Quotes & Sayings About Coaches From Players

I think the most important thing of all for any team is a winning attitude. The coaches must have it. The players must have it. The student body must have it. If you have dedicated players who believe in themselves, you don't need a lot of talent. — Bear Bryant

At the high school level, the coaches get these kids in revenue-driven sports and take them away from baseball. There's so much pressure on these kids to even play spring football. We need to get the African-American players back in the game, which I think would make it not only a better game, but more exciting and entertaining for everyone. — Pat Gillick

There's an old saying amongst players in football talking about your general manger and coaches, they speak with a forked tongue. — Joe Namath

I want to use my connections with coaches, players, celebrities, whomever, and if I can take that friendship and use it to help someone else, I'm going to take advantage of that. I'm not going to apologize for that. — Tim Tebow

Coaches win practices, players win games — Pete Carril

Chelsea's players, coaches and agents are now football's wealthiest millionaires. Surely the billions taken from the Russian people by an oligarch in questionable privatisations couldn't be better spent? — Simon Kuper

I'm a little skeptical of foreign coaches in our league and in U.S. Soccer just because of how different our league is and our players are than other players around the world. — Landon Donovan

There was no publicity. You had to like it. There was no pressure, just great competition. The attitude of the coaches and players was exceptional. — Jim Brown

At a youth soccer game you'll probably hear parents and coaches on the sidelines yelling, 'Pass the ball! Pass the ball!' ... When we continually tell our young players to pass the ball, we're not allowing them to develop their full potential, especially those who have the ability to take their opponents on and beat them one-on-one. As a result, we run the risk of diminishing a player's artistry and potential. — Tony DiCicco

When you play professionally, you get accustomed to turnover. Players come and go - they get injured, they get transferred, they get cut from the team. Coaches are hired, and coaches are fired. It's just part of the world you live in. — Tim Howard

I truly believe that success is determined not on Friday nights during games but rather in practice away from the lights and glimmer where coaches and players only have each other, their sweat, their discipline and their loyalty to each other. It is at practice where the boys of America become men through hard work, dedication and perseverance. — George M. Gilbert

You are always going to get extreme views around coaches and players. — Rob Andrew

Players respond to coaches who really have their best interests at heart. — Mike Singletary

I remember an incident overseas about five years ago where a player punched a referee and knocked him cold. I don't think anything like that will ever happen in the NBA. Emotions run rampant. The games are so intense, and the stakes are so high. (But) At the end of the day, players and coaches really respect officials and really appreciate that they try to do a good job. — Jalen Rose

Some coaches believed they could judge a player's performance simply by watching it. In this they were deeply mistaken. The naked eye was an inadequate tool for learning what you needed to know to evaluate baseball players and baseball games. Think about it. One absolutely cannot tell, by watching, the difference between a .300 hitter and a .275 hitter. The difference is one hit every two weeks. The difference between a good hitter and an average hitter is simply not visible-it is a matter of record — Michael Lewis

The [best] coaches ... know that the job is to win ... know that they must be decisive, that they must phase people through their organizations, and at the same time they are sensitive to the feelings, loyalties, and emotions that people have toward one another. If you don't have these feelings, I do not know how you can lead anyone. I have spent many sleepless nights trying to figure out how I was going to phase out certain players for whom I had strong feelings, but that was my job. I wasn't hired to do anything but win. — Bill Walsh

I don't think coaches should have to wear mic's. It is an invasion of privacy. We are trying to accomplish things, and wearing microphones may hinder development by straining the nature of relationships coaches and players have. — Steve Nash

That's something that I just can't underestimate the importance of, the staff continuity. I really think that the players feed off the coaches. — Pete Lembo

I have a senior staff meeting every day, with key personnel who interface with the players - coaches, the medical staff, our analyst department. This is a useful exercise as it means we are all across what is happening and they are aware of my expectations. — Brendan Rodgers

I've always just tried to treat people with respect, build relationships with players and coaches ... build a trust. — Chuck Pagano

You can live by biblical principles, and you can teach by those principles and still be a winner. So many coaches think you've got to kick your players in the rear end. You've got to cuss them out. You've got to hit them across the head. No. You don't have to do that. — Bobby Bowden

I don't know concretely if it's due to superstition, but any time a new rule is implemented into the NBA or a new piece of equipment or a new technology, there is always a transition and adjustment period by players and coaches and anyone involved with the game. — Stu Jackson

I think players changing coaches is normal. — Li Na

Whereas many coaches left to others the minutiae of leading an organization, Walsh broke down the minute-to-minute progression of team practices, defined responsibilities for coaches and players, and set rules for how to handle business matters such as negotiating contracts and dealing with the media. He also dispensed with an authoritarian style of leadership and empowered individuals by teaching them to think independently. These innovations amounted to a comprehensive new approach to coaching, one adopted and refined by a generation of Walsh's successors. — Sydney Finkelstein

It was a wonderful experience to play in the NFL, and I have no regrets. I truly will miss playing for the Lions. I consider the Lions' players, coaches, staff, management and fans my family. I leave on good terms with everyone in the organization. — Barry Sanders

He already knew he could coach. All you had to do was look at each of your players and ask yourself: What story does this guy wish someone would tell him about himself? And then you told the guy that story. — Chad Harbach

One of the things I noticed more in this draft than in any recent drafts was the importance of the character issue. Players who had baggage, like Justice, fell much farther than his talent dictated. But a lot of coaches didn't want to take the chance. — Ron Jaworski

Good coaching is about leadership and instilling respect in your players. Dictators lead through fear - good coaches do not. — John Wooden

What made it so special were the players. They were some of the most outstanding men I have ever been around in my life. The coaches were truly professionals. I wish the 49ers nothing but the best. I am thankful to the York family for having given me the opportunity to be a head coach in the NFL. I am indebted to them for that. I am also thankful for the Faithful fans, I am just sorry I couldn't give them more. — Mike Singletary

What is true of the NFL is that it has been well-managed over the years. And that has been beneficial to the fans, it's been beneficial to the game itself, it's been beneficial to the players, coaches and everyone involved. — Roger Goodell

You learn from everybody. You learn from the players. You learn from great coaches. You learn from great teams — Tom Thibodeau

The biggest difference is in the leadership. It was better for us. We had more coaches and mentors to help us. A lot of the younger players today suffer from a lack of direction. — Isaiah Thomas

My husband is so confident that when he watches sports on television, he thinks that if he concentrates he can help his team. If the team is in trouble, he coaches the players from our living room, and if they're really in trouble, I have to get off the phone in case they call him. — Rita Rudner

It's been years since I've had a real input in the game anyway. For this game, I've just tried to keep all the other stuff away from the players and coaches. — Bear Bryant

I've had influences from many people including the coaches and players I've worked with. — Roy Keane

From the coaches on down, especially Jim Corsi whose been a great supporter, a true friend who really cares about his players and allowed me the chance to develop. — Ryan Miller

Man, coaching is a hard job, and it requires a lot of time ... I hear stories from coaches who tell me that players call them in the middle of the night not knowing where they parked their car. — Joe Montana

Many of the most successful coaches and managers have come from players who never reached the highest level. The one exception seems to be basketball, where many of the greatest stars at least tried to coach a team. — George Vecsey

If I'm going to coach the players, I want some say on who they're going to be. — Red Auerbach

Coaches who have been players in the league, they get so attuned to playing how they were successful, and who their coaches were. — Jerry West

Sportsmanship is that quality of honor that desires always to be courteous, fair, and respectful, and it is interpreted in the conduct of players, spectators, coaches, and school authorities. — Fielding H. Yost

The one thing that has gotten worse for sports media is access. We hardly get to see, talk to and most of all get to know the players and coaches anymore. — J. A. Adande

I think I have some ideas on coaching, but listen, coaches work harder than players. The hours they put in, the headaches that they have. That's the one thing I've never liked about coaching. They have all the emotion, passion and preparation without actually getting to be able to dictate what happens. — Tim Howard

I never thought that shoes would be the reason that you recruit players, but it's a factor. I think we need to get the shoe companies out of the lives of the athletes. I think we need to get it back to where parents and coaches have more of a say than peripheral people, but that's easier said than done. — Rick Pitino

I think sometimes when it comes to sports, and especially relationships between players and coaches, that people lose track, lose a sense of reality. — Ricky Williams

I am thankful that in my current role I can mentor other coaches. I interact directly with seventeen coaches on my staff but I'm also trying to be an example to others outside the organization. I want to prove that it's possible to win or lose while maintaining a calm dignity and respect toward your players, officials, and the opposition. My hope is that my profession can have an impact on countless youth who are looking to their coaches for guidance on sportsmanship, how effort pays off, and the other life lessons that come from competing. — Tony Dungy

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. — Bear Bryant

The old lessons (work, self-discipline, sacrifice, teamwork, fighting to achieve) aren't being taught by many people other than football coaches these days. The football coach has a captive audience and can teach these lessons because the communication lines between himself and his players are more wide open than between kids and parents. We better teach these lessons or else the country's future population will be made up of a majority of crooks, drug addicts, or people on relief. — Bear Bryant

Assistant coaches become a little bit more buddies to the players than a head coach. — Adam Oates

When everyone believes they are the life coaches, who are the players? — Criss Jami

Free speech is against governments, not against the NBA. So the players and coaches and indeed owners have been fined for their speech, which is costly rather than free. I sort of acknowledge that there is not free speech when you agree to work in the NBA. — David Stern

Players grunt, coaches yell, and pads and helmets crack, creating a frightening symphony of future early-onset dementia. — Nate Jackson

The model for an NHL without fighting is right there in front of us. The [playoffs are] the time of year that fans love best; when the best hockey is played ... [The] enforcers don't play. Even mini-enforcers ... remain on the bench. Teams and coaches can't afford anything stupid and unpredictable ... With no one to fight back for them, players go harder into the corners, more determinedly to the front of the net. If they want to fire up the crowd and their teammates, they have to do it themselves. And in the playoffs, they do. — Ken Dryden

I have never believed in comparisons, whether they are about different eras, players or coaches. — Sachin Tendulkar

College coaches want to power the ball inside, they want (their post players) to power the ball up, but no one can shoot from that 15-foot area anymore. — Oscar Robertson

He has to be a great teacher. You have to have the right stuff and in the right proportions, and you have to convey that to the coaches, and then to the players. — Pete Carroll

The one thing about players today is that they're very sensitive, and very fragile. They didn't grow up with tough coaches. — Doug Collins

I was doing all the coaching schools so that I'd be able to stay in the game, and I gave myself a chance by doing that. I was only an average player, could score a goal or two, that sort of thing, but I wasn't a Bobby Charlton or a Messi, or Ronaldo. There are very, very few really great players who have become great coaches. — Alex Ferguson

What keeps you motivated? The challenge of putting all the elements of a team together and seeing how you do and what you become is the thing that I still enjoy. I also enjoy the associations and relationships with the players and other coaches - to be in the arena, so to speak. I still enjoy that. I'm also at the point, though, that if we're not doing well - it's tough enough as it is - that I'm not going to be hanging on just to be hanging on. Because it's not anything I need from an ego standpoint or anything else. I just thoroughly enjoy what I'm doing. — LaVell Edwards

I love football. I love the aesthetics of football. I love the athleticism of football. I love the movement of the players, the antics of the coaches. I love the dynamism of the fans. I love their passion for their badge and the colour of their team and their country. I love the noise and the buzz and the electricity in the stadium. I love the songs. I love the way the ball moves and then it flows and the way a teams fortune rises and falls through a game and through a season. But what I love about football is that it brings people together across religious divides, geographic divides, political divides. I love the fact that for ninety minutes in a rectangular piece of grass, people can forget hopefully, whatever might be going on in their life, and rejoice in this communal celebration of humanity. The biggest diverse, invasive or pervasive culture that human kinds knows is football and I love the fact that at the altar of football human kind can come worship and celebrate. — Andy Harper