Minnesota begins new era under P.J. Fleck as spring practice opens

"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. But there was also turmoil in the program, with mass player suspensions for an alleged sexual assault, a brief player-led bowl…