Quote collection
147 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"But there's one thing about quitters you have to guard against - they are contagious. If one boy goes, the chances are he'll take somebody with him, and you don't want that. So when they would start acting that way, I used to pack them up and get them out, or embarrass them, or do something to turn them around."
"I can reach a kid who doesn't have any ability as long as he doesn't know it."
"I'm no innovator. If anything I'm a stealer, or borrower. I've stolen or borrowed from more people than you can shake a stick at."
"I tell young players who want to be coaches, who think they can put up with all the headaches and heartaches, can you live without it? If you can live without it, don't get in it."
"When I was a young coach I used to say, "Treat everybody alike." That's bull. Treat everybody fairly."
"In my lifetime, I may have put too much emphasis on winning, because here I am an old man and the only fun I've had is winning, and that's ridiculous."
"Three rules for coaching: 1.) Surround yourself with people who can't live without football. 2.) Recognize winners. They come in all forms. 3.) Have a plan for everything."
"We can't have two standards, one set for the dedicated young men who want to do something ambitious and one set for those who don't."
"Hell, no! A tie is like kissing your sister!"
"That's all it takes to get people to win football games for you."
"I always want my players to show class, knock'em down, pat on the back, and run back to the huddle."
"You try to make your team do something they're not capable of and you get murdered."
"If you don't have discipline, you can't have a successful program."
"If you are going to be a successful duck hunter, you must go where the ducks are."
"If you want to coach you have three rules to follow to win. One, surround yourself with people who can't live without football. I've had a lot of them. Two, be able to recognize winners. They come in all forms. And, three, have a plan for everything. A plan for practice, a plan for the game. A plan for being ahead, and a plan for being behind 20-0 at half, with your quarterback hurt and the phones dead, with it raining cats and dogs and no rain gear because the equipment man left it at home."
"The idea of molding men means a lot to me."
"You have to learn what makes this or that Sammy run. For one it's a pat on the back, for another it's eating him out, for still another it's a fatherly talk, or something else. You're a fool if you think as I did as a young coach, that you can treat them all alike."
"There is no sin in not liking to play; it's a mistake for a boy to be there if he doesn't want to."
"I'm no genius, but I'm a damn good football coach."
"I think I'm telling the truth. I sat by Ray Perkins at the Hall of Fame dinner in New York, and at that time he didn't know he was our coach and I didn't either."