When you finish 1-11, you really have an opportunity to go two ways; either you wallow in discontent and duplicate the same dismal season, or you capture highlights and positive points and build off of them. While coaches will SAY they will always choose the latter in going forward, us fans know by evidence of the teams after the fact that coachspeak isn’t always what it is cracked up to be.

In the case of the Minnesota football program, while Golden Gopher fans are probably bracing for another awful season, they have to be at least curious as to the hype surrounding the 2008-09 class that coach Tim Brewster Thas built, which has them ranked in the top 20 in the nation by many publications–yes, AFTER and during this 1 win season! If Brewster can recruit during that, just think what he’ll be able to do once they start winning!

But this is where Gopher fans seem to be a little gunshy. While it’s apparent that Brewster can recruit, the knock on him is his true ability to showcase his coaching abilities on the field. Not unlike Ron Zook, who went through the same situation in Florida and then in his first years at Illinois, but then promptly shut everyone up with a 9-3 year. I know Gopher fans want more now, but it is a patience process, and with more than likely new starters across the board, growing pains will be evident this season–but Brewster continues to remain upbeat and excited about this team. They may not make any significant bowl noise, but you can bet that Big Ten coaches are not taking this team lightly by any means, and you can mark it down that this team will–without a doubt–be heads and above better than last year in almost every statistical category. Patience, grasshopper, patience….