Tim Brewster’s initial meeting with the Colorado football team drew mixed reviews.
As is often the case with new CU head coach Deion Sanders, the meeting was filmed and posted on social media.
In January, Brewster, the Buffaloes’ tight ends coach, told players, “When I say stand tall, I want you bouncing out of your seat and stand tall. When I say stand tall, get your (butt) up! Stand tall!”
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After the players stood up, Brewster said, “Sit your (butt) back down. Stand tall!”
They stood again and he finished his brief speech to the team.
College football analyst and former NFL quarterback Danny Kanell was one of several people on social media to criticize Brewster’s actions in that video. Others loved it.
For Brewster, it all stems from his passion to help Sanders win at CU.
“I think that the Colorado Buff people so want to win,” Brewster said at a press conference last week. “I think it’s time to win again. And to win, you have to have amazing pride in the name on the front of your jersey and the name on the back of your jersey.”
Brewster then popped out of his chair and stood up in front of the assembled media.
“I’m proud to be a Colorado Buff, OK?” Brewster said. “And for us to turn this thing and win, it’s going to take tremendous player pride. Stand up with your head up and your shoulders back and be excited about where you are. We’re not walking softly. We’re bringing it with every single thing we got.
“I love the game so much. I love the game so much and the game deserves to be rewarded by how we do things and how we carry ourselves. I believe if you love football, football is gonna love you back.”
Brewster’s love of the game has carried him to many stops along his coaching journey.
A former tight end at Illinois, Brewster has been an assistant coach at Purdue, North Carolina, Texas, Mississippi State, Florida State, Texas A&M, Florida and Jackson State. He also spent five years in the NFL, with the San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos before a four-year run (2007-10) as the head coach at the University of Minnesota.
As an assistant at Florida State (2013-17), he met Sanders while recruiting Sanders’ high school team in Texas.
“We just kind of hit it off,” Brewster said. “You have to gravitate to a guy like coach Prime and his personality.”
That connection led Brewster to Jackson State last year and then to Boulder this winter.
Brewster is eager to bring his experience to the table in helping the Buffs rebound from a dismal 1-11 season in 2022.
“I’ve been amazingly blessed to have coached at every level – high school, college, the National Football League; I’ve been a head coach,” he said. “Next season is going to be, I believe, my 37th year as a coach, and it benefits me to having stood before the team, talked to the team (as a head coach). Experience is invaluable, it really is.
“The No. 1 prerequisite that a coach has to bring, and I think the experience truly helps that, is energy – positive energy on a daily basis. Energy and expertise.”
Nearly four decades of experience has given Brewster the expertise to succeed as a coach, and he’s clearly shown he has the energy, even at 62 years old.
Brewster takes over a tight end group that lost its leader, Brady Russell, to graduation. But, the Buffs added talented transfer Seydou Traore, from Arkansas State. They also return all the young tight ends that were behind Russell last year: sophomores Caleb Fauria, Erik Olsen, Louis Passarello and Austin Smith and freshman Zach Courtney.
The next step in the process for Brewster and the Buffs is spring practices, which begin March 19.
“We’re all in a real learning phase right now,” Brewster said. “We’re in an absolute deep dive into learning this offense and defense and most importantly, getting to know our players, getting to know these kids, building relationships with these kids, so that they know we genuinely care about them, so that they’re going to give us everything they have when it’s time to step on the field.
“All I know is this: that I, Tim Brewster, am going to pour every ounce of everything I’ve got into making this program great again. And if our players and every other coach responds the same way, we’re gonna win.”
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