The Football Brainiacs

Coach Brewer was a great motivator. He built depth because he coached everyone. In other words he paid attention to everyone and he found unique ways to motivate us individually. He didn’t just spend time coaching Dez or Justin. He spent time with all of us. It didn’t matter if you were a walk-on or a stud he treated us all like we we’re going to play. He knew our strengths and our weaknesses and he was able to connect with us and earn our trust and because of that the players were receptive to his criticisms. You never felt like he was just trying to run you down. You believed that he could see something you couldn’t see. I remember Bo (Bo Bowling) was only about 5’10 and Coach Brewer would tell him straight up that he (Bo) isn’t going to get this A thrown at him or B thrown his way. But he’d tell him, if he worked hard specific routes and would just do those things over and over that he’d benefit from people shifting coverage to account for Dez and that one day he might just find himself in position to catch a TD. And Bo just kept repeatedly doing these few things over and over in practice and sure enough he ended up catching a couple TDs if I recall correctly.

He loved hard working guys like Josh Cooper. He never put Dez above anyone. He knew how talented Dez was…we all did…but he didn’t let him take a play off without consequences. If Dez did, Brewer would pull him out of the game and get in his ear. I know a lot of y’all saw the blow up this past season with Dez on the Cowboys sideline. I was good friends with Dez. But putting my friendship aside I can tell you honestly he is not an angry person. He’s actually incredibly nice and great with people. People loved Dez and it was genuine. But he is VERY VERY VERY competitive. When he and I were playing Nintendo Wii he would take it sooooo seriously. But Coach Brewer knew that about Dez and he didn’t try to make his competitiveness or change it. He knew how to communicate with Dez in a way that would bring out the best in him and allow Dez to harness that competitive edge and use it on the field. I never once saw any kind of blowout between Dez and any of the coaches. And it didn’t matter if Dez had just had his greatest game, Brewer would still be spitting out the same commands and making sure that the same things we’re done in practice the very next day. I can still hear Coach Brewer repeating “2 hands Dez!” over and over because Dez loved to catch with one hand. But Brewer was meticulous. He was all about practice doesn’t make perfect…perfect practice makes perfect.

Justin Blackmon was never as physically talented as Dez. He just didn’t have the natural ability that Dez had. Again, no one did. I can’t describe just how athletic Dez was/is. But when Justin came into the program he didn’t know that he wasn’t as athletic as Dez lol. He was a little on the cocky side and was the lone freshman that actually believed he could match Dez’s production once he got a chance. Coach Brewer didn’t tell him…you’re crazy kid! You’re a 2-star from Oklahoma! He motivated him and instead of removing the over confidence. He taught him how to get it under control. Justin took to Coach Brewers coaching style and worked extremely hard. He became an animal. And I know that Coach Brewer saw flashes of what he could be early on because I saw it myself. He would do something amazing but it was few and far between. And in truth that’s what coaching is – getting the excellence that you know is in a player out of them on as many plays as possible. Why do you think coaches will offer a kid after seeing only a few highlights on tape? It’s because they know that if someone can do that amazing thing they just saw then maybe with the right coaching it can be brought out of that player on play after play after play.

Brewer emphasized being a great route runner but the run game was such a huge emphasis at OSU that blocking was always important to Coach Brewer. And its just the nature of a receiver that they want the ball. They want to hear the crowd. It takes a special coach to get consistent play from all the receivers; especially with blocking because the process of preparing for that consists of getting beat up in practice :). And for a receiver it’s not fun. But a great coach helps everyone buy into the team and instills a sense of loyalty in each player. If Dez took a play off and didn’t block, Coach Brewer would pull him and he’d just say…someone else is doing a job so that you can be great…why wont you do that for them? And that’s all it would take. That’s one of the reasons we here on this sites emphasize that the recruiting process is so much more than just finding athletic freaks. And coaching is so much more than just being a great recruiter. You have to find the right combination of people. You have to find the right motivators and teachers to man your staff.

FINAL NOTE – OKLAHOMA: