Winston DeLattiboudere was in front of bright lights and cameras again on Monday, but a group interview with local media members paled in comparison to his March appearance on the NBC game show “Password.”

The Gophers assistant football coach was partnered with late-night host Jimmy Fallon versus Jimmy Kimmel and another guest player, with Keke Palmer as host.

DeLattiboudere, a former Gophers defensive lineman, had played the word-association game at home with friends, but after advancing through a few rounds of video auditions, he got a little star struck when filming across from the comedians and in front of a studio audience in Los Angeles.

“I’m looking at them like, ‘OK, don’t mess up, don’t mess up, don’t mess up,’ ” DeLattiboudere shared Monday from the Gophers’ Larson Football Performance Center.

DeLattiboudere and Fallon lost, but they did provide some comic relief. In one online promo, Fallon says “bread” in a supposed French accept, looking for the word “baguette.” But Winston appeared to get hung up on the impression and answers “Dracula.”

In the edited cut-up, Kimmel turns to his female parter and says, “I think we are going to be OK.”

“It was an awesome experience overall, but I wish I would have came home with the win,” DeLattiboudere said. “That’s what I’ll say: I’m competitive by nature.”

DeLattiboudere’s wife, Shelby, saw a social media plug asking if people wanted to be on TV. She commented, “of course.”

Someone with NBC direct messaged her asking if she knew any coaches; she didn’t have to look far.

“All of a sudden she tells me I need you to be on this Zoom,” DeLattiboudere said. “OK. I will be on this Zoom and you are going to be playing ‘Password’ against these people.

“I thought it was a scam — whole entire time. … 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. The first round (audition) turned to the second round turned to the third round.”

Then he got the call to be on the TV show, but he was instructed to keep it quiet. “The one person I did have to tell was coach (P.J.) Fleck, but he kept that secret for me,” DeLattiboudere said. “He held it down.”

DeLattiboudere, 26, has climbed the coaching ranks since playing for the U from 2015-19. After stops at Charlotte, Oregon and Akron, He was hired as the U’s defensive line coach in January 2023. The Baltimore native has been named to best young coaches’ lists, and in January, he was promoted to Gophers’ assistant head coach.

“Coach Fleck called me into the office; we had a very long discussion and conversation,” DeLattiboudere said of his offseason promotion.. “Right before I walked out, after he let me know the good news, he was like, ‘Look at you. You were just running around out there in pads, now you are the assistant head coach.’ … It was a really cool mentor-mentee, kind of like a father-son moment.”

Related Articles

Gophers add California quarterback Jackson Kollock to 2025 recruiting class

Gophers snag Badgers football commitment in Wisconsin defensive lineman Torin Pettaway

Gophers season ends in NIT second-round loss to Indiana State

Gophers defense simplifying scheme to play faster

Charley Walters: Futures of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell hinge on picking right quarterback