A peek into new Gophers coach P.J. Fleck’s jargon (original) (raw)

Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck often spouts catchphrases and buzzwords that require their own dictionary. And it appears there will be one.

Fleck’s coaching staff is investing in a book with the working title of “Gopher 101,” said Trenton Guthrie, a Gophers recruit. Guthrie hasn’t seen it yet, but he believes it will have new vocabulary words for players to learn. Likely to among them are:

How — “It’s how you do something, something you sacrifice,” recruit Nate Umlor said. “When you play football, you are going to ‘outhow’ that person, and we are going to outwant it.” Guthrie added, “We call ourselves the Howfers now, like Gophers.”

Row the boat — Fleck’s personal mantra which became Western Michigan’s calling card.

Prefontaine pace — This is based on the late Olympic distance runner Steve Prefontaine, who narrowly missed on a medal in the 1972 Summer Games in Munich. “He would go as fast as he can,” Umlor explained. “If he won, he won. If he didn’t, he didn’t. But he knew if he lost, he had given it his all. That is one of my favorites.”

Start fast, finish strong — “It’s a motto for life,” Guthrie said. “If you are in class doing homework, if you are running sprints or are in the weight room. … There is an ‘accelerate through the middle’ in there, but it sounds better as SFFS.”

Nekton — Aquatic organisms that can swim independently of a water’s current. “A great white shark is nekton … because they can go against the current and jump 50 feet out of the water, eat a seal and become parallel with the water,” Umlor declared. “The meaning is, he doesn’t let his situation dictate what he’s going to do.”

Elite — “It’s the best you can be,” Umlor said.

Originally Published: January 27, 2017 at 4:40 PM CST