It was reported late last week that, if Minnesota lost to Purdue Saturday, a plan was in place to dismiss Tim Brewster as head coach and afford him the opportunity to either finish out the season or step down immediately.
As expected, the Gophers held up their end of the deal, falling to the Boilermakers 28-17. Also as expected, the reports are coming in that Brewster is indeed done.
According to both Gopher Illustrated and ESPN 1500 in Minneapolis, Brewster has been informed that he will not be the head coach in 2011. A press conference is also reportedly scheduled for Sunday to announce the direction the football program is headed.
As of 8:30 ET this morning, no press release has been issued announcing a press conference.
Following the loss, Brewster maintained that he still had the support of the higher-ups at the school.
“No, not at all,” Brewster said when asked if the level of support has changed. “It’s a battle, guys. We’re battling our tails off, and we’re going to continue to.”
In perhaps an ominous sign for Brewster’s future, athletic director Joel Maturi was not in the post-game locker room, and did not respond to emails or voice mails from the local media.
In three-plus seasons with the Gophers, Brewster is 16-30 overall and an even an even more abysmal 6-21 in Big Ten play.