“You win with people.”

 

“You don’t have to like me, just respect me.”

 

“The only meaningful statistic is number of games won.”

 

“There’s nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you.”

 

“Be a pragmatist.  First, find out what works.  Then, keep doing it.”

 

“You don’t get hurt running straight ahead…three-yards-and-a-cloud-of- dust offense.  I will pound you and pound you until you quit.”

 

“Statistics always remind me of a fellow who drowned in a river where the average depth was only three feet.”

 

“Make sure you do the thinking with this head (pointing to his head), and not with this head (pointing beneath his belt).”

 

“Being cold, like being determined to win, is just a state of mind.”

 

“When picking an assistant coach, the first thing I was interested in was the man’s character.”

 

“Woody on Bo Schembechler:  “We respected one another so damn much.  Now that doesn’t mean I didn’t get so mad at him that I wanted to kick him in the, uh, groin.”

 

“A man is always better than he thinks.”

 

“I’m not trying to win a popularity poll.  I’m trying to win football games.  I don’t like nice people.  I like tough, honest people.”

 

“Discipline is 90 percent anticipation.”

 

“Any time you give a man something he doesn’t earn, you cheapen him.  Our kids earn what they get, and that includes respect.”

 

“Paralyze resistance with persistence.”

 

“I don’t apologize for anything.  When I make a mistake, I take the blame and go on from there.  I just despise to lose, and that has taken a man of mediocre ability and made a pretty good coach out of him.”

 

“Coaches who can outline plays on a black board are a dime a dozen.  The ones who win get inside their players heads and motivate them.”

 

“Without winners, there wouldn’t even be civilization.”

 

“The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.”

 

“The height of human desire is what wins, whether it’s on Normandy Beach or in Ohio Stadium.”

 

“Success – it’s what you do with what you’ve got.”

 

“I can accept failure, but I can’t accept not trying.”

 

“Indomitable in victory, insufferable in defeat.”

 

“It is never an upset if the so-called underdog has all along considered itself the better team.”

 

“Winning is the epitome of honesty.”

 

“There are too many people who can easily identify with defeat.”

 

“I love football.  I think it is the most wonderful game in the world and I despise to lose.”

 

“I’ve had smarter people around me all my life, but I haven’t run into one yet that can outwork me.  And if they can’t outwork you, then smarts aren’t going to do them much good.  That’s just the way it is.  And if you believe that and live by it, you’d be surprised at how much fun you can have.”

 

“I’m not coming here looking for security, I came here for the opportunity.”

 

“We control by attitudes – positive mental attitudes – not by rules.”

 

“You can never pay back, but you can always pay forward.”