Greetings.
Just got back from our regular day-after media meeting with Gophers coach Tim Brewster. Well, actually, I got back a while ago, but just finished my story for tomorrow.
I have to apologize for not posting post-game yesterday. I was battling a crummy cold and it was all I could do to finish my stories up and get home to bed.
Anyway. Coach Brewster got to talking today about the way he deals with his players. Specifically on what is the best way to motivate/teach players. One thing he does not think works is yelling or screaming. Here's what he had to say on the subject:
"The thing I do is I hold our players accountable, responsible," Brewster said. "And (getting them to) understand that, OK, this was an opportunity make a play, to win a game, OK? Those are a lot of the plays we spend the most time on. A guy can grade out 95 percent in a game. But how did he grade out in the fourth quarter with the game on the line? That's what I want to know. I don't concern myself a whole lot with grades. I concern myself with, OK, when the game's on the line...On that last drive, first play we kick the ball out of bounds. Tough, tough mistake. Now, they got the ball on the 40, we have to get off the field, minimum (hold them to) three points. There were certain plays on that drive where we had the opportunity to make a play."
Brewster noted that, in the second half, the offense made play after play under those circumstances.
It was an interesting discussion. He is so relentlessly optimistic, especially with the media, that we sometimes wonder how he deals with his team.
"People don't know me," he said. "They're not in the film room with me. They're not with me and our football team. Obviously I'm a very driven person. I would love to see perfection. And we really strive for that. When we don't reach that we try to ask ourselves, 'Why? What can we do better?' That's what good coaching is. Screaming, yelling, cussing at a kid? That all sounds good, but is that teaching, is that coaching, is that helping a guy improve? I don't think so. And I've been around both (kinds of coaches)."
