5 Reasons P.J. Fleck Should be the Next Notre Dame Head Coach

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Nov 27, 2015; Toledo, OH, USA; Western Michigan Broncos head coach P.J. Fleck talks to players during the fourth quarter against the Toledo Rockets at Glass Bowl. Broncos win 35-30. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports /

Row the Boat

When he first took over at Western Michigan in 2013, Fleck brought his “Row the Boat” mantra to the school. As Fleck explains,

"“There are three parts to rowing the boat. There is the oar, which is the energy behind rowing the boat. There is boat, which is the actual sacrifice, either our team or the administration or the boosters or the audience or whoever is willing to sacrifice for this program. There is also the compass. Every single person that comes in contact with our football program, fans or not, they are all going for one common goal and that is success.”"

The philosophy is predicated on an offense that utilizes the quarterback mainly as a distributor. By his second season in Kalamazoo, the Broncos were ranked sixth nationally in team passing efficiency. They haven’t fallen out of the top ten since, and are currently ranked third nationally in the category.

Those sorts of numbers would be a welcome change of pace for a program that hasn’t been nearly as good at quarterback despite having far more talent at the position. Neither Everett Golson nor Malik Zaire nor DeShone Kizer has been nearly as effective getting the ball around to the skill players. If anyone might be able to maximize the potential playmakers in South Bend, it’s the guy with the funny mantra.

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