I think college football is a reflection of Middle America. You go into a college football town, and you will find three generations of a family sitting together. It's a rallying point for the university, the community, and the families. - Keith Jackson
15: Paul Dietzel (LSU)The Quote: “You can learn more character on the two-yard line than anywhere else in life.”
14: Frank Leahy (Notre Dame)
The Quote: “Lads, you’re not to miss practice unless your parents died or you died.” Why it's great: It's a corner stone for success. If you want to achieve something, you have to be there to do it. Leahy has four national championships to his name at Notre Dame, and it's easy to see why.
13: John McKay (USC)The Quote: “We didn’t tackle well today, but we made up for it by not blocking.”Why it's great: McKay, who is known for his wit, shows that football games have two sides to them: a winner and a loser.
12: Bear Bryant (Alabama)
The Quote: “I make my practices real hard because if a player is a quitter, I want him to quit in practice, not in a game.”Why it's great: There is a lot of wisdom in these words. This is the only reason why conditioning today exist. You push a player to his limits, so in the game he has no limits.
11: Greg Schiano (Rutgers)
The Quote: “There are two things every man in America thinks he can do: work a grill and coach football.”Why it's great: This is a pretty funny quote, mainly because it is true.Everyone knows the guy or is the guy who is always caught saying, "This coach has no idea what he is doing" or "If I coached football, I wouldn't lose a game."The thing is every coach does something for a reason, and the reason why they got to where they are is doing the thing not everyone agrees with.
10: Jay Leno
The Quote: “You know what’s sad about this? Not the gambling, but the best way to reach college athletes is the Cartoon Network.”Why it's great: This one needs some background to go along with it.The NCAA chose to launch an ad campaign on Cartoon Network to reach out to college athletes about gambling.The NCAA decided on the wrong platform to reach college athletes and jokes were surely going to surface.
9: Murray Warmath (Minnesota)
The Quote: “If lessons are learned in defeat, our team is getting a great education.”Why it's great: There are two ways to approach a loss.The first is as a learning experience and the second is to use as fuel to win the next game.This quote shows the latter, players get fed up with losing.Murray Warmath's words provide the fuel for a turn around.
8: Bobby Bowden (Florida State)
The Quote: “That boy don’t know the meaning of the word fear. In fact, I just saw his grades, and that boy don’t know the meaning of a lot of words.”Why it's great: Sure, not many football players are in college just for an education, but Bowden's quote shows us what happens when players only go to college to play football.
7: Mack Brown (Texas)
The Quote: “Most players don’t mind drug testing once they realize they don’t have to study for it.”Why it's great: Mack bashes two football stereotypes in this quote: that all football players are thugs and stupid.
6: Dan Devine (Notre Dame)
The Quote: “There are two kinds of people in the world, Notre Dame lovers and Notre Dame haters. And, quite frankly, they’re both a pain in the ass.”Why it's great: You cannot have college football without Notre Dame.While Notre Dame probably has the biggest fan base in college football, they probably also have the most people hoping they lose each Saturday. Either way, both are relatively the same person.
5: Joe Namath (Alabama)
The Quote: “When you win, nothing hurts.”Why it's great: Because you never hear anybody say, "I wish we would have lost."
4: Dutch Meyer (Texas Christian University)
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The Quote: "We'll fight 'em until hell freezes over, then we'll fight 'em on the ice."Why it's great: This sends shivers down my spine.I cannot imagine how the players felt back in 1938 when this quote was said in the tunnel before they took the field.This quote embodies tenacity and has been the staple for TCU football ever since.
3: Woody Hayes (Ohio State)
The Quote: "Because I couldn't go for three."Why it's great: Lets get two things straight.Woody Hayes doesn't know when to stop and Woody Hayes hates Michigan.Hayes went for two against Michigan, even though he had a 36 point lead. When he was asked about it he dropped this spit-fire quote.
2: Lou Holtz (Notre Dame)
The Quote: "Motivation is simple. You eliminate those who are not motivated."Why it's great: If there is anyone in the world who can motivate players, it is Lou Holtz.If a player isn't going to be the kind of guy who will fight with his team, come hell or high water, then get rid of him and move on.If there is anyway to create motivation, this is it.
1: Shug Jordan (Auburn)
The Quote: "Always remember... Goliath was a 40 point favorite over David."
Why it's great: Because if your going to play the favorite, you have to play it well.Same goes for if you are the underdog too.