STrib: Gophers coach P.J. Fleck wants to move practices from afternoon to morning

[Word]

Whatever Fleck wants to do is fine.

But worth remembering that our team GPA/overall academic performance under the previous regime was excellent.

Yeah - not much of an academic problem to solve. It would really have to be for football or other reasons. I'm not saying it's a bad idea, but by the usual academic measures the Kill/Claeys era was great. I actually thought Kill did something really early in the morning but maybe that was just weight training?

[#2Gopher]

Games are quite often at 11:00 a.m. Why not get the body acclimated for that? If the game is in the afternoon or evening then they will be ready all the more.

[short ornery norwegian]

I don't see any problem - providing that the scheduling issues can be worked out. If a player is pursing a certain major, and he needs a class that is only offered in the morning, then you've got an issue.

[fmlizard]

In my athletic days (not playing U Football) I always preferred morning practices. Gets your whole body and mind going for the day, and easier to schedule life around. If I were the coach, I would do it.

[Johnny Olson]

Ha! Not sure if you meant this, but it's funny! Probably had them the day after his moral victories.

Yes, I beleve he did have mourning practices.
How quickly we have forgotten how far this program has come over the last six years.

[Killjoy]

I may be totally off here but I thought there was EARLY morning strength and conditioning at approximately 6:30 am. It probably wasn't during the season and spring ball though.

[GophersInIowa]

I may be totally off here but I thought there was EARLY morning strength and conditioning at approximately 6:30 am. It probably wasn't during the season and spring ball though.

It's pretty normal for teams to do the off season conditioning in the mornings.

[60's Guy]

Agreed conditioning in the morning makes sense. Guys are up, which means they had to go to bed at a decent hour. But practicing at 7am is not what I would do. You will never play a game at 7am. Yes we have 11am games but we also have midday and evening games. Practice closer to the time you play games. Simulate similar conditions.
Flip side: Do you get better focus because you haven't started your day with any other stimulus such as relationships or homework assignments? Probably...they are there with a blank slate to start the day. But, is that a good thing? In life, in football games adversity happens. Finding focus, overcoming it, seems more helpful to me practicing in the afternoon...more closely simulating game time and body clocks.
How do Clemson, Alabama, Ohio State, Washington, Michigan, Penn St do it? Don't really care how Northwestern does it.
Is the real reason to spend more time afternoons and evenings recruiting? If so, say so.

[60's Guy]

In my athletic days (not playing U Football) I always preferred morning practices. Gets your whole body and mind going for the day, and easier to schedule life around. If I were the coach, I would do it.

Exactly. But to the elite teams their life is football. The idea isn't to get football out of the way...it's to psyche yourself up all day to deliver the best performance you can. To explode after getting rid of all the life stuff to the joy of football practice...highlight of the day! You get to practice now!!!

[Vandy]

UNLV has done the morning practice thing for two years. Has not translated into many wins, but it may be a good use of time.

Well, during late Spring, Summer and Fall, the temps in LV tend to limit outdoor physical activity, so this is not really a fair comparison. But yeah, UNLV stinks.

[Pompous Elitist]

Different people have different preferences. I've always preferred afternoon or evening exercise but I'm also a night owl. It's been my realization I'm probably in the minority on that preference. Early morning workouts, particularly if pre-dawn without breakfast were just terrible but I sucked it up. To each their own and again I realize I'm probably in the minority.