Strange homecoming for former Illini tight end, current Gopher head coach Brewster

By Wes Anderson

He played at Illinois for two years, was a two-time All-Big Ten selection and captained the Illini to a 1984 Rose Bowl berth. Last month, he was named one of Illinois’ top-10 receivers of all time.

But when Tim Brewster returns to Memorial Stadium on Saturday, he’ll be wearing maroon and gold, and his stated goal will be to spoil his alma mater’s Homecoming.

A former Illinois star at tight end, Brewster is now in his second year as head coach of Minnesota and has used knowledge from his playing days in the Big Ten to lead the Gophers’ resurgence from conference doormat to contender. After a 1-11 nightmare season in 2007, the Gophers are 5-1, collected their first Big Ten win since 2006 last week and are one win from bowl eligibility.

The team that stands in the way this week will be his former team, however. Brewster’s job still has its collateral damage, not the least of which is being matched against the school he played for.

If Brewster is at all conflicted, however, he isn’t showing it.

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“I just love the challenge of it,” Brewster said.

Brewster was noticeably evasive when asked about his memories of Champaign during his weekly teleconference, turning the tables by peppering his answer with references to his current team rather than discussing any sentimental feelings he may have for Illinois.

“The biggest thing for us at the University of Minnesota is going on the road to play a really fine Illinois football team,” Brewster said in response to the question.

He did, however, make a cursory reference to the atmosphere that will likely greet the Gophers at Memorial Stadium.

“It’s a hostile environment that I know extremely well. I know those fans down there,” Brewster said. “They’re going to be fired up and ready to go. It’s Homecoming at the University of Illinois, so obviously they’re going to have tremendous motivation.”

The connections between Minnesota and Illinois do not end with Brewster. Gophers wide receivers coach George McDonald played for Illinois in the late 1990s, and offensive line coach Phil Meyer was a graduate assistant for the Illini.

Also, while Zook said that he and Brewster are “not on the same guys” on the recruiting trail, the two have crossed paths from the very beginning of Brewster’s career at Minnesota. The most notable case was Clint Brewster, Tim’s son, a standout high school quarterback who originally committed to Zook and the Illini. That quickly changed when Tim was hired to coach the Gophers in 2007, leading Clint to eventually decommit from Illinois to join his father in the Twin Cities.

However, the rise of Adam Weber as the team’s star quarterback last season relegated the younger Brewster to the bench. After redshirting his freshman year, Clint transferred to College of the Sequoias in Visalia, Calif., during the last offseason.

The connections are certainly there, but Brewster made it clear with another reference to his new team: His enthusiasm is focusing on playing the game, not returning to the campus he once called home.

“That’s what I’m excited about, taking our football team, the University of Minnesota, into a situation where it’s going to be a tough situation,” Brewster said.