(01-14-2017 06:00 PM)flushtheherd Wrote:  So its apparent that Lester is open to keeping some of the verbiage that Fleck left behind... Curious as to what we should keep and what we should dump..

RTB/Row the Boat/Row etc. - Ditch
Elite - Keep
Prefontain Pace - Keep
Nekton Mentality - Keep
Hungry Dod is a Dangerous Dog - Meh
Change Your Best - Keep
F.A.M.I.L.Y (forget about me I love you) - Keep

... All in all I would keep everything that doesn't revolve around rowing.

(01-14-2017 06:05 PM)Motown Bronco Wrote:  Ball is the Program = keep

(01-15-2017 07:53 AM)brovol Wrote:  I think we should keep RTB. As I said in another thread, RTB means something, to the players and the program. Who cares if fleck came up with it, or why he says he came up with it (the son he lost, which I never really understood). RTB actually is a general euphemism of teamwork. A group needs to be in sync and row together in the same direction, with a common goal, regardless of how calm or choppy the water is, to reach a high level of achievement. Not just the players on the team, but coaches and administration, fans and anyone else.

People want to ditch it because they think it represents Fleck, but people have used the saying "everybody rowing the boat in the same direction" forever. Fleck just pasted it everywhere, and used it as a calling card, which was fine. The players understood what it meant and still do.

One huge distinction between fleck and Lester which I identified after Lester's press event yesterday, is that fleck is a great speaker, and Lester isn't. Fleck is able put present his thoughts in a way which makes them easier to understand and digest. He uses slogans and concepts to communicate the same principles that other coaches want to communicate, but the fleckisms make them easier to appreciate and remember for a player, or fans, or the Media.

If you are a new teacher in an English class, and the old teacher used an acronym to teach the students the conjunctions, and the students became perfect in terms of understanding the conjunctions, why wouldn't you just continue to use whatever the old teacher used if it was working so well? Why reinvent the wheel?

The added bonus of keeping and using RTB is that fleck wouldn't be able to.

(01-15-2017 10:57 AM)The Colonel Wrote:  Not exactly a Fleck-ism, but I like how our defensive players put their fist up after a third-down stop:



I've always thought that was kind of unique and cool. Hope we continue to do this, especially if Pinkham continues as DC.

(01-15-2017 07:53 AM)brovol Wrote:  One huge distinction between fleck and Lester which I identified after Lester's press event yesterday, is that fleck is a great speaker, and Lester isn't. Fleck is able put present his thoughts in a way which makes them easier to understand and digest. He uses slogans and concepts to communicate the same principles that other coaches want to communicate, but the fleckisms make them easier to appreciate and remember for a player, or fans, or the Media.

Quote:When Tim Lester interviewed for the Western Michigan football coaching job four years ago, he had the same recruiting philosophy as P.J. Fleck. He just couldn’t articulate it as concisely.

“I told (athletic director) Kathy (Beauregard), ‘We need to focus here,’” Lester said Saturday, reenacting the scene, as if he were frantically pointing to different cities on a map. “Then (Fleck) got the job and called it a ‘six-hour radius,’ which is way cooler than I could come up with. It was the same thing. It just sounded cooler.”

(01-15-2017 02:13 PM)NYbronco Wrote:  Anyone we play: Whats the deal with Row the boat?

Us: Well our old coaches 2nd son died of a heart condition...Sacrifice...Turdville.... Row the boat.

I think it is ok if we let him take it

(01-15-2017 02:46 PM)brovol Wrote:  

(01-15-2017 02:13 PM)NYbronco Wrote:  Anyone we play: Whats the deal with Row the boat?

Us: Well our old coaches 2nd son died of a heart condition...Sacrifice...Turdville.... Row the boat.

I think it is ok if we let him take it

RTB was not about flecks kid. He just related it to his kid. RTB was always about team, and everyone being in sync to accomplish a goal or goals. Fleck did not invent the concept or RTB. I have used the phrase "everyone needs to row the boat in the same direction" for years in my family court cases, long before fleck was hired at WMU, and the phrase has been used generally by people for ages. It's a good analogy, and is a phrase which works well whether fleck is here or not.

I don't think we need to change things just to change, or just because fleck used them. These are "concepts" and values which fleck emphasized, but which should be emphasized by all coaches. If Lester is good, he will not fix things that aren't broken. I hope he recognizes what fleck did which attracted recruits, and got those kids to play as well as they did.

Fleck is a good coach because he gets it. He understands what it takes to build a great program. These concepts are important. Why abandon them simply because he is gone? It's like changing our offense.

CMU went through a couple coaching changes when they were in their glory years. The first time the new coach kept doing what the old coach did. The second guy changed things when he didn't need to. The first instance they maintained there momentum. The second instance they lost it.