110+ Bear Bryant Quotes On Teamwork, Practice And Winning

Bear Bryant was an American college football coach. He was the head coach of the University of Alabama football team for 25 years, from 1958 to 1982. He is considered one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, with six national championships and thirteen conference championships to his name. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Bear Bryant on teamwork, leadership, practice.

Top 10 Bear Bryant Quotes

1. It's not the will to win that matters-everyone has that. It's the will to prepare to win that matters.
2. Never quit. It is the easiest cop-out in the world. Set a goal and don't quit until you attain it. When you do attain it, set another goal, and don't quit until you reach it. Never quit.
3. Sure, I'd love to beat Notre Dame, don't get me wrong. But nothing matters more than beating that cow college on the other side of the state!
4. I make my practices real hard because if a player is a quitter, I want him to quit in practice, not in a game.
5. If you want to walk the heavenly streets of gold, you gotta know the password, "Roll, Tide, Roll!"
6. The first time you quit, it's hard. The second time, it gets easier. The third time, you don't even have to think about it.
7. In order to have a winner, the team must have a feeling of unity; every player must put the team first ahead of personal glory.
8. Baton Rouge happens to be the worst place in the world for a visiting team. It's like being inside a drum.
9. Expect the unexpected.
10. Have a plan. Follow the plan, and you'll be surprised how successful you can be. Most people don't have a plan. That's why it's easy to beat most folks.

Bear Bryant Short Quotes

• It really doesn't cost anything to be nice, and the rewards can be unimaginable
• Recognize winners. They come in all forms.
• There is no substitute for guts.
• Being inside Tiger Stadium is like being on the inside of a drum.
• Don't tolerate lazy people. They are losers.
• I don't hire anybody not brighter than I am. If they're not brighter than I am, I don't need them.
• It's kind of hard to rally around a math class.
• If we'd beaten 'em, I wouldn't be going out.
• I'll put you through hell, but at the end of it all we'll be champions.
• Don't overwork your squad. If you're going to make a mistake, under-work them.

Bear Bryant Quotes About Leadership

It's awfully important to win with humility. It's also important to lose. I hate to lose worse than anyone, but if you never lose you won't know how to act. If you lose with humility, then you can come back. — Bear Bryant

If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good, we did it. If anything goes real good, then you did it. That's all it takes to get people to win football games for you. — Bear Bryant

If wanting to win is a fault, as some of my critics seem to insist, then I plead guilty. I like to win. I know no other way. It's in my blood. — Bear Bryant

If they don't have a winning attitude, I don't want them. — Bear Bryant

I told them my system was based on the "ant plan," that I'd gotten the idea watching a colony of ants in Africa during the war. A whole bunch of ants working toward a common goal. — Bear Bryant

I think the most important thing of all for any team is a winning attitude. The coaches must have it. The players must have it. The student body must have it. If you have dedicated players who believe in themselves, you don't need a lot of talent. — Bear Bryant

Set goals - high goals for you and your organization. When your organization has a goal to shoot for, you create teamwork, people working for a common good. — Bear Bryant

You take those little rascals, talk to them good, pat them on the back, let them think they are good, and they will go out and beat the biguns. — Bear Bryant

A good, quick, small team can beat a big, slow team any time. — Bear Bryant

People who are in it for their own good are individualists. They don't share the same heartbeat that makes a team so great. A great unit, whether it be football or any organization, shares the same heartbeat. — Bear Bryant

Bear Bryant Quotes About Practice

I want to make sure I don't interfere with the success of that team next year. I don't see any way I could go to practice like most of 'em do, and not hurt the team. I'd go nuts if I tried doing that. — Bear Bryant

I didn't care if we ever quit practicing. I loved it. The only other guy I ever knew who loved it as much was Jerry Duncan. He would beg to practice even when he was hurt. I've actually seen him cry because the trainer told him he couldn't scrimmage. — Bear Bryant

I don't care how much talent a team has - if the boys don't think tough, practice tough, and live tough, how they play tough on Saturday. — Bear Bryant

If a man is a quitter, I'd rather find out in practice than in a game. I ask for all a player has so I'll know later what I can expect. — Bear Bryant

Bear Bryant Quotes About Winning

Don't talk too much or too soon. — Bear Bryant

Winning isn't imperative, but getting tougher in the fourth quarter is. — Bear Bryant

The price of victory is high, but so are the rewards. — Bear Bryant

At Alabama, our players don't win Heisman Trophies. Our teams win National Championships. — Bear Bryant

Don't worry about making friends; don't worry about making enemies. Worry about winning, because if you win, your enemies can't hurt you, and if you lose, your friends can't stand you. — Bear Bryant

All I know is, I don't want to stop coaching, and I don't want to stop winning, so we're gonna break the record unless I die. — Bear Bryant

That's all it takes to get people to win football games for you. — Bear Bryant

Hell, no! A tie is like kissing your sister! — Bear Bryant

In my lifetime, I may have put too much emphasis on winning, because here I am an old man and the only fun I've had is winning, and that's ridiculous. — Bear Bryant

I've made so many mistakes that if I don't make the same mistakes over, we're going to come pretty close to winning. — Bear Bryant

Bear Bryant Quotes About Losing

When you win, there's glory enough for everybody. When you lose, there's glory for none. — Bear Bryant

They say I teach brutal football, but the only thing brutal about football is losing. — Bear Bryant

I'm not much of a golfer, I don't have any friends and all I like to do is go home and be alone, and not worry about ways not to lose. — Bear Bryant

I ain't never had much fun. I ain't never been two inches away from a football. Here guys go fishing on the day of the game, hunting, golfing, and all I want to do is be alone, studying how not to lose. — Bear Bryant

The fun never goes out, but it changes with the years, with winning and losing. — Bear Bryant

Losing doesn't make me want to quit. It makes me want to fight that much harder. — Bear Bryant

I know what it takes to win. If I can sell them on what it takes to win, then we are not going to lose too many football games. — Bear Bryant

Most coaches study the films when they lose. I study them when we win -to see if I can figure out what I did right — Bear Bryant

Bear Bryant Quotes About Coach

No coach has ever won a game by what he knows; it's what his players know that counts. — Bear Bryant

Recruiting is the one thing I hate. I won't do it unless my coaches tell me I've just got to. The whole process is kind of undignified for me and the young man. — Bear Bryant

We can't have two standards, one set for the dedicated young men who want to do something ambitious and one set for those who don't. — Bear Bryant

Three rules for coaching: 1.) Surround yourself with people who can't live without football. 2.) Recognize winners. They come in all forms. 3.) Have a plan for everything. — Bear Bryant

I think I'm telling the truth. I sat by Ray Perkins at the Hall of Fame dinner in New York, and at that time he didn't know he was our coach and I didn't either. — Bear Bryant

I'm no innovator. If anything I'm a stealer, or borrower. I've stolen or borrowed from more people than you can shake a stick at. — Bear Bryant

Sacrifice. Work. Self-discipline. I teach these things, and my boys don't forget them when they leave. — Bear Bryant

I'm no genius, but I'm a damn good football coach. — Bear Bryant

But it's still a coach's game. Make no mistake. You start at the top. If you don't have a good one at the top, you don't have a cut dog's chance. — Bear Bryant

If I miss coaching that much, I could go to some little school where they didn't recruit, where all the kids wanted to go. I believe I could find somewhere to coach. — Bear Bryant

Bear Bryant Quotes About Years

Georgia Tech beat us and Mississippi Southern tied us last year, and Texas beat us after we had the game won. We only played about five games the way we were capable of playing and lost one of those. — Bear Bryant

It's been years since I've had a real input in the game anyway. For this game, I've just tried to keep all the other stuff away from the players and coaches. — Bear Bryant

I hope to get out before they start football next year. — Bear Bryant

Back 12 years ago, when Dr. Mathews was president here, we had a plan that when I got ready to quit, we'd bring a certain guy in and he'd take over that day and I'd leave. But as time wore on, I realized that wouldn't have been good at all. — Bear Bryant

Bear Bryant Quotes About Alabama

I've had many a player tell me all through high school and right up until signing day that they were coming to Alabama, then they signed with somebody else. — Bear Bryant

I ain't never been nothin but a winner. — Bear Bryant

In life, you'll have your back up against the wall many times. You might as well get used to it. — Bear Bryant

I left Texas A&M because my school called me. Mama called, and when Mama calls, then you just have to come running. — Bear Bryant

Be aware of "yes" men. Generally, they are losers. Surround yourself with winners. Never forget - people win. — Bear Bryant

If you don't have discipline, you can't have a successful program. — Bear Bryant

I can reach a kid who doesn't have any ability as long as he doesn't know it. — Bear Bryant

Every time a player goes out there, at least 20 people have some amount of influence on him. His mother has more influence than anyone. I know because I played, and I loved my mama. — Bear Bryant

I don't have any ideas; my coaches have them. I just pass the ideas on and referee the arguments. — Bear Bryant

I plan on staying at Alabama for the rest of my career. I guarantee that I'll be here for you through it all, regardless of what happens. — Bear Bryant

Bear Bryant Famous Quotes And Sayings

Lee Roy was the best college linebacker - bar none. He would have made every tackle on every play if they had stayed in bounds. — Bear Bryant

But there's one thing about quitters you have to guard against - they are contagious. If one boy goes, the chances are he'll take somebody with him, and you don't want that. So when they would start acting that way, I used to pack them up and get them out, or embarrass them, or do something to turn them around. — Bear Bryant

The faint old man shall lean his silver head To feel thee; thou shalt kiss the child asleep, And dry the moistened curls that overspread His temples, while his breathing grows more deep. — Bear Bryant

The summer day is closed, the sun is set: Well they have done their office, those bright hours, The latest of whose train goes softly out In the red west. — Bear Bryant

Here's a twenty, bury two. — Bear Bryant

I can remember loving to recruit. I knew I was going to do my best. But traveling and recruiting doesn't appeal to me any more. It's not as much fun as it used to be. — Bear Bryant

I'm happy with the coach we have. I think any one of the ones I asked them to consider would've been good. — Bear Bryant

First there are those who are winners, and know they are winners. Then there are the losers who know they are losers. Then there are those who are not winners, but don't know it. They're the ones for me. They never quit trying. They're the soul of our game. — Bear Bryant

One man doesn't make a team. It takes eleven. — Bear Bryant

The biggest mistake coaches make is taking borderline cases and trying to save them. I'm not talking about grades now, I'm talking about character. I want to know before a boy enrolls about his home life, and what his parents want him to be. — Bear Bryant

Find your own picture, your own self in anything that goes bad. It's awfully easy to mouth off at your staff or chew out players, but if it's bad, and your the head coach, you're responsible. If we have an intercepted pass, I threw it. I'm the head coach. If we get a punt blocked, I caused it. A bad practice, a bad game, it's up to the head coach to assume his responsibility. — Bear Bryant

I'm known as a recruiter. Well you've got to have chicken to make chicken salad. — Bear Bryant

Don't talk too much. Don't pop off. Don't talk after the game until you cool off. — Bear Bryant

There ought to be a special place in heaven for coaches' wives. — Bear Bryant

My approach to the game has been the same at all the places I've been. Vanilla. The sure way. That means, first of all, to win physically. If you got eleven on a field, and they beat the other eleven physically, they'll win. They will start forcing mistakes. They'll win in the fourth quarter. — Bear Bryant

When you play defense you have to storm the fort or play cover - you can't do both. — Bear Bryant

I'll never give up on a player regardless of his ability as long as he never gives up on himself. In time he will develop. — Bear Bryant

I have had players who are good, and who know they are good; I have had players who are bad and know they are bad; I have had players who are good, but who don't know they are good; I have had players who are bad, but who don't know they are bad. It is this last group that has won more games for me than the first three groups combined. — Bear Bryant

Scout yourself. Have a buddy who coaches scout you. — Bear Bryant

If you whoop and holler all the time, the players just get used to it. — Bear Bryant

There is a big difference in wanting to and willing to. — Bear Bryant

You must learn how to hold a team together. You must lift some men up, calm others down, until finally they've got one heartbeat. Then you've got yourself a team. — Bear Bryant

If you don't learn anything but self discipline, then athletics is worthwhile. — Bear Bryant

You win games with your strengths, not your weaknesses. — Bear Bryant

When you make a mistake, there are only three things you should ever do about it: 1. Admit it. 2. Learn from it, and 3. Don't repeat it. — Bear Bryant

Never be too proud to get down on your knees and pray. — Bear Bryant

You try to make your team do something they're not capable of and you get murdered. — Bear Bryant

Nearly every coach I've talked with tells me that the attention you get from media and other people is the thing you miss most. I don't know if that's right. — Bear Bryant

Everybody's got pretty good players now, more players than there've ever been. If you play poorly, you're going to get beat. — Bear Bryant

I always want my players to show class, knock'em down, pat on the back, and run back to the huddle. — Bear Bryant

If there is one thing that has helped me as a coach, it's my ability to recognize winners, or good people who can become winners by paying the price. — Bear Bryant

A champion pays an extra price to be better than anyone else. — Bear Bryant

Football games are generally won by the boys with the greatest desire. — Bear Bryant

Don't ever give up on ability. Don't give up on a player who has it. — Bear Bryant

I tell young players who want to be coaches, who think they can put up with all the headaches and heartaches, can you live without it? If you can live without it, don't get in it. — Bear Bryant

I ain't won but one. My team won the rest in spite of me. — Bear Bryant

The idea of molding men means a lot to me. — Bear Bryant

You have to learn what makes this or that Sammy run. For one it's a pat on the back, for another it's eating him out, for still another it's a fatherly talk, or something else. You're a fool if you think as I did as a young coach, that you can treat them all alike. — Bear Bryant

Life Lessons by Bear Bryant

1. Bear Bryant taught the importance of hard work and dedication, emphasizing that success comes from putting in the effort and never giving up.
2. He also demonstrated the power of leadership and the importance of setting a good example for those around you.
3. Lastly, he showed that having a strong team mentality and being willing to sacrifice for the greater good can lead to great success.