Iceland12
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This was from a Michigan Live column back in 2015. For the people who say that he's not sincere, gotta at least give him credit for sticking with his stuff for quite awhile now.
KALAMAZOO, MI - P.J. Fleck opened a cabinet above his desk and revealed a row of thick binders containing what some might consider the ingredients of the secret sauce of the Western Michigan football program.
Somewhere in those binders is a full description of the 150 to 200 words, phrases and sayings that make up a "Bronconese" language, which defines the program.
People looking in on the program have likely heard or seen some of these words and phrases, like "row the boat," "roWINg," "elite," "change your best" and others. Their meanings are sometimes met with ridicule as Fleck's approach is eccentric and progressive, but the third-year coach isn't deterred by the backlash.
"This is us. This is who we are," he said. "Whenever you put something out there like I always do, there is always positive and negative, but this is who we are. "...We have a lot of words now. From the outside perspective looking in, you're going to say, 'Gosh, he has a lot of words and phrases.' We do, but our players know the definitions of them. They get tested on them."..
Boat - The sacrifice that defines what the WMU football program is made of. Related: Row the boat.
Change - Truthful listening.
Change your best - At Western Michigan, your best isn't good enough. If you're doing your best you're staying the same. Whatever you did today is in yesterday's news. You change your best by doing truthful listening. Your best is better than your best.
Chemis-tree - Constant change at the root of the family. People look at a tree's trunk to see how experienced it is. No one can see the root system of a tree. You see the trunk and the leaves, which are the family. How healthy the root system is how healthy the tree is.
Compass - The direction the WMU football program will go. Learning from past experiences. Related: Row the boat.
(Being) Different - Doing something else, not doing more.
Elite - Like joy. A lifestyle. An outlook. You don't let circumstances dictate feeling or behavior. It's a perspective of how that circumstance is looked at and then it becomes a way of life.
FFF - Fuel. Fierce. Finish. Seen on T-shirts and social media. Mind, body, spirit for fuel. Fierce is all about championship habits and instincts. Finish is all about details and the little things when people get tired and beat up. Finishing is the hardest part.
F.A.M.I.L.Y. - Forget About Me I Love You. Our job is to teach guys what a real family is. What we have to do is sit there and get everybody to believe in one vision.
Failing - Growth. Failing sometimes comes with hard decisions, but you have to make those decisions to grow.
Failure - Quitting.
Farmer's alliance - Unselfishness. When you grow corn, the seeds are on top and when the wind blows, if you're next to crops that aren't taken care of, no matter how well yours are taken care of, they are going to be destroyed. The idea of unselfishness is even if you're not the starter, you have to make the starter better. It's holding everybody accountable and it's about looking after your own crop.
FEAR - False Evidence Appearing Real.
Heartwork - Hard work plus purpose, pride and passion. The inside measure of a man. We don't believe in just hard work here. Everybody in the world works hard. Everyone has their own version of how hard they work.
HE'S here - Hydrate. Eat. Sleep. Any place that we can replenish, rest or eat. We've made our (Bill Brown Alumni Football Center) into a place where every player can do that. There are signs that say "HE'S here" where players can do that.
(The) How - Combination of nekton mentality, Prefontaine pace and farmer's alliance. Your how will make your who. The how is really your heartwork. Similar to: How Mountain, Hownado, etc.
Hungry dog - A dangerous dog. A dog that's hungry and starving will do anything to eat. He's going to find a way to get it done. That's what we do. We find a way.
Leadership - Influencing others.
Love - Sacrifice. Once you sacrifice something, you are showing love toward it. That's how you show love to a teammate.
Maturity - When something you're supposed to do becomes what you want to do.
Monday - A day of the week that doesn't exist in the WMU football program. If you really love what you do, there is no such thing as Monday. You don't have a case of the Mondays. There is no start of the week. It's just the next day you're growing. Stems from heartwork.
Nekton mentality - Always attacking. Never full. What a nekton really is, is an organism that can float freely through any water current without the current dictating its behavior.
Oars - The energy of where the WMU football program is trying to go and how it will get there. Related: Row the boat.
Prefontaine pace - Urgent. The style we live our life. It's an urgent pace. It's the tempo of your life. When I think of fast, I think of hurried and rushed. You're going to miss things when you're fast. When you're urgent, it's well thought out and planned, but when you go, you go.
Row the boat (RTB) - Mantra and philosophy that defines the WMU football program in P.J. Fleck's tenure. When you're rowing a boat you're not facing the direction you're going. You have to row with the same efficiency, same power, same speed and same energy as the other people in the boat to get from point A to point B as fast as possible. If one person in the boat slows down and not do their job we'll zig-zag.
RoWINg - Rowing equals winning. The only way you win in any aspect of your life is to keep your oar in the water. A staple in the WMU football program.
W2F - Worst to first. Seen on T-shirts and on social media. A slogan for the 2014 season. If WMU wanted to go from worst to first place there were things the Broncos had to do.
From the WMU football book of quotes:
"Never let the circumstances dictate your behavior."
"Pain of discipline versus pain of regret."
"A man distracted is a man defeated."
"If you control yourself you control your opponent."
http://www.mlive.com/broncos/index.ssf/2015/04/learn_bronconese_western_michi.html
KALAMAZOO, MI - P.J. Fleck opened a cabinet above his desk and revealed a row of thick binders containing what some might consider the ingredients of the secret sauce of the Western Michigan football program.
Somewhere in those binders is a full description of the 150 to 200 words, phrases and sayings that make up a "Bronconese" language, which defines the program.
People looking in on the program have likely heard or seen some of these words and phrases, like "row the boat," "roWINg," "elite," "change your best" and others. Their meanings are sometimes met with ridicule as Fleck's approach is eccentric and progressive, but the third-year coach isn't deterred by the backlash.
"This is us. This is who we are," he said. "Whenever you put something out there like I always do, there is always positive and negative, but this is who we are. "...We have a lot of words now. From the outside perspective looking in, you're going to say, 'Gosh, he has a lot of words and phrases.' We do, but our players know the definitions of them. They get tested on them."..
Boat - The sacrifice that defines what the WMU football program is made of. Related: Row the boat.
Change - Truthful listening.
Change your best - At Western Michigan, your best isn't good enough. If you're doing your best you're staying the same. Whatever you did today is in yesterday's news. You change your best by doing truthful listening. Your best is better than your best.
Chemis-tree - Constant change at the root of the family. People look at a tree's trunk to see how experienced it is. No one can see the root system of a tree. You see the trunk and the leaves, which are the family. How healthy the root system is how healthy the tree is.
Compass - The direction the WMU football program will go. Learning from past experiences. Related: Row the boat.
(Being) Different - Doing something else, not doing more.
Elite - Like joy. A lifestyle. An outlook. You don't let circumstances dictate feeling or behavior. It's a perspective of how that circumstance is looked at and then it becomes a way of life.
FFF - Fuel. Fierce. Finish. Seen on T-shirts and social media. Mind, body, spirit for fuel. Fierce is all about championship habits and instincts. Finish is all about details and the little things when people get tired and beat up. Finishing is the hardest part.
F.A.M.I.L.Y. - Forget About Me I Love You. Our job is to teach guys what a real family is. What we have to do is sit there and get everybody to believe in one vision.
Failing - Growth. Failing sometimes comes with hard decisions, but you have to make those decisions to grow.
Failure - Quitting.
Farmer's alliance - Unselfishness. When you grow corn, the seeds are on top and when the wind blows, if you're next to crops that aren't taken care of, no matter how well yours are taken care of, they are going to be destroyed. The idea of unselfishness is even if you're not the starter, you have to make the starter better. It's holding everybody accountable and it's about looking after your own crop.
FEAR - False Evidence Appearing Real.
Heartwork - Hard work plus purpose, pride and passion. The inside measure of a man. We don't believe in just hard work here. Everybody in the world works hard. Everyone has their own version of how hard they work.
HE'S here - Hydrate. Eat. Sleep. Any place that we can replenish, rest or eat. We've made our (Bill Brown Alumni Football Center) into a place where every player can do that. There are signs that say "HE'S here" where players can do that.
(The) How - Combination of nekton mentality, Prefontaine pace and farmer's alliance. Your how will make your who. The how is really your heartwork. Similar to: How Mountain, Hownado, etc.
Hungry dog - A dangerous dog. A dog that's hungry and starving will do anything to eat. He's going to find a way to get it done. That's what we do. We find a way.
Leadership - Influencing others.
Love - Sacrifice. Once you sacrifice something, you are showing love toward it. That's how you show love to a teammate.
Maturity - When something you're supposed to do becomes what you want to do.
Monday - A day of the week that doesn't exist in the WMU football program. If you really love what you do, there is no such thing as Monday. You don't have a case of the Mondays. There is no start of the week. It's just the next day you're growing. Stems from heartwork.
Nekton mentality - Always attacking. Never full. What a nekton really is, is an organism that can float freely through any water current without the current dictating its behavior.
Oars - The energy of where the WMU football program is trying to go and how it will get there. Related: Row the boat.
Prefontaine pace - Urgent. The style we live our life. It's an urgent pace. It's the tempo of your life. When I think of fast, I think of hurried and rushed. You're going to miss things when you're fast. When you're urgent, it's well thought out and planned, but when you go, you go.
Row the boat (RTB) - Mantra and philosophy that defines the WMU football program in P.J. Fleck's tenure. When you're rowing a boat you're not facing the direction you're going. You have to row with the same efficiency, same power, same speed and same energy as the other people in the boat to get from point A to point B as fast as possible. If one person in the boat slows down and not do their job we'll zig-zag.
RoWINg - Rowing equals winning. The only way you win in any aspect of your life is to keep your oar in the water. A staple in the WMU football program.
W2F - Worst to first. Seen on T-shirts and on social media. A slogan for the 2014 season. If WMU wanted to go from worst to first place there were things the Broncos had to do.
From the WMU football book of quotes:
"Never let the circumstances dictate your behavior."
"Pain of discipline versus pain of regret."
"A man distracted is a man defeated."
"If you control yourself you control your opponent."
http://www.mlive.com/broncos/index.ssf/2015/04/learn_bronconese_western_michi.html