CHICAGO — A familiar face showed up Thursday at the Big Ten’s annual Football Media Days event.

Former Gophers coach Tim Brewster, who was fired last October, spoke to the Minnesota Daily about his time at Minnesota, his life since, and his successor, Jerry Kill.

Among the most vilified Minnesota sports figures in recent memory, Brewster downplayed the emotional toll of the heavy public criticism he drew during his 15-30 tenure with the Gophers.

âÄúThat’s part of the territory,âÄù said Brewster, who now lives in Chapel Hill, N.C. and will work this season as a college football analyst for Fox Sports.

âÄúI know this — I’m very proud of what we accomplished at the University of Minnesota with our overall program. Obviously we wanted to win more games, but those I felt like were coming in the future.âÄù

Brewster was correct on this point. He was dismissed after a 1-6 start, but under interim head coach Jeff Horton, the team won its final two games over Illinois and Iowa in 2010.

âÄúIt spoke absolute volumes about our program,âÄù Brewster said of the victories, âÄúbecause it was an amazingly tough thing for our team to handle and [for] me to handle with my departure.âÄù

Although he said the public criticism he took didn’t bother him as much, Brewster conceded the disappointment he felt over falling short of his famously-stated goal for the team, which he announced at his opening press conference in 2007.

âÄúThe greatest disappointment I have in my life right now since I left Minnesota,âÄù Brewster said Thursday, âÄú[is] they’re going to go the Rose Bowl and I’m not going to be there to lead them. That was my dream for that program.âÄù

He added: âÄúThat’s a very talented football team that’s at the University of Minnesota right now,âÄù Brewster said. âÄúCoach Kill is very fortunate and he knows that.âÄù

Brewster said he has spoken with Kill, that he has âÄúgreat respectâÄù for him and that he is âÄúan outstanding football coach.âÄù