The harder you work, the less mistakes you make. The fewer mistakes you make, the better your chances of winning.
You are going to get knocked down, but you don't lie there. You get up and face the challenge.
When I make a fist, it's strong, and you can't tear it apart. As long as there's unity, there's strength.
My mother was really courageous.
I coached at Northwestern for eight years, where the admission requirements were high.
The game is not won by a pep talk on Saturday. It's won by preparation of your club from Monday until game time. If they're not ready on Saturday, you're not going to get them ready by trying to inspire them with a dog-eat-dog sermon on that day.
The most difficult problem about coaching at Notre Dame is losing early.
As you move through life, it's not going to be a bright, sunshiny day every day.
One of the reasons I never went into pro football was because I wanted my kids to grow up around an academic environment. And that's exactly what we did.
I don't make hasty, impulsive decisions.
I'd go to clinics and hear coaches say, 'You block with your helmet. You tackle with your helmet.' I'd say, 'No way! You block with your shoulder. It's a lot stronger blow, and you don't risk nearly as much. Why be stupid?'
I remember virtually everything about every loss. And the wins are hardly memorable.
Success in football is relative. If you take a job at a school that finished with a 1-9 record the year before, you're considered a good coach if you finish 5-5 in your first season. But what happens if you start with 8-2 or 9-1?
It's not true that I never left South Bend to recruit a player. It is true that I didn't leave very often.
There is nothing more painful than watching a child with a terminal disease.
When you set these high expectations and goals, and they are demolished so early in the season, that has an effect on the psyche. It wears you down.
I don't think I was a miracle man. Neither were Lou Holtz or Frank Leahy. We all found ways to win.
After Notre Dame, what is there?
I don't give a damn what anybody says. I don't think at 70 and 75 that you can be as productive and efficient as you were when you were 40 or 50.
My kids grew up here. My son and daughter both went to Notre Dame.
