In the college football world today, a head coach must have a hook in order to consistently remain in the public consciousness. Having a memorable personality, an aura about you is no longer an advantage for college football coach, it’s a requisite to survive the recruiting arms race. ย
Minnesota Golden Gophers Coach P.J. Fleck is known first and foremost for his HIGH INTENSITY.
When you transcribe his soundbites, they warrant being typed in ALL CAPS! He’s also known for his motivational mantra โ Row the boat ,โ which is no mere catch-phrase, it’s the spiritual slogan that guides his purpose in life.
Fleck described the origin of its meaning:
โa never-give-up mantraโฆ.Your back is to the future, which is something you cannot control..You donโt know if thereโs rocks, water falls, stormy seas, you donโt know whatโs ahead of you.
“Youโre rowing in the present, which is the only thing you can actually control, and the only thing you can actually have an impact on. You either choose to take your oars and put them back in the boat and stop, or you put them back in the water and continue to go.โ
When Fleck was at Western Michigan, he trademarked the three words Row the boat. In his book he described that the purpose of the the philosophy is to “show you how to choose enthusiasm and optimism as your guiding lights instead of being defined by circumstances and events outside of your control.”
It’s worth mentioning early on that P.J. Fleck does not see a dime off this mantra, and he reiterated today that at B1G Media Day. All the revenue generated from licensing is donated to Masonic Children’s Hospital.
When Fleck left WMU for Minnesota this off-season, the Kalamazoo school retained the trademark. However, several weeks after Fleck took the Golden Gophers job, Fleck and Harlan Sports (a company founded by his agent Bryan Harlan), struck a deal to row the boat west to the land of 10,000 lakes.
To close the deal, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune: “Fleck committed to donate $10,000 per year for a minimum of five years to his former teamโs scholarship fund. Hisย previous commitment of $50,000 to renovate the schoolโs football center will still be honored.”
“I think we’re very lucky, we’re very honored to be able to have a slogan behind our brand and our image that means way more than football;” Fleck said on dais. “that even football fans of football can enjoy and then people who maybe aren’t necessarily fans of football can still truly connect with our culture of what row the boat means.”
“I think it was five years ago, we brought row the boat to Western Michigan. And for a university to be able to use that logo, you’ve got to be able to trademark it, license it, and then you also have to do it with the university’s logo to use it.”
“I don’t make any money from the row the boat saying. There’s a portion that University of Minnesota will take and donate to charity at the Masonic Children’s Hospital, which is something that my wife, Heather, and our family really feel strongly about that we would like that to be able to happen.”
Thereย are still some restrictions in place regarding usage. According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Western Michigan still hasn’t technically transferred it to Minnesota.
“But, yes, we’re able to use it,” Fleck continued.
“There’s not many restrictions on it. It’s just very complex when you use it because the official logo that we have it has row the boat in it, and it has the block M in it. There’s a lot of different licensing and trademarks that go along with it.”
“John Cunningham, Mark Coyle, our athletic director and assistant athletic director, have done a tremendous job of educating me, our licensing department to make it all fit. So we’re very lucky to have it. I love being able to bring it with us.”
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor ofย The Sports Bank.ย Heโs also theย author of โTransatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,โ andย โNo, I Canโt Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.โ
He currently contributes to USA Todayโs NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG.org. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN.ย You can follow himย onย Linked Inย andย Twitter.
