STARKVILLE — Mississippi State University coach Dan Mullen said he needed time to find the short- and long-term solution to the wide receivers coach position.
Less than four days after the resignation of Angelo Mirando, MSU found a solution with the hiring of former University of Minnesota coach Tim Brewster.
“I think we’re extremely fortunate to be in the situation we’re in and have a coach the quality of Tim Brewster wanting to come be a part of this,” Mullen said. “He wanted to come to step in and help in this very difficult situation.”
Brewster arrived in Starkville on Wednesday evening and flew back to his home in North Carolina to discuss the opening with his wife, Cathleen.
After playing three holes of golf, Mullen called Brewster back with a job offer.
“I had to excuse myself on the golf course because I knew right then I had to pack a bag and get back to Starkville,” Brewster said.
By Thursday afternoon, Brewster was on the practice field working with his wide receiver position group wearing maroon and white MSU gear. Mirando resigned Sunday evening due to what school officials are calling “personal reasons.”
“This is something I looked forward to in getting back to coaching because coaching is what I do best and love to do the most,” Brewster said. “Timing and opportunity in life is so special. When the two meet, it becomes something you just can’t pass up.”
Brewster was expected to be a television analyst during this season for CBS Sports Network.
Brewster will be the only former Division I college football head coach on Mullen’s 2012 staff. He will be the first former head coach Mullen has hired since he had Carl Torbush as the team’s defensive coordinator. Torbush was a head coach at Louisiana Tech and the University of North Carolina.
“Anytime you get somebody that’s been a head coach that understands what it is like to sit in the chair you’re in at times is always a great asset to your staff,” Mullen said. “It’s not something where we’re going out and saying we have to have this as part of your staff, but it’s a great asset.”
Mullen said Thursday that Brewster’s biggest obstacle will be learning the Bulldogs’ playbook with the team’s season opener against Jackson State (6 p.m. Sept. 1, FSN South) a little more than a week away.
“I can tell you that’s a telephone, but I can’t say telephone in Chinese,” Mullen said. “The important thing is to get Tim on the same page of how we call the basics of what he’ll need to know as a football coach at Mississippi State.”
When he spoke to reporters Thursday, Brewster said he reached out to Mullen about the opening. Brewster, 51, cited the opportunity to work in the Southeastern Conference and with Mullen, who he said will “go down as one of the great coaches in college football” as the most attractive features about the job.
“It’s not about jobs, it’s about people,” Brewster said. “I’ve had a chance to work with the best of the best and I think Dan Mullen is of that caliber. He’s younger, but I think he’s got an amazing future and we’re similar in nature.”
Brewster was fired as coach at Minnesota in 2010 after leading the Golden Gophers program to a 15-30
record in four seasons. He took the Golden Gophers to two bowl games.
Before going to Minnesota in 2007, Brewster spent three seasons coaching tight ends with the NFL’s San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos, where Brewster worked for head coaches Marty Schottenheimer and Mike Shanahan.
“The opportunity to coach in the SEC is very much like the opportunity I had to coach in the National Football League because you know you’re coaching against the best,” Brewster said. “The Southeastern Conference is the best league in America, and there’s no dispute there guys.”
Prior to working in the NFL, Brewster worked for 14 years as the tight ends coach at the University of Texas and University of North Carolina for coach Mack Brown. He earned a reputation for a strong recruiter working at both schools.
“My battery is charged and I’m extremely excited about going into the state of Texas for recruiting because I’ve got some really strong ties there,” Brewster said.
At Texas, Brewster received much of the credit for signing in 2006 Heisman Trophy runner-up Vince Young.
“It’s going to be a whole lot easier for me to attract kids to Starkville, Mississippi than it is Minneapolis, Minnesota,” Brewster said. “I don’t think there’s any secret guys, I love to recruit. It’s the lifeblood of who you are in college football.”
Brewster is known for his ability to motivate and is regarded as a fiery and passionate coach. That emotion already spilled over into Starkville less than a day on the job.
“I love football, (and) I can’t tell you how great it was to get back on the grass today,” Brewster said. “I missed it badly.”
Brewster is a former tight end at the University of Illinois. He was a two-time All-Big Ten Conference selection, and major part of the 1983 team led that made it back to the Rose Bowl for the first time in 20 years.
Hull to be added to Davis Wade Stadium Ring of Honor
MSU announced Thursday former center Kent Hull will be the newest name added to the Davis Wade Stadium Ring of Honor.
The late Hull’s family will participate in a pregame ceremony prior to MSU’s game against Auburn University at 11 a.m. Sept. 8 (ESPN2). Hull died of a heart attack last October at the age of 50.
“We called him big ‘un, and he was always there to take care of you when and if you needed it,” said John Bond, Hull’s MSU teammate from 1980-82. “He was my brother and somebody I could always count on for the 30 years I’ve known him.”
Hull was a consensus first-team Freshman All-SEC selection in 1979 and a preseason All-America selection in 1982. Hull was the center for one of the more memorable games in MSU history, a 6-3 victory against top-ranked Alabama in 1980.
After his career at MSU, Hull played in 189 games for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills from 1986-96, and started in four straight Super Bowls from 1990-93. He was named to the Pro Bowl three times. His name was added to the Bills’ Wall of Fame at Ralph Wilson Stadium in 2002.
Sammy Ellis (baseball), Wiley Peck (basketball), and Keri McCallum Stratton (softball) will represent the 2012 class of the MSU Sports Hall of Fame.
Ellis lettered one year in Starkville, leading the 1961 squad in strikeouts (73) and innings pitched (57 2/3). He compiled a 12-7 record, including a 7-6 mark in SEC play. Ellis made his professional debut with the Cincinnati Reds in 1962 and was an All-Star in 1965. He finished his MLB career after stints with the California Angels (1968) and Chicago White Sox (1969). In seven pro seasons, the Youngstown, Ohio, native racked up 63 wins and 677 strikeouts with a 4.15 ERA.
A two-time All-SEC selection (1978-79), Peck remains one of the greatest players in the history of the MSU basketball program. The Montgomery, Ala., native still ranks in the top 10 all-time in school history in rebounds (fourth, 964), field-goal percentage (seventh, .578) and blocked shots (seventh, 117). Peck led the Maroon in White in field-goal percentage all four years of his career, and led the SEC in rebounding during the 1978-79 season. Following four seasons in the Maroon and White, Peck was selected 19th overall in the 1979 NBA draft by the San Antonio Spurs. Peck was honored as MSU’s SEC Legend at the 2008 SEC Men’s Basketball tournament.
One of the most decorated players in the history of MSU softball, McCallum Stratton owns the school record or appears in the top 10 of every individual career, season and single-game offensive record. The Port Orchard, Wash., native helped put MSU softball on the map when the school brought the sport back in 1997. The school record holder for game-winning runs scored (50) was named the 2000 NFCA Division I and Overall Catcher of the Year en route to being named a unanimous All-American.
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