Lou Holtz Quotes

“The only people who aren't going to be criticized are those who do absolutely nothing”

“I was born January 6, 1937, eight years after Wall Street crashed and two years before John Steinbeck published The Grapes of Wrath, his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about the plight of a family during the Great Depression.”

“You aren't going to find anybody that's going to be successful without making a sacrifice and without perseverance.”

“You always have to prepare for the obstacles that are going to come. Consequently, when they do come, it doesn't affect you mentally near as much as when you're unprepared for them.”

“I think that we have opportunities all around us - sometimes we just don't recognize them.”

“One thing about me is I try to be honest.”

“The answers to these questions will determine your success or failure. 1) Can people trust me to do what's right? 2) Am I committed to doing my best? 3) Do I care about other people and show it? If the answers to these questions are yes, there is no way you can fail.”

“Give your players something they can physically do - don't ask them to do something they can't do.”

“I asked you to pack your headgear and shoulder pads, but more importantly your defense and your kicking game, because that's what wins game like this.”

“We have an obligation to help people that cannot help themselves. The mentally retarded, the physically retarded, et cetera.”

“Our cellar home had a kitchen and a combination bedroom and half bath, which meant we had a sink next to the bed. We had no refrigerator, no shower or tub, and no privacy. My parents shared the bedroom with my sister and me.”

“We are not going to win because you have a new head coach, any more than you are going to fix a flat tire by changing the driver. We will win the minute all of us get rid of excuses as to why we can't win and stop wallowing in self-pity.”

“In life, be a participant, not a spectator.”

“First and foremost I am a teacher, I care. Caring is helping the players to develop”

“You're never as good as everyone tells you when you win, and you're never as bad as they say when you lose.”

“Remember that adversity presents us with numerous possibilities for success, if we are just willing to see them.”

“Winners and losers aren't born, they are the products of how they think”

“It's the extra effort after you have done your best that creates victory.”

“To my wife 'I told you I was sick'.”

“When I work a game as an analyst, all I do is look at the game like a coach. Why was something successful? What makes it work? I just try to use my expertise and whatever insight I have to the game.”

“The standards you establish for others must reflect the standards you set for yourself. No one will follow a hypocrite.”

“You might not be able to outthink, outmarket or outspend your competition, but you can outwork them.”

“I look like I have beriberi and scurvy.”

“It's a better view if you're standing up than if you're laying down.”

“All winning teams are goal-oriented. Teams like these win consistently because everyone connected with them concentrates on specific objectives. They go about their business with blinders on; nothing will distract them from achieving their aims.”