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.
In life, you’ll have your back up against the wall many times. You might as well get used to it.
Don’t talk too much. Don’t pop off. Don’t talk after the game until you cool off.
Sacrifice. Work. Self-discipline. I teach these things, and my boys don’t forget them when they leave.
Get the winners into the game.
If they don’t have a winning attitude, I don’t want them.
If I miss coaching that much, I could go to some little school where they didn’t recruit, where all the kids wanted to go. I believe I could find somewhere to coach.
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.
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.
You win games with your strengths, not your weaknesses.
When I was a young coach I used to say, “Treat everybody alike.” That’s bull. Treat everybody fairly.
I’m known as a recruiter. Well you’ve got to have chicken to make chicken salad.
Don’t overwork your squad. If you’re going to make a mistake, under-work them.
But it’s still a coach’s game. Make no mistake. You start at the top. If you don’t have a good one at the top, you don’t have a cut dog’s chance. If you do, the rest falls into place. You have to have good assistants, and a lot of things, but first you have to have the chairman of the board.
It’s kind of hard to rally around a math class.
Here’s a twenty, bury two.
I don’t hire anybody not brighter than I am. If they’re not brighter than I am, I don’t need them.
I’ve had many a player tell me all through high school and right up until signing day that they were coming to Alabama, then they signed with somebody else.
Recruiting is the one thing I hate. I won’t do it unless my coaches tell me I’ve just got to. The whole process is kind of undignified for me and the young man.
The Lord expects you to do some things for yourself.