Football Coaches’ Quotes

Football Coaches' Quotes“Show me a good and gracious loser… and I’ll show you a failure.” ~ Knute Rockne / Notre Dame

“I make my practices real hard… because if a player is a quitter… I want him to quit in practice, not in a game.” ~ Bear Bryant / Alabama

“It isn’t necessary to see a good tackle… You can hear it.” ~ Knute Rockne / Notre Dame

“At Georgia Southern, we don’t cheat… That costs money and we don’t have any.” ~ Erk Russell / Georgia Southern.

“Football is only a game. Spiritual things are eternal. Nevertheless, Beat Texas.” ~ Seen on a church sign in Arkansas prior to the 1969 game.

“After you retire, there’s only one big event left… and I ain’t ready for that.” ~ Bobby Bowden / Florida State

“The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it.” ~ Lou Holtz / Arkansas

“When you win, nothing hurts.” ~ Joe Namath / Alabama

“Motivation is simple. You eliminate those who are not motivated.” ~ Lou Holtz / Arkansas

“If you want to walk the heavenly streets of gold… you gotta know the password, “Roll, tide, roll!” ~ Bear Bryant / Alabama

“A school without football is in danger of deteriorating into a medieval study hall.” ~ Frank Leahy / Notre Dame

“There’s nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you.” ~ Woody Hayes / Ohio State

“I don’t expect to win enough games to be put on NCAA probation. I just want to win enough to warrant an investigation.” ~ Bob Devaney / Nebraska

“In Alabama, an atheist is… someone who doesn’t believe in Bear Bryant.” ~ Wally Butts / Georgia

“You can learn more character on the two-yard line than anywhere else in life.” ~ Paul Dietzel / LSU

“It’s kind of hard to rally around a math class.” ~ Bear Bryant / Alabama

When asked if Fayetteville was the end of the world. “No, but you can see it from here.” ~ Lou Holtz / Arkansas

“There’s one sure way to stop us from scoring … give us the ball near the goal line.” Matty Bell / SMU

“Lads, you’re not to miss practice unless your parents died or you died.” ~ Frank Leahy / Notre Dame

“I never graduated from Iowa, but I was only there for two terms – Truman’s and Eisenhower’s.” ~ Alex Karras / Iowa

“My advice to defensive players: Take the shortest route to the ball and arrive in a bad humor.” ~ Bowden Wyatt / Tennessee

“I could have been a Rhodes Scholar… except for my grades.” ~ Duffy Daugherty / Michigan State

“Always remember … Goliath was a 40-point favorite over David.” ~ Shug Jordan / Auburn

“They cut us up like boarding house pie… And that’s real small pieces.” ~ Darrell Royal / Texas

“They whipped us like a tied up goat.” ~ Spike Dykes / Texas Tech

“I asked Darrell Royal, the coach of the Texas Longhorns, why he didn’t recruit me and he said: ‘Well, Walt, we took a look at you and you weren’t any good.'” ~ Walt Garrison / Oklahoma State

“Son, you’ve got a good engine, but your hands aren’t on the steering wheel.” ~ Bobby Bowden / Florida State

“Football is NOT a contact sport – it is a collision sport. Dancing IS a contact sport.” ~ Duffy Daugherty / Michigan State

After USC lost 51-0 to Notre Dame, his post-game message to his team: “All those who need showers… take them.” ~ John McKay / USC

“If lessons are learned in defeat… our team is getting a great education.” ~ Murray Warmath / Minnesota

“The only qualifications for a lineman are to be big and dumb. To be a back, you only have to be dumb.” ~ Knute Rockne / Notre Dame

“Oh, we played about like three tons of buzzard puke this afternoon.” ~ Spike Dykes / Texas Tech

“We live one day at a time and scratch where it itches.” ~ Darrell Royal / Texas

“We didn’t tackle well today, but we made up for it by not blocking.” ~ John McKay / USC

“Three things can happen when you throw the ball, and two of them are bad.” ~ Darrell Royal / University of Texas

“I’ve found that prayers work best… when you have big players.” ~ Knute Rockne / Notre Dame