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Eastern Michigan's Josh Brewer, previously fired from Georgia, is leading the team to its first NCAA Regional. Brewer's unique coaching philosophy is shaping the team's approach as they aim for success.
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Josh Brewer was contemplating retirement.
Two years ago Saturday, Brewer was fired after 12 years as the Georgia women's golf coach. Brewer, then 48, has spent most of his life coaching after a playing career at Indiana. But after missing the NCAA Championship by on shot, the Bulldogs decided to go in a different direction, and Brewer thought the same about his career, too.
That's when the phone rang. It was a call from Ypsilanti, Michigan.
"I was talking to GameAbove during the interview, and they're like, 'Think different,'" Brewer said. "I've always valued that as a coach. I came from the business world before coaching, so I've always felt like I am different than coaches.
"I thought it would be fun to take over a program ranked 226th and see if we could get it to this point."
In the age of college athletics where universities are eliminating their golf programs in cost-cutting efforts, Eastern Michigan has done the opposite. With the support of GameAbove, a privately held global investment company focused on sports, entertainment and giving and run by a group of EMU alumni, the Eagles have one of the biggest NIL budgets in the sport and are playing on the level of a Power 4 program instead of a mid-major. That investment culminates Monday, when EMU makes its first appearance in an NCAA Regional as the fifth seed in Tallahassee.
The Eagles enter NCAA postseason play ranked 27th in the NCAA Golf Rankings, a change of nearly 200 spots since Brewer took over as head coach. His assistant, Caterina Don, is in her second season coaching after a stellar five-year playing career at Georgia under Brewer. His star player, Savannah de Bock, followed him from Georgia and last year made history as the first EMU player to compete in an NCAA postseason event.
Later that week, the Eagles competed in the Women's National Golf Invitational, with Angelica Holman taking home medalist honors. It was EMU's first postseason tournament as a team, finishing second.
Now, they're three rounds away from making the NCAA Championship for the first time.
"I'm just lucky enough to be called the head coach," Brewer said. "But it's those individuals that helped us turn this into something special in only two years."
EMU's turnaround started with the investment from GameAbove, which gifted $8 million to the university for an $8 million, on-campus golf facility that opened in January 2024. The 13,000-square-foot space instantly became one of the best in the country, let alone for a mid-major program.
Josh Brewer is the head coach of Eastern Michigan's women's golf team, previously coaching at Georgia for 12 years before being fired.
Eastern Michigan is competing in its first NCAA Regional, marking a significant milestone for the program.
Brewer's coaching philosophy emphasizes thinking differently, drawing from his business background to create a unique approach to coaching.
After being fired from Georgia, Brewer received a call from Eastern Michigan, which reignited his passion for coaching and led him to take the position.

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Brewer's hiring followed that summer. He then tabbed Don as the first full-time assistant in school history. Then de Bock transferred, and the turnaround was underway.
After a successful season and the first postseason accolades in school history, the bar was set even higher in 2025-26. EMU was able to be aggressive in the transfer portal thanks to NIL funds like that of a blue-blood program, not a fledgling mid-major. Twins Jasmine and Janae Leovao enrolled from Long Beach State. Brewer also signed the No. 1 player from NAIA in Baiyok Sukterm.
Three wins and five runner-up finishes later, EMU is heading to the Tallahassee Regional as the 27th-ranked team in the country.
"We're having some fun with it," Brewer said. "I understand it now, being in the MAC, if you don't schedule, if you don't have the resources, like, it's hard to be top 125 anymore. The ranking is what it is, but we've used it as a kind of a rallying point of, can you go from 226, to national champions? And you know, that's the ultimate goal."
NCAA Regionals will be a different test, but it's one EMU has familiarity with. Earlier this season, the Eagles played in the Florida State Match-Up at Seminole Legacy Golf Club, finishing eight shots behind the hosts.
Less than two months later, Eastern Michigan returns to Tallahassee holding the same underdog mentality that has created this momentum.
"I love the misfit toys and and we always kind of had fun with it," Brewer said. "Can you imagine being Florida State, having explained your AD, 'How did you lose Eastern Michigan?' Can you imagine these schools got to go back home and they got to be like, you lost the who? Again? What is going on?
"I still think people expect us to fall flat on our face. But you know what, we got three rounds ahead of us to prove that we deserve that No. 5 seed, or maybe even higher."
And come Monday, Eastern Michigan has its chance to prove a mid-major belongs among the contenders in women's college golf.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: How mid-major Eastern Michigan is competing with golf's blue bloods