Team Coaching Quotes & Sayings

The relationships that I've built and the connections and the network that I have created playing on these multiple teams, playing for these multiple coaches and assistant coaches - I wouldn't give that back for anything, because I believe that's going to prepare me for my next step, whether that's going to be on the floor coaching or in an office doing some type of management work. — Drew Gooden

I'm a social butterfly. Once I get somewhere, I can make myself at ease and start the team bonding and build a relationship with my team, all my teammates, all the coaches, all the coaching staff. — Drew Gooden

launch the team well, and only then to help members take the greatest possible advantage of their favorable performance circumstances. Indeed, my best estimate is that 60 percent of the variation in team effectiveness depends on the degree to which the six enabling conditions are in place, 30 percent on the quality of a team's launch, and just 10 percent on the leader's hands-on, real-time coaching (see the "60-30-10 rule" in Chapter 10). — J. Richard Hackman

What does this program/team need this week? — Dick Bennett

Even the greatest players accept coaching and value the need for discipline and the order that it brings to the team — Jack Ramsay

It is more likely that coaches have players go down in games they are losing than games they are winning. — George M. Gilbert

We talk in coaching about "winners" - kids, and I've had a lot of them, who just will not allow themselves or their team to lose. Coaches call that a will to win. I don't. I think that puts the emphasis in the wrong place. Everybody has a will to win. What's far more important is having the will to prepare to win. — Bobby Knight

I've always had this idea that if you're going to try something, if you're going to expend that first big block of effort and energy to participate - whether it's riding the Tour de France or applying for a new job or coaching your daughter's soccer team - you might as well go ahead and give whatever else it takes to win, I mean, I'm going to be there no matter what, right? Why not go ahead and get the victory? — Johan Bruyneel

Every year is different and every team is different. Your talent is different, how it gets is different, your leadership is different. That's one of the things that I really enjoy about it [coaching] - trying to maximize the potential of your team relative to how it changes every year. — Pete Lembo

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

United a herd is an army; divided a herd is fair game. — Matshona Dhliwayo

I think what coaching is all about, is taking players and analyzing there ability, put them in a position where they can excel within the framework of the team winning. And I hope that I've done that in my 33 years as a head coach. — Don Shula

Nothing in life that is of value comes easy. If good things came easily then the value would be diminished. When we have a vested interest, when we give everything we have, then, and only then are those good times valuable. — George M. Gilbert

I like the guys on the team and the coaching here. I especially like the management. The Galaxy have been really good to me. — Cobi Jones

Put the Team Before Yourself. — Pat Summitt

The team is an extension of the coach. — Don Meyer

Sports programs are an important part of young people's lives but should never over-shadow the true purpose of high school and that is to earn a diploma. So often today sports have become more important than an education. This must be remedied because the true focus must always be toward the student's academic development. — George M. Gilbert

You need a lot of leaders, but a hockey team needs a voice, not only in the community, but more importantly between the coaching staff and the players. There are always ups and downs in a season; the captain is the guy players look to in those situations. — Joe Sakic

He continues to give more than 100 per cent and his schoolboy-like enthusiasm for the game is something I envy and admire. For the team he is the best available coaching manual. — Mahendra Singh Dhoni

My first assistant-coaching job in football was at William & Mary in 1961. The pay wasn't much, so to get $300 more per year, I agreed to coach the golf team. I didn't even know how to keep score, and really, my main job was not to wreck the van on the way to tournaments. — Lou Holtz

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 teach our young men that respect is earned each day on the practice field, in the classroom, and how each young man lives his life. — George M. Gilbert

It is important for coaches to mentor young people toward those things that are most important in life and aid them in creating their own order of priorities to live by. — George M. Gilbert

It is so easy to judge those around us and decide their value without knowing who they really are or what they truly represent. — George M. Gilbert

Being fired is part of the risk when anyone plans to take on the responsibility as a head coach. — George M. Gilbert

I guess the prime example is in North America there's a thing where if there's no opportunity to move forward with the puck, then a [hockey] player is told to dump the puck into the other zone. Just give up the puck and dump it in. Give it to the other team. And to the Soviet mentality in coaching, it just doesn't make any sense. If you're a skilled player, why are you going to give the puck away to the other team? Just give it away, right? — Gabe Polsky

The youth of America need routine, repetition toward excellence, a sound but not punishing discipline, and the opportunity to make mistakes without the feeling of failure. — George M. Gilbert

If you don't hold your team accountable then you will lose credibility and your team will be spoiled. — John Brady

I had 11 years of managerial experience and four years of coaching before I managed a big-league team. To me, it was important, because I learned a lot through trial and error. And it's tough to have to go through trial and error when you're a big-league manager. — Jim Leyland

To be a team, you must be a family. — Don Meyer

You must be personally reliable before you can coach your team to generate reliable results. — Lee Colan

I will not promise boys positions, I will not promise any of you football success, I will demand discipline, character, respect, and work ethic throughout the program. If I succeed in getting people to believe then success will follow. — George M. Gilbert

In December 1935, Louie graduated from high school; a few weeks later, he rang in 1936 with his thoughts full of Berlin. The Olympic trials track finals would be held in New York in July, and the Olympic committee would base its selection of competitors on a series of qualifying races. Louie had seven months to run himself onto the team. In the meantime, he also had to figure out what to do about the numerous college scholarships being offered to him. Pete had won a scholarship to the University of Southern California, where he had become one of the nation's top ten college milers. He urged Louie to accept USC's offer but delay entry until the fall, so he could train full-time. So Louie moved into Pete's frat house and, with Pete coaching him, trained obsessively. All day, every day, he lived and breathed the 1,500 meters and Berlin. — Laura Hillenbrand

The development of the "We Believe" philosophy must be real and not cosmetic. Everyone must buy in and understand that it is not a motivational tool, but rather something very personal that should be lived and that all must believe in order for true success to be achieved. — George M. Gilbert

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

Winners accept responsibility because acceptance of responsibility nullifies excuses. — George M. Gilbert

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

While THE NEW COOL takes the reader inside a season, limns a team and coaching staff, and masterfully recounts a gripping competition, this is anything but your conventional sports book. And not simply because the 'big game' is ... a curious robotics contest. Like the kids he vividly captures, Neal Bascomb has himself performed a masterful bit of engineering here. — L. Jon Wertheim

I think we had to hit rock-bottom in all facets of the program before we could ever start moving in a positive direction. — George M. Gilbert

The coaches will offer a direction, a plan, routine, discipline and the players must develop the desire to work together accepting their roles as they learn in preparation for the season. — 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

Before success can truly become routine, there must be that transition from that wanting/hoping to have success toward honestly knowing you can earn success with your talents and work ethic. — George M. Gilbert

You can easily separate 'team guys' from 'me guys' by how they accept coaching. The guys that accept it are about winning — Bill Parcells

In 2005, a man diagnosed with multiple myeloma asked me if he would be alive to watch his daughter graduate from high school in a few months. In 2009, bound to a wheelchair, he watched his daughter graduate from college. The wheelchair had nothing to do with his cancer. The man had fallen down while coaching his youngest son's baseball team. — Siddhartha Mukherjee

The worst thing we can do is put the (other) team in a one-and-one. — Mike Krzyzewski

It's every manager's dream, I suppose, to build a team by coaching young players of 15 to 17. That's why I started a youth scheme. — Matt Busby

Coaching is like riding a roller coaster with many ups and downs. The true test is weathering the storm. The average length of time anywhere in America that a man is a head high school football coach is three years. — George M. Gilbert

Teamwork, amazing outcome. — Lailah Gifty Akita

To achieve any group goal, individuals must work to improve themselves as a means to improve the group. — George M. Gilbert

Tasks are the real-world activities people think of when planning, conducting, or recalling their day. That can mean things like brushing their teeth, preparing breakfast, reading a newspaper, taking a child to school, responding to e-mail messages, making a sales call, attending a lecture or a business meeting, having lunch with a colleague from work, helping a child with homework, coaching a soccer team, and watching a TV program. Some tasks are mundane, some complex. — Mike Long

Ninety percent of the coaches in the NBA are guards, and there aren't very many big men people coaching, I happen to be one of them and when I coached, everybody on my team, including the guards, had a hook shot, so that it was their bail out shot. — Tom Heinsohn

In the early 1990s, Target adopted some of Walt Disney's staff training and customer service initiatives. It has since developed a variety of methods - from hiring to coaching to grading performance - to ensure "team members" embody the motto "fast, fun and friendly." (See Chapter 5.) — Laura Rowley

Attitude is the whole thing in football. Every team has the talent and the coaching. Motivation makes the difference. The teams that win stay healthy and interested. — Sid Gillman

You've got to coach worrying about your entire team: whether that gets you a championship or whether that gets you fired. I think it allows you to coach free. You're coaching with freedom because you know you're doing what you think is right. — Doc Rivers

America is a country built on unity, hard work and diligent pursuit of personal goals leading to collective success. — George M. Gilbert

As always I am focused on training and coaching my team — Rafael Benitez

To be successful in coaching you have to treat your team like a family. The leader needs backing from everyone. — Morgan Wootten

Leadership is about what's right for the organization, not what feels right for the leader. — Liz Weber

When I was about 10, I saw Timothy Bottoms in a tele-movie called 'A Shining Season,' and it really moved me. I was maybe 8 or 9. Timothy played a runner who had cancer, and he defied the odds by coaching a girls' team to victory. — Reggie Lee

I love when violent, dangerous art is done by people who are not violent and dangerous. I love that when George Romero was making 'Dawn of the Dead,' he was coaching his son's little league team. — Penn Jillette

I think as far as any kind of pressure on a football team or on an individual in professional sports really depends not only on that individual but the leadership they have on the team and the leadership they have on the coaching staff. A lot of times, they can divert some of those pressures off of the individual and off of the team. — Jimmy Johnson

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

Did I ever think at the time, when I was with the Alouettes and the Chicago Blitz, that I would be head-coaching a team in the Super Bowl? It would be hard to believe. Is it a dream come true? Yes. — Marv Levy

In 10 years, I'm gonna be all over. I'll still be doing mad music, I'll be doing a couple movies, maybe some TV. Hopefully coaching some of my son's sports teams and be in heavy daddy mode. — Shwayze

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

we first need to get boys out for football and then the plan will gradually come into play — George M. Gilbert

If you are not a part of the solution then you must be part of the problem. I am done with problems here! — George M. Gilbert

A closing team is so important in the NBA. The last seven minutes is what you are always coaching to get to. Now you have your team set, you have the match-ups you want, you have your time-outs, your chance to finish the game, and that's my job, to get us to that position during the course of the game. — Doug Collins

As of today, you do anything that I feel is disrespecting our program in any way, you are gone! From this day forward, everyone will be at practice in uniform as we will either build this program into something or we will destroy it! — George M. Gilbert

The third year at a school for any head coach is the most important year for the program they are attempting to develop. — George M. Gilbert

A team goal requires a team effort. — George M. Gilbert

The best way to build team chemistry is the way Rupp used to substitute, when they fouled out. — Dean Smith

It was a strange season coaching under that new [Alderson] regime. I felt like I was watching the deterioration of the Mets organization. They seemed to have no identity. My concern was that the character of the players they were looking for superseded the talent they brought to the table. Character on a team is important, but you've got to have the horses to win. — Mookie Wilson

Herb Brooks, God rest his soul, wasn't coaching a Dream Team. He was coaching a team full of dreamers. — Jim Craig

Good training is priceless. — Lailah Gifty Akita

Develop your leaders into a competitive advantage. Reconnect your leader-power to success. — Gene Morton

Over time I learned that there are two very different satisfactions that you can have in your life. One is the satisfaction of becoming skilled at something. It almost doesn't matter what the terrain is. There is a deep, soul-feeding resonance in mastery itself, whether in teaching, writing a complicated software program, coaching a baseball team, or marshalling a group of people to start a new business ... — Atul Gawande

The most important thing is team morale. — Dean Smith

Coaching is salesmanship. Coaching is winning players over and convincing them they have to play together. It takes a team conviction to play together to make things work. — Phil Jackson

The first thing any coaching staff must do is weed out selfishness. No program can be successful with players who put themselves ahead of the team. — Johnny Majors

I once said coaching a first-year team was a religious experience. You do a lot of praying - but most of the time the answer is NO. — Bill Fitch

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

If you do the following three things, you will be successful in major college basketball. If you don't do them, it will be most difficult." He didn't say it would be impossible - typical of John Wooden - but he said it would be difficult. I was scrambling for my pen when he said, "Those three things are fairly simple: Number one, make certain, Dale, you always have better players than anybody you play. Now, with that locked up, make sure you always get the better players to put the team above themselves. And number three - this is very important, Dale Brown," he said, "don't try to be some coaching genius, or give the guys too much information, or too much stuff; always practice simplicity with constant repetition. — John Wooden

We ask these players to do some very difficult things, for the team, the coaching staff, the school - at risk of injury. And when they do those things, I feel as if I'm in their debt. It's an honor to coach those guys. I want to be of service to them. — Les Miles

Coaches must take calculated risks all the time. One thing is to talk about what you plan to do and another is to prepare and then execute a plan toward change. — George M. Gilbert

Once an athlete feels his coach does not believe in him resentment develops and everyone loses at that point. — George M. Gilbert

I've always believed that culture is defined and created from the top down, but it comes to life from the bottom up. This meant that I had to build our culture by working with the leadership group (i.e., the owner, general manager, and executives), the coaching staff, and the football team. To strengthen the culture among the leadership group, it was important to reiterate to the owner, team president, and general manager the shared beliefs, values, and expectations that we had discussed in depth when I was interviewing for the head coaching position. It was important to have collaborative conversations on a regular basis to discuss the changes we were making and why we were making them. — Jon Gordon

Good coaching may be defined as the development of character, personality and habits of players, plus the teaching of fundamentals and team play. — Clair Bee

Entrepreneurs are perennially short on cash, so they tend to hire less expensive and less experienced team members. Yet most founders are overworked, so they have no time and budget for coaching and training. Team members not confident in their roles lose motivation quickly. — Martin Zwilling