Great Coaching Quotes & Sayings

No matter how you total success in the coaching profession it all comes down to a single factor - talent. There may be a hundred great coaches of whom you have never heard in basketball, football, or any sport who will probably never receive the acclaim they deserve simply because they have not been blessed with the talent. Although not every coach can win consistently with talent, no coach can win without it. — John Wooden

A good coach can change a game. A great coach can change a life. — John Wooden

I had a very ordinary background in Sheffield; I went to a secondary modern, but I saw something on TV in 1968 that inspired me to join an athletics club, and 12 years later, with great coaching and the support of people who loved me a lot, I ended up at an Olympic Games. — Sebastian Coe

Good players can take coaching; great players can take coaching and learn. — John Wooden

Had I been a great athlete, I'm not sure I would have even gone into coaching. I may have turned out feeling that my life ended when my athletic career ended, as happens so many times with various athletes. — Lou Holtz

Self-awareness is a great tool to combating resistance. When you feel resistance to taking action, stop in your tracks. Try to understand the 'why' behind it. Is the resistance valid? — Vatsala Shukla

We live in a society that only embraces success and that is who we are. It takes a great deal of inner strength to deal with the time commitment of coaching when very little seems to be accomplished. — George M. Gilbert

I didn't miss training because it had become so painful for me. I filled the void pretty quickly as I went straight into coaching and it was great; I had to start learning all over again, and then when I went into TV I knew nothing about it so I had to start from the very beginning. — Jo Durie

I enjoyed coaching so much that I just have to stay with it. Don Coryell - I love him, and I think he was a great coach - but I hear he's going to build a house on some island. He's going to divorce himself from football, and that's a mystery to me. — Sid Gillman

No question about it: potential is wrapped in great mystery. Like rainbows, which are really circles-we see only the upper halves, the horizon hides the rest-potential never reveals its entirety. — Max De Pree

I wound up through a wild set of circumstances getting into coaching. I went in and volunteered with Don Coryell, who was a big part of my past, great coach. A lot of people say he was one of the greatest coaches ever. He was very good in high school, college and pro. Another guy on that staff was named John Madden. — Joe Gibbs

When the Knicks won the championship in 1970, our fans rallied behind us and became our sixth man because they saw a group of five distinct personalities come together and play as one seamless unit. Winning takes a game plan and that's where a great coach comes in. He has to have the vision. He has to be the architect and design a particular style of play that his players can work together and excel at. The great Celtics teams that won 11 championships in the span of 13 seasons ( 1957-69) never changed their system. They played the same game regardless of who their cast was. — Walt Frazier

City Ballet has to develop choreographers of stature and a new approach to coaching before everything we value about it fades away and, in the great tradition of the Cheshire Cat, there's nothing left but Peter Martins' smile. — Robert Gottlieb

You've got to have great athletes to win, I don't care who the coach is. You can't win without good athletes but you can lose with them. This is where coaching makes the difference. — Lou Holtz

Women helping each other - coaching, mentoring, and providing tips - is a great way for us to be our own force. — Indra Nooyi

Great pilots are made not born ... A man may possess good eyesight, sensitive hands, and perfect coordination, but the end result is only fashioned by steady coaching, much practice, and experience. — Johnnie Johnson

Steve held us to a high standard. He told us he was going to when we first met him at the USA camp. He's been a great leader. I mean, the guy always keeps his composure. He has an amazing mind for the game, and man, Steve, I'm just proud of him. The way he's balanced everybody and let us know what our roles are, he's been great for us. Him and the whole coaching staff. We all deserve this together, we work so hard. — Klay Thompson

A good Coach asks great questions to help you remove the obstacles in your mind and to get you back on track in life — Farshad Asl

If you've got aspirations to be a manager or coach, obviously coaching your country would be a great honour. — Gary Speed

Great souls are great inspirers. — Lailah Gifty Akita

Every time our great Country has been critically challenged either by dictators or terrorists, we as a Country have put aside our personal agendas and focused on doing what we need to do to win when threatened. — George M. Gilbert

One of the great myths in America is that sports build character. They can and they should. Indeed, sports may be the perfect venue in which to build character. But sports don't build character unless a coach possesses character and intentionally teaches it. Sports can team with ethics and character and spirituality; virtuous coaching can integrate the body with the heart, the mind, and the soul. — Joe Ehrmann

I'm so blessed to have gone to Wisconsin. It's a great school and great coaching staff with incredible fans. I had a lot of great teammates that wanted to be successful. I played behind a huge offensive line. I think that proved a lot, too, as a 5-11 quarterback showing I could play under center with those guys in front of me. — Russell Wilson

Meetings at work present great opportunities to showcase your talent. Do not let them go to waste. — Abhishek Ratna

The unknown can be a great tool. — George M. Gilbert

Jim Harbaugh has done a great job of coaching in the NFL no matter how you put it. — John Madden

...and from here I realized, with the deepest sense of my being, that we can erect and dismantle the great walls of the world, but we will only truly survive as a species when we dedicate ourselves to removing the walls from within. — Dawn Kohler

Most of my learning and philosophy regarding coaching basketball was developed after great frustration. — Dick Bennett

Coaching isn't a great mystery. It's Just hard work, determination, and inspiration at the right moment. — Robert Zuppke

This is truly a rags to riches story which doesn't happen often, but it does happen. Hope is offered to those who face similar challenges that in this great Country dreams can be realized when work ethic and passion lead the way. — George M. Gilbert

If I hadn't had mentors, I wouldn't be here today. I'm a product of great mentoring, great coaching ... Coaches or mentors are very important. They could be anyone-your husband, other family members, or your boss. — Indra Nooyi

The idea of creating the coaching group is a great idea. Jeremy deserves lots of credit for making it happen. Nice job Jeremy — John Cook

You better have great practices. — Al McGuire

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

I had a great bunch of kids. They all hung with us. The coaching staff hung with us. And we played tough every game. If you've got kids that want to play and react to you, it's fun. I'm having a good time. — Joe Paterno

After a while, your coaching development ceases to be about finding newer ways to organize practice. In other words, you soon stop collecting drills. Your development as a coach shifts to observing how great coaches teach, motivate, lead, and drive players to performances at higher and higher levels — Anson Dorrance

Great mentorship is priceless. — Lailah Gifty Akita

I decided to become a teacher because I thought it would be a great career where I could wear different hats. You're an academic one moment, and you're a psychologist the next moment, an athlete the next moment ... when you are out on the playground or coaching ... so it enables you to play different roles. — Erik Weihenmayer

I don't think anyone can ever put into words the great things (Joe) DiMaggio did. Of all the stars I've known, DiMaggio needed the least coaching. — Joe

I had great, great times as a Little League coach. People were talking about me quitting acting, and they would say, What about your creative juices? Coaching is creative, because you could take a kid who thought he wasn't any good and, within four minutes, change his mind. And I didn't have to wait six months for them to put music to it. — James Caan

You build your program from the ideas of great coaches. — Don Meyer

The great cancer facing all of us during this 'new millennium' is entitlement. — George M. Gilbert

I am standing for NSW Super 12 coaching position. NSW great. Queensland bad. — Damir Dokic

As an owner, you have a choice. Do you want to adopt a vision that you think is real sharp and real cutting edge and could get you from good to great - has a chance - or do you want to just say the organization is not about that, and we're not going to try to adopt a new coaching philosophy and vision. — Jeffrey Lurie

Great shooters are one dribble guys. — Rick Majerus