By Jon Laging, Talkin Sports

When I was a youngster, fall was college football and listening to Halsey Hall describe Bernie Bierman&8217;s Minnesota Golden Gophers. At that age the players were much more important than the coach. Much like the movies. John Wayne cut a lot more ice with me than director John Ford.

Who was John Ford? All-American halfback Paul Giel overshadowed Bernie Bierman and Wes Fesler. There was no comparison.

Years later I came to realize that teams were formed in the coach&8217;s image particularly in college ball. And almost always if the team was good, the coach was good. But being a knowledgeable football man does not ensure a good team, for a college job has three components for a coach.

1. He needs to be a good recruiter.

2. He must know football and have his X&8217;s and O&8217;s down pat.

3. He needs to be the point man for the team&8217;s identity.

The third component eventually lost Glen Mason his job. He was a decent recruiter, except in Minnesota. And although the defense was inconsistent, his offense was able to run roughshod over some very good teams. That he lost some of those games also hurt his tenure. However, what hurt him the most was that he didn&8217;t represent Minnesota. When you thought of Mason, you thought of his preference for his alma mater Ohio State.

When the U. announced his firing, I felt the program needed someone with a Minnesota background. A coach that would be happy to represent Minnesota for a couple of decades and not run off to Notre Dame or Ohio State.

Lane Kiffin of USC was reputed to be an excellent recruiter and graduated from Bloomington&8217;s Jefferson High School. He had a good coaching background and seemed to be a logical pick given his Minnesota ties. Not only that, maybe he could get his dad, Monte Kiffin a defensive genius, to come with him. Such was not to be. Maybe he wanted too much money. In any case the Gophers hired enthusiastic Tim Brewster.

Tell me I&8217;m not the only one that has noticed a strong similarity between Brewster and a departed Viking coach. No, not Brad Childress. That&8217;s next year. Mike Tice! Both were tight ends in college and the pros. Both were tight end coaches. One 46, the other 47. Both from the New York-New Jersey area. Both big guys and both started for very close to the same money to get their first big head coach job. They even look alike. If Brewster starts losing his hair, we may have cause to worry.

I wish Tim Brewster good fortune with the Gophers. I started out wondering if his enthusiasm was real. It seemed a little over the top. But from all indications so far, it appears that what you see is what you get. I question his Minnesota ties, but unlike Mason he won&8217;t apply for the Ohio State job. His alma mater is Illinois.

Athletic Director Joel Maturi has his football coach. Next up is a basketball coach, but I don&8217;t think we will hear anything soon. Maturi will probably give Jim Molinari a chance to perform miracles with the Gophers or win a few more games. Whichever comes first. The team doesn&8217;t have to have a winning record for Molinari to be next year&8217;s coach, but it does have to show signs of improvement. If they do, they have a chance to be an average or better Big Ten group next year for there are no seniors on the team. Molinari seems to be a hard working ethical coach. He hung with Dan Monson to the very end.

However, I still think the perfect coach for our beleaguered basketball team would be an African-American with Minnesota ties.

Jon Laging writes about regional sports issues from his home in Preston.