PJ Fleck, Row The Boat, and Coaches schtick

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EG#9

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I've read a number of posts from different people comparing Fleck to Brewster and many more cringing over his schtick. I wish more people would realize that virtually every coach has a schtick of some sort and whether or not it bothers you depends on your own personal preferences...and can change depending on the success of that coach on the field. I certainly have found some of the pre game speeches that have been on Twitter and such from Fleck to be corny, but I also realize I am not 19-22 anymore and the important thing is whether those speeches reach his players.

I found this video on YouTube of Fleck kind of going in to the origins of Row The Boat and the philosophy behind it and I thought some GopherHoler's who are turned off by the whole thing might at least take a second look at the guy.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZtS5u-S2fhU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 

Thanks for posting this. Enlightening.
 

EG#9 said:
I've read a number of posts from different people comparing Fleck to Brewster and many more cringing over his schtick. I wish more people would realize that virtually every coach has a schtick of some sort and whether or not it bothers you depends on your own personal preferences...and can change depending on the success of that coach on the field. I certainly have found some of the pre game speeches that have been on Twitter and such from Fleck to be corny, but I also realize I am not 19-22 anymore and the important thing is whether those speeches reach his players.

I found this video on YouTube of Fleck kind of going in to the origins of Row The Boat and the philosophy behind it and I thought some GopherHoler's who are turned off by the whole thing might at least take a second look at the guy.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZtS5u-S2fhU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Click to expand...

Exactly, people like to rip Brewster for his "schtick", but guess what? It works! He's widely regarded as one of the best recruiters in the country.
 


Good talker. A smoother, younger Holtz? IF he came here, how long would he stay? He would impress young players, though.
 



Thanks EG#9. Every coach has a schtick or persona. Some are stoic and button-downed. Others go over-the-top with oddball slogans. I really only care about what happens on the field and can put up with any quirk if it produces good football.
 

Thanks for posting. Nice to see some depth beneath the hype.
 

EG#9 said:
I've read a number of posts from different people comparing Fleck to Brewster and many more cringing over his schtick. I wish more people would realize that virtually every coach has a schtick of some sort and whether or not it bothers you depends on your own personal preferences...and can change depending on the success of that coach on the field. I certainly have found some of the pre game speeches that have been on Twitter and such from Fleck to be corny, but I also realize I am not 19-22 anymore and the important thing is whether those speeches reach his players.

I found this video on YouTube of Fleck kind of going in to the origins of Row The Boat and the philosophy behind it and I thought some GopherHoler's who are turned off by the whole thing might at least take a second look at the guy.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZtS5u-S2fhU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Click to expand...

Posted this stuff a while ago in Reusse thread. https://goo.gl/SAHcdW

Also, every coach, parent, and athlete should watch the "What Drives Winning" Series. It is outstanding --- and people will notice common themes listening to the coaches who present. The Mike Gundy one is pretty good as well. He speaks about how he basically started the concept of Satellite Camps and why he started doing those.
 




Schtick doesn't really matter. There are great coaches who have a little salesman in them (not an insult) and great coaches who do not and play up the "common man" them (Country Jer). It doesn't really matter, IMO.

As far as Fleck's story, to me, it's a little cringeworthy. I am obviously sorry that he had to go through the whole thing with his son, that's way bigger than football.
 






Let's be honest, Jerry had a schtick. Most people liked it. Brick by Brick. Uncommon. The underdog all the time.

Every leader does it, and some do it well and others don't. As a result, some stay leaders and others don't.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

How Long Would He Stay?

Great Plains Gopher said:
Good talker. A smoother, younger Holtz? IF he came here, how long would he stay? He would impress young players, though.
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You should never hire a coach based on how long your think he may stay. I'd rather have a great coach, who turns the program around, gets us a championship, and then everybody else wants him; than have a coach mired in mediocrity that can stay here as long as he wants. We need to change our perspective and stop being so paranoid about hiring a coach that everybody else is going to covet. We also need to learn how to KEEP coaches once they've been successful here. Unfortunately, we don't have much experience at this.
 

Ozzy&Ray said:
Let's be honest, Jerry had a schtick. Most people liked it. Brick by Brick. Uncommon. The underdog all the time.

Every leader does it, and some do it well and others don't. As a result, some stay leaders and others don't.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

There were times when Kill talked I thought I was listening to old tapes of Mr. Haney from Green Acres. Every coach has a persona. It's kind of de rigueur in the modern era of big-time coaching.
 

All coaches have some sort of gimmick or thing to get folks focused.

If it works or not is my concern, what they pick, that is their call.
 

Seriously, what is it about Fleck that's going to make Minnesota BETTER. He doesn't run an innovative offense. Minnesota would have beaten Western Michigan this year yet everybody thought he was God's gift to football because he does pushups on the sideline. Take that crap away and what does he bring to the table?
 

Genious said:
Seriously, what is it about Fleck that's going to make Minnesota BETTER. He doesn't run an innovative offense. Minnesota would have beaten Western Michigan this year yet everybody though he was God's gift to football because he does pushups on the sideline. Take that crap away and what does he bring to the table?
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How many FBS coaches have a 13-win season, ever? I'll help, the list is pretty damn short in the grand scheme of things and there are very few coaches that have turned out to be complete "flops" on it.

Since 1990:

Guys that have done it multiple times:

Nick Saban (5 times)
Urban Meyer (4 times)
Dabo Swinney (2 times)
Chris Peterson (2 times)
Tom Osborne (2 times)
Jimbo Fisher (2 times)
Mack Brown (2 times)

Guys that have done it once:

Bob Pruett
Bob Stoops
Chris Ault
Dan Hawkins
Doc Holliday
Gary Patterson
Gene Chizik
Gene Stallings
Jim Tressel
Kyle Whittingham
LaVell Edwards
Les Miles
Mark Dantonio
Mark Helfrich
Mark Richt
PJ Fleck
Pete Carroll
Phillip Fulmer
Terry Hoeppner
Tom Herman
Tommy Tuberville

On that list, maybe Ault, Hawkins, Helfrich, Holliday, Tuberville have been "flops?" Hoeppner never had success at the P5 level as he passed away, Herman it's still too early to say ... the rest is like a who's who of college coaching in the past few decades. Point being, it's really hard - even in the MAC - to win that many games and usually the guys that do it are guys with staying power. I'll take my chances with a guy that can join that list.
 

Gopher07 said:
How many FBS coaches have a 13-win season, ever? I'll help, the list is pretty damn short in the grand scheme of things and there are very few coaches that have turned out to be complete "flops" on it.

Since 1990:

Guys that have done it multiple times:

Nick Saban (5 times)
Urban Meyer (4 times)
Dabo Swinney (2 times)
Chris Peterson (2 times)
Tom Osborne (2 times)
Jimbo Fisher (2 times)
Mack Brown (2 times)

Guys that have done it once:

Bob Pruett
Bob Stoops
Chris Ault
Dan Hawkins
Doc Holliday
Gary Patterson
Gene Chizik
Gene Stallings
Jim Tressel
Kyle Whittingham
LaVell Edwards
Les Miles
Mark Dantonio
Mark Helfrich
Mark Richt
PJ Fleck
Pete Carroll
Phillip Fulmer
Terry Hoeppner
Tom Herman
Tommy Tuberville

On that list, maybe Ault, Hawkins, Helfrich, Holliday, Tuberville have been "flops?" Hoeppner never had success at the P5 level as he passed away, Herman it's still too early to say ... the rest is like a who's who of college coaching in the past few decades. Point being, it's really hard - even in the MAC - to win that many games and usually the guys that do it are guys with staying power. I'll take my chances with a guy that can join that list.
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Wow, thanks for putting that list together. That puts Western Michigan's season in good context.

Go Gophers!!
 

Genious said:
Seriously, what is it about Fleck that's going to make Minnesota BETTER. He doesn't run an innovative offense. Minnesota would have beaten Western Michigan this year yet everybody thought he was God's gift to football because he does pushups on the sideline. Take that crap away and what does he bring to the table?
Click to expand...

PJ is no sure bet.

PJ is a hot prospect.

But let's be clear, we're not a school likely to bring in a sure bet, so hot prospect it is.
 

And despite that amazing record they were not better than Minnesota. I'm not at all persuaded by that argument.
 

Genious said:
And despite that amazing record they were not better than Minnesota. I'm not at all persuaded by that argument.
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I think one year under TC it is super hard to compare.

I would liked to have seen where TC was going, I was ok with how he was doing, liked that bowl game for sure.

But comparisons are really hard with just one TC year, wonky schedule.
 

Genious said:
And despite that amazing record they were not better than Minnesota. I'm not at all persuaded by that argument.
Click to expand...

How do you figure? They didn't play one another. They had three common opponents and had the same record against said common opponents (wins against Northwestern and Illinois, loss to Wisconsin). Advanced stats say we might've lost to them on a neutral field (Sagarin gives Western a 4.5 point edge in a hypothetical matchup, they rated higher than us on S&P+). Basically you're pulling it out of your ass, which is fine, but at least say it's your opinion that they were not better than Minnesota this year, instead of stating it as fact.
 

Gopher07 said:
How do you figure? They didn't play one another. They had three common opponents and had the same record against said common opponents (wins against Northwestern and Illinois, loss to Wisconsin). Advanced stats say we might've lost to them on a neutral field (Sagarin gives Western a 4.5 point edge in a hypothetical matchup). Basically you're pulling it out of your ass, which is fine, but at least say it's your opinion that they were not better than Minnesota this year, instead of stating it as fact.
Click to expand...

Yep. He completely pulled it out of his butt.
 

Great Plains Gopher said:
IF he came here, how long would he stay?
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Why are people continually worried about such a silly thing? Coaches have very short tenures on average, regardless of performance. Ten out of the 14 Big Ten head coaches started in 2014 or after, meaning the majority are 3 seasons or less into the job. If he's a candidate for a "better" job, that means he's had success here. That's a good thing.
 

Genious said:
And despite that amazing record they were not better than Minnesota. I'm not at all persuaded by that argument.
Click to expand...

What basis do you have for saying that they weren't better than Minnesota?
 

I don't think this is BS or a schtick at all. It's an organizing and focusing principle.

It does remind me of Jack Del Rio's "chopping wood" adage when he coached at Jacksonville. (Not sure if they're chopping wood at Oakland.) It's the same concept as rowing the boat: keep hacking away, and eventually you'll break through. He actually kept a log and an ax in the locker room...until his kicker or punter, I don't remember, took a hack at the log. The ax glanced off and made a deep wound in his leg, forcing him out of action for a while. Injury aside, that was pretty funny.
 

dpodoll68 said:
What basis do you have for saying that they weren't better than Minnesota?
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Are you guys serious? How is a person supposed to prove that? Of course it's my opinion. What do you expect? What did you see from them that showed you they were better? Minnesota played Wisconsin tougher than WMU did. Wisconsin controlled the WMU game from start to finish. It got deceptively close because of what was essentially a hail mary. Minnesota plays good strong defense and would have contained their offense the same way Wisconsin did. Plus WMU played Northwestern when NU was playing like crap. They have a ball control offense and solid defense. They are a mid level B1G team, same as Minnesota. They wouldn't have won any games Minnesota lost this year. So....not better. If you're looking for statistical proof, keep waiting. That's not proof anyway, as seen by every word written prior to the Holiday Bowl.
 

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