Minnesota is beginning its 2017 season against Buffalo on Thursday night, and the Gophers will be breaking out some shiny new lids for the occasion. On game day, Minnesota unveiled new helmets that say “Row The Boat” on them, a signature catchphrase coined by Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck.
Minnesota’s new helmets have P.J. Fleck’s ‘Row The Boat’ right on top
The Gophers now have P.J. Fleck’s signature catchphrase visible on their lids.
@GopherFootball
Fleck began using the slogan during his head coaching days at Western Michigan, where he led the Broncos to unprecedented success in 2016, finishing with a 13-1 season. When he accepted the Minnesota job last December and wanted to continue to use the catchphrase at his new gig, he made a $500,000 deal with Western Michigan, which had the words trademarked, to keep the saying it:
In 2015, Fleck got the phrase trademarked at Western Michigan.
That meant that Fleck couldn’t just walk out the door and slap the slogan on anything Gopher related.
But Fleck was adamant about bringing the phrase with him, obviously given its personal nature as well as how integral it is to his brand.
In the end, Fleck was able to take the saying with him to Minnesota. As for the origins if it, the head coach came up with it in the wake of a tragedy in his life.
Fleck’s belief in his mantra is total. In 2011, his newborn son, Colt, died shortly after his birth. That’s when Fleck came up with Row the Boat. Coping by continuing. It eventually worked as a leadership and marketing tool for a football program.
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