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

BleedGopher

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per Joe:

One fundamental change P.J. Fleck wants to make to the Gophers football program is moving practices from afternoons to mornings, the new coach said Wednesday.

Northwestern has held morning practices for years, under Pat Fitzgerald, and Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz made the switch from afternoon to morning practices in 2015. Fleck said he has heard five of the 14 Big Ten teams now practice in the mornings.

Fleck switched Western Michigan to morning practices after his first season there and liked how it worked for his final three years with the Broncos. He hopes to convert the Gophers to morning practices by this fall, though internal university discussions are ongoing.

One potential drawback to morning practices would be trimming the list of available undergraduate classes, which mostly fall between 8 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Shrinking class options could make it harder for players to complete certain majors. Allowing them to start class at 11 a.m., instead of noon, for example, could make a difference.

“That was the leeway I gave them,” Fleck said of his discussions with the administration. “I said, ‘If noon is too hard, we’re usually done with practice before 11 anyway.’ ”

But Fleck stressed the academic benefits of morning practices.

“First of all, when you come to a university that’s a top-20 public institution in the country, the No. 1 thing obviously is our academics,” he said. “And I understand all that. I think part of having morning practices makes them a better student.”

Fleck said with morning practices, coaches wouldn’t have to worry about players sleeping in and missing class. Their day would start with a 7 a.m. team meeting, often including a motivational session “on a certain topic that gives them perspective for the entire day.”

“At 11 a.m., they’re done with football for the rest of the day,” Fleck said. “Their academic tutors clear up — those become easily accessible to schedule, meetings with professors that might have only office time at 4:45-5. They can at least go there because their whole afternoon’s [open].”

http://www.startribune.com/p-j-fleck-wants-to-overhaul-gophers-football-practice-schedule/413883313/

Go Gophers!!
 

Seems logical from a class attendance perspective.
 






I guess it depends on how much it would impact scheduling of classes, but it seems like a good idea.
 

If most of the courses that they need to take fall between 8 am and 3 pm, eliminating 3 to 4 hours for football practice doesn't seem to jive with the whole 4 pillars of eliteness.
 

It would seem that having morning classes scheduled and afternoon practice would make it really easy to slip into a mode where you skip class but make it to practice. I think Fleck is trying to set them up for success by getting their football in early and allow them to use the rest of their day to dedicate to studies. Otherwise, there's a lot of context shifting: classes in the morning, practice in the afternoon, tutoring and studying at night.
 



It would seem that having morning classes scheduled and afternoon practice would make it really easy to slip into a mode where you skip class but make it to practice. I think Fleck is trying to set them up for success by getting their football in early and allow them to use the rest of their day to dedicate to studies. Otherwise, there's a lot of context shifting: classes in the morning, practice in the afternoon, tutoring and studying at night.

Agree.
 

Also encourages the young men to get to bed on time! Nobody likes running sprints after a night of no sleep.
 

It would seem that having morning classes scheduled and afternoon practice would make it really easy to slip into a mode where you skip class but make it to practice. I think Fleck is trying to set them up for success by getting their football in early and allow them to use the rest of their day to dedicate to studies. Otherwise, there's a lot of context shifting: classes in the morning, practice in the afternoon, tutoring and studying at night.

I don't really see how it changes much. I mean, you can also just monitor class room attendance.

We all had early classes in college and it was really hard to not just show up and dose off, so maybe he is protecting against that issue. However, I'm not so sure that a 2 PM class, after lunch and a 3 hour practice wouldn't also induce some sleepy students.

I guess maybe the only positive part of it is that it helps regulate their sleep schedule. Some posters made a good point, you might be a bit more diligent about getting to bed if you have to run at 8 AM compared to having to sit in a class at 10:00 AM. So, that's a positive. The only question is whether that positive is enough to offset the potential negative of limiting their class choices (which I know nothing about, they just referenced it in the article).
 

I don't really see how it changes much. I mean, you can also just monitor class room attendance.

We all had early classes in college and it was really hard to not just show up and dose off, so maybe he is protecting against that issue. However, I'm not so sure that a 2 PM class, after lunch and a 3 hour practice wouldn't also induce some sleepy students.

I guess maybe the only positive part of it is that it helps regulate their sleep schedule. Some posters made a good point, you might be a bit more diligent about getting to bed if you have to run at 8 AM compared to having to sit in a class at 10:00 AM. So, that's a positive. The only question is whether that positive is enough to offset the potential negative of limiting their class choices (which I know nothing about, they just referenced it in the article).

I can't speak for others but the few times I skipped class was because I didn't want to get out of bed and/or didn't want to leave the house.
 



Whatever Fleck wants to do is fine.

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

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.
 

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?
 

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.
 

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.
 

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.
 

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.
 

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.
 

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.
 

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.
 

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!!!
 

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.
 

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.
 




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