The right man for the job is out there -- U needs to keep looking

Adam Weber was a redshirt freshman and inside Glen Mason's football operation in 2006. He has spent the next four years as Tim Brewster's starting quarterback. In that time, the Gophers have moved into a new on-campus stadium that was first proposed by Mason and celebrated as a great asset to the football program by Brewster.

On Sunday, it became official that Brewster was out as coach after three seasons and seven games. He was 15-30 in that time and became the first Gophers coach to be replaced in midseason in a football history that dates to 1892.

The last loss was 28-17 at Purdue on Saturday -- a game destined to be recalled by Gophers hard cores as the Pylon Affair, in honor of linebacker Gary Tinsley's fumble off a pylon that magically transformed an interception return for a touchdown into a touchback.

Joel Maturi made the official announcement on Brewster's demise at a 1 p.m. news conference, and then Weber and interim coach Jeff Horton sat side-by-side to take questions.

Weber was asked, in view of the $288.5 million stadium that opened in 2009, if the University of Minnesota now has the resources for the right coach to be successful.

"I believe everything is in place, definitely," Weber said. "Ultimately, it comes down to a football team coming together and finding a way to win. Once you start winning, it kind of snowballs. ... We had a taste of it, but we weren't able to keep that thing going."

This was a reference to 2008, Brewster's second season, when the Gophers started 7-1, including 3-1 in the Big Ten. There was a victory at Illinois that Brewster called a "program turner," followed by a win at Purdue, and then that thing Coach Brew's Gophers had going came to a halt.

Not this time. Bruininks pulled the rip cord early with Brewster in the hope it can give Minnesota an advantage on other BCS schools that will be looking for a football coach.

We will hear the tired canard that the Gophers' failure to compete at the same level as rivals Wisconsin and Iowa is the fault of an administration not committed to winning. Weber, a four-year starter and five-year Gopher, was asked if he sees it that way.

"... Everything is here," he said. "The university gives everything a student-athlete needs to be successful, not only academically but athletically. It's just a matter of time. We will win football games here at the University of Minnesota. It's too bad that we haven't had the success, but ultimately we will."

There was a small pause, Weber looked at his media audience and added: "That's a promise. It will happen here."

Maturi was fired up as rarely has been seen in his tenure as athletic director. He didn't wait for a question on the subjects of resources and commitment -- jumping on those, with jaw jutted, in his opening remarks.

"And contrary to published reports, the resources are available. They are in place. There is a commitment to having a winning football program at the University of Minnesota."

Interim coach Horton offered a similar view. He said a new coach and his staff will have the "best stadium in the country, as far as I know ... and trust me, in 30 years, I've been in a lot of stadiums."

"Hopefully the next guy, things will turn better for him, but he'll have a great chance here to be a successful program," Horton said. "You just have to stick with it."

Jeff Horton's right. So are Adam Weber and Joel Maturi. The problem with Minnesota football isn't institutional. It's not yet finding our version of Barry Alvarez or Kirk Ferentz, but he's out there.