54+ Al McGuire Quotes (Inspiring, Innovative And Charismatic)

Al McGuire was an American college basketball coach. He coached the Marquette University men's basketball team from 1964 to 1977, leading them to the NCAA championship in 1977. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992.

Top 10 Al McGuire Quotes

1. I think everyone should go to college and get a degree and then spend six months as a bartender and six months as a cabdriver. Then they would really be educated.
2. The nicest thing about coaching is that one day you feel like you can play handball against a curb, and on other days you feel like you can fly to the moon.
3. My rule was I wouldn't recruit a kid if he had grass in front of his house. That's not my world. My world has a cracked sidewalk.
4. A team should be an extension of a coach's personality. My teams are arrogant and obnoxious.
5. You can always tell the Catholic schools by the length of the cheerleaders' skirts.
6. If the waitress has dirty ankles, the chili is good.
7. Keep it simple, when you get too complex you forget the obvious.
8. They call me eccentric. They used to call me nuts. I haven't changed. The only difference between being eccentric and being nuts is the number of security boxes you own.
9. When I was losing, they called me nuts. When I was winning they called me eccentric.
10. Live every day as if it were Saturday night.

Al McGuire Short Quotes

• The best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores.
• I'm an Einstein of the streets and an Oxford scholar of common sense.
• You better have great practices.
• I come from New York where, if you fall down, someone will pick you up by your wallet.
• You measure a player from the head up.
• Every obnoxious fan has a wife at home that dominates him.
• That's it. Curtains. Off to the races. Treetops. Seashells and balloons.
• There's no one who's dropped on top of the mountain. You've got to work your way to the top.
• God didn't miss any of us.
• Can't win without talent, you know.

Al McGuire Famous Quotes And Sayings

I went into a restaurant one night and ordered lobster, and the waiter brought me one with a claw missing. I called him over and told him about it. He told me that in the back there's a tank they keep the lobsters in and while they're in there, they fight and sometimes one loses a claw. I told him 'then bring me a winner.' — Al McGuire

I tell the players that they can't relive any day in their lives and that they can't relive the minutes of a game, so they should make a great effort, a Mount Everest type effort, to live up to their potential. Success is a communal type thing, and if we win, then everyone can be considered successful and we can move uptown together. — Al McGuire

It's so ridiculous to see a golfer with a one foot putt and everybody is saying "Shhh" and not moving a muscle. Then we allow nineteen year-old kids to face a game-deciding free throw with seventeen thousand people yelling. — Al McGuire

I don't know why people question the academic training of an athlete. Fifty percent of the doctors in this country graduated in the bottom half of their classes. — Al McGuire

On how to make the game more exciting - Eliminate the referees, raise the basket four feet, double the size of the basketball, limit the height of the players to 5 feet 9 inches, bring back the centre jump, allow taxi drivers in for free and allow the players to carry guns. — Al McGuire

I don't believe in looking past anybody - I wouldn't look past the Little Sisters of the Poor after they stayed up all night. — Al McGuire

I just can't recruit where there's grass around. You gotta have a concrete lawn before I feel comfortable enough to go in and talk to you parents. — Al McGuire

If a player leaves Marquette and doesn't have some of my blood in him, then I don't think I've done a good job. — Al McGuire

Help one kid at a time. He'll maybe go back and help a few more. — Al McGuire

I don't think any decent human being enjoys recruiting. — Al McGuire

I don't discuss basketball. I dictate basketball. I'm not interested in philosophy classes. — Al McGuire

Don't be just another guy going down the street and going nowhere. — Al McGuire

The people who know basketball, their elevators don't go to the top. — Al McGuire

I had my moment on the stage. The trick in life is to know when to leave. — Al McGuire

I think the world is run by 'C' students. — Al McGuire

The next time I will cry is when I die. My life has been that beautiful. — Al McGuire

I want my team to have my personality: surly, obnoxious, and arrogant. — Al McGuire

Make your life exciting. Do what you have to do as long as you don't hurt people. — Al McGuire

It bothers me that the average fan, the average sportswriter for that matter, pays so much attention to what's in a box score. A box score does not properly represent the most important thing - team play. It shows some guy scoring 27 points, but it doesn't show that my 27-point man let his guy score 30. — Al McGuire

All love affairs end. Eventually the girl is gonna put curlers in her hair. — Al McGuire

If winning weren't important nobody would keep score. — Al McGuire

Live in the moment that you are in. — Al McGuire

When a guy takes off his coat, he's not going to fight. When a guy takes off his wristwatch, watch out! — Al McGuire

Our guys took Shop and Advanced Shop. Shop is when you make a chair. Advanced Shop is when you paint it. — Al McGuire

I'm not saying that they were Einsteins; they were marginal students. But every ballplayer whoever touched me has moved up his station in life. And the players moved up my station. — Al McGuire

Don't call me son unless you're going to include me in your will. (When Adolph Rupp called him, "Son.") — Al McGuire

It's a profession in which, the longer you stay, the closer you are to being fired. — Al McGuire

We rush for the stars as we crawl toward our graves. — Al McGuire

Winning is only important in war and surgery. — Al McGuire

Butch, you come from DeWitt Clinton. There are five thousand brothers in that school. You're the best there. You've been all-city two years in a row. How bad can you be? You come with me and we'll make nice music. — Al McGuire

Life is what you allow yourself not to see. — Al McGuire

Dean Meminger was quicker than 11:15 Mass at a seaside resort. — Al McGuire

I let ballplayers yell back at me because I wasn't trying to prove I'm boss. I know I'm boss. — Al McGuire

If you're straight with your players, they'll be straight with you. — Al McGuire

Life Lessons by Al McGuire

1. Al McGuire taught the importance of hard work and dedication to achieve success, as he worked relentlessly to build a successful basketball program at Marquette University.
2. Al McGuire also emphasized the importance of having a positive attitude and believing in yourself and your team, as he was known for his enthusiasm and optimism.
3. Finally, Al McGuire showed the importance of having a strong sense of community and camaraderie, as he was known for his strong relationships with his players and staff.