A team that has character doesn't need stimulation.
Look at Bjorn Borg or Jack Nicklaus. Those guys really concentrate. With the world on their shoulders, they're so absorbed with what they're doing.
Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan.
Generally, achieving goals... which in many cases means winning... is really the ultimate in this life we live in.
If you eliminate our way of life, the American way of life, what is the effect... what are the alternatives?
I don't believe in team motivation. I believe in getting a team prepared so it knows it will have the necessary confidence when it steps on a field and be prepared to play a good game.
Being the best at whatever talent you have, that's what stimulates life.
I try to block out everything that distracts me. Even a big play, I blank it out.
The greatest thing is to win your first Super Bowl.
If you don't win a Super Bowl, you're not considered successful in the National Football League. I can remember, when we finally won that first one, feeling so good for the players and fans.
Achievement builds character.
People striving, being knocked down and coming back... this is what builds character in a man.
If you were to see me as a cheerleader, that would mean I was only watching instead of thinking.
There are coaches to whom winning or losing means something close to life or death. If they lose, then their life has somehow been diminished. I'm not that way, and it keeps me steady.
Really, coaching is simplicity. It's getting players to play better than they think that they can.
People say you have to know when to retire, which is a dumb thing to say. If you want to go out on top, yeah, it becomes important when you quit. But I wasn't afraid of that. And I wasn't worried about getting fired. I knew the risk. To me, it's not an ego thing. I enjoy coaching. I enjoy helping people achieve something.
As a Christian, I know my life is in God's hands. He has a plan for me. Therefore, I never worry about tomorrow or never worry about winning or losing football games. That knowledge gives me a lot of composure in tough situations.
When a big play occurs for our team, I'm concentrating on how the defense is reacting to it. Most of the time, I don't see the great catch or the long run. What I'm looking at is how the other team defended it.
I've come to the conclusion that players want to be treated alike.
I've learned that something constructive comes from every defeat.
