In his 15 months as the Gophers' assistant football coach, Winston Delativdere III has held a variety of jobs, including defensive line coach, rookie coordinator and, as of January, assistant head coach. He added a new contestant to the game show “Password” in March during an episode of “The Tonight Show” that featured Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel as opponents.
It all started when Delattibudere's wife, Shelby, commented on a social media post, which led NBC officials to contact her.
“She was asked if she knew the coach, and she is married to the coach,” DeLaTibdere said Monday. “So all of a sudden she said to me, 'Hey, I'm going to put you on this Zoom and you're going to play against these people with passwords.'”
He was skeptical at first.
“I always thought it was a scam,” he said. “I'm like, 'This is a scam, but my wife asked me to. I don't want to argue with my wife right now, so I'm just going to keep going.'” Round one turned into round two, then round three, and suddenly… I received an email. “Hey, don't tell anyone, but you're supposed to be on 'Password.'”
DeLaTibdere had to downplay information about the downs to Gophers coach P.J. Fleck. Soon, Delativ Dere flew to Los Angeles for her 15 minutes of late-night fame.
“Overall it was a great experience,” he said.
Delativdere returned to spring practice and immediately switched his focus from password to pass rush. His goal is to build on the Gophers' improvement from 19 sacks in 2022 to 26 sacks last year, including an improvement of 9.5 sacks from the defensive line.
“One of the things we talked about a lot was pass rush conditioning,” he said. “That's something that not only defensive line coaches but coaches in general think about a lot. How many reps, how many moves, how many things can you put together in a two-minute practice, or in the amount of time you know you're going to make a sack?” Can we do it?” How to eliminate an offense that can no longer promote soccer? ”
backend depth
Nick Monroe coaches cornerbacks for the Gophers, who were missing from spring practice last year.
“We've doubled the room,” Monroe said. “There's a lot of players there now. There's competitive depth. During the spring game last year, we were bouncing players back and forth between the Maroon and Gold teams. It's a completely different atmosphere now. And it’s much more fun.”
One of the players added is Ethan Robinson, a transfer from Bucknell who has one year of eligibility remaining. The 6-0, 180-pound Robinson has appeared in 31 games over the past three seasons, collecting 154 tackles, breaking 25 passes and intercepting five passes. His experience is welcome in a secondary that lost a productive corner in Trevon Jones.
“He's a professional in every way,” Monroe said. “He's a winner. He's a playmaker.”
looking to the future
One of the biggest holes the Gophers will fill on defense will be at safety Tyler Nubin heading to the NFL. One player who could help fill that hole is Koy Perich, a four-star freshman from Esco College who will join the program in June.
“I don't have a crystal ball, but we're going to do everything we can to get him as ready as possible so that we all have to be ready for kickoff on Saturday,'' safeties coach Danny Collins said. Ta.
