"Row the boat" and "elite" are now staples in the Minnesota football vocabulary.
They are some of the buzzwords that new coach P.J. Fleck used at Western Michigan, a program he took to the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic last season, and they are concepts he brought with him to the Twin Cities. Of course, it's going to take a lot more than slogans and catch phrases to get the Golden Gophers up to speed, beginning with their first spring practice Tuesday.
Minnesota is coming off a nine-win season and a victory over Washington State in the National Funding Holiday Bowl.