Bucky Wins A Battle; First Bad News For Brewster

First it was Matt Scott, a dual-threat quarterback out of California that Tim Brewster and Mike Dunbar were recruiting to come play Gopher football. Scott, while he said great things about Minnesota, picked Arizona. Now, Cretin-Derham Hall's Joe Schafer opted against suiting up for the fiery Brewster. His choice is more troubling: Wisconsin.

Schafer is ranked as the 4th best player in Minnnesota's class of 2008, according to Rivals, and is a 6-5 265-pound offensive lineman, ranked as the No. 38 OT prospect in the country. Rivals has it's write-up here ($). The Schafer-to-Wisconsin news is bad for Minnesota football and ends Brewster's aim to keep every Minnesota kid home.

While that may have been an impossible goal, fans were expecting Brewster to at least bring home the state's top prospects. A recent Associated Press article highlighted Brewster's expectations.

In May, Brewster and his assistant coaches made sure one of them stopped by each of the state's nearly 400 high schools. Brewster personally visited more than 100.

"If a kid is deciding between Wisconsin and Minnesota, I expect the high-school coach to step in and help us get that kid ..."

Recruiting, after all, was supposed to be Brewster's strong suit. And, while the loss of Schafer isn't enough to argue Brewster isn't living up to the hype, it's a discouraging development. Schafer is the first in-state recruit that Brewster wanted who decided to go elsewhere, never mind to a school that has harvested Minnesota talent for too long. Hopefully the Schafer committment is a one-time fluke, and not a trend.

The decision of Scott to attend Arizona is troubling in a different way. He was the quarterback that new offensive coordinator Mike Dunbar was trying to land. An Arizona Daily Star article suggests that Minnesota was the toughest competition in landing Scott, and compares Scott's style at quarterback to Vince Young. While there has been no word from Scott about why he picked Arizona after gushing about Minnesota, there is an obvious reason.

Perhaps the biggest coup for Minnesota in the Brewster hiring, was that son Clint, a 4-star QB who was headed to Illinois, decided to follow his father. Clint Brewster could very well compete this year with Tony Mortensen and Adam Weber. Time will tell, but it would seem that recruiting quarterbacks might be difficult for Brewster until it is proven that the field will be even for playing time.

If Minnesota has trouble landing quarterback prospects during the next two years, it will be in part because of Clint Brewster's presence.

Tim Brewster's 2008 recruiting class has been strong. But it's far from over. The loss of Schafer and Scott don't doom Brewster. While we can forgive the loss of a California quarterback, losing many more Minnesota kids to the next door neighbor will be harder to swallow. Brewster's first test was to deliver the top three Minnesota players. Schafer, Michael Floyd and Wllie Mobley. Two-for-three wouldn't be bad.