric McKinley and sophomore receivers Green, McKnight and Stoudermire.

An additional 13 players are listed as backups, including several who get extensive playing time such as defensive back Michael Carter, defensive end D.L. Wilhite, defensive tackles Brandon Kirksey and Jewhan Edwards, running back Kevin Whaley, Gray and linebacker Keanon Cooper.

"Again, it's a process of continuing to bring in the types of players you feel can make a difference," Brewster said. "Players you think can be championship caliber-type players. And we feel really good about the young guys we've brought in ...

"It comes down to winning on the field, winning football games. [But] I'm really pleased with the recruiting we've done to this point, and excited about the recruiting we're going to do as we move forward. That's something we're going to do and we're going to do well, every single year."

WHO WILL SHINE NEXT?

Big Ten Network analyst Gerry DiNardo is high on MarQueis Gray's potential and also likes what he's seen from some young Gophers receivers, such as Troy Stoudermire and Brandon Green. Kim Royston gives the Gophers a potential star at safety.