Gophers’ Winston DeLattiboudere appears on NBC’s Password

Gophers coach talks playing NBC's Password

Gophers defensive line and assistant head coach Winston DeLattiboudere talked Monday about playing Password on NBC with Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The University of Minnesota football team is in the middle of spring practice, but last month one of the Gophers’ coaches got a chance to be on national TV.

Winston DeLattiboudere does not lack personality. What he thought at first was a scam turned out to be a night with Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel on NBC’s "Password." It all started with his wife, after she commented on a social media post about wanting to be on TV. The show was looking for coaches.

The next thing DeLattiboudere knew, he was playing "Password" on Zoom with other competitors.

"I thought it was a scam the whole entire time. I’m like this is a scam, but my wife is asking me to do it. I don’t want to argue with her right now, so I’m just going to keep on going. All of a sudden I get an email, don’t tell anybody, you’re going to be on Password," DeLattiboudere said Monday.

One person he had to tell due to spring scheduling: P.J. Fleck. DeLattiboudere got on a flight to Los Angeles, and had his moment in the national spotlight.

"It was an awesome experience overall, but I wish I would’ve come home with a win. I’m competitive in nature," DeLattiboudere said. "I have played Password before, just with my buddies and my friends, the take-home version of Password. I’ve never played it with Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon and Keke Palmer and I’m looking at them like OK, don’t mess up. It was fun, kind of like charades."

DELATTIBOUDERE ELEVATED TO ASSISTANT HEAD COACH

It wasn’t that long ago that DeLattiboudere was an edge rusher for Fleck, standing out on the 2019 team that went 11-2 and beat Auburn in the Outback Bowl.

He started coaching in 2020 at Charlotte as a graduate assistant, eventually taking the same position at Oregon. He spent the 2022 season as the defensive line coach at Akron before returning to the Gophers to coach under Fleck last season. He was the defensive line coach, and newcomer coordinator.

He got an elevation in January, as Fleck named him an assistant head coach.

"It’s been amazing. Coach Fleck called me into his office, we had a long discussion and conversation and right before I walked out after he let me know the good news, he’s like ‘look at you. You were just out there running around in pads, now you’re the assistant head coach.’ It was a really cool mentor/mentee, kind of like a father/son moment between him and I. It’s been a blast so far," DeLattiboudere said.