On Work Habits

Work Habits

Nothing good comes in life or athletics unless a lot of hard work has preceded the effort. Only temporary success is achieved by taking short cuts. – Roger Staubach

It’s not the will to win that matters—everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters. – Knute Rockne

Just keep going. Everybody gets better if they keep at it. – Ted Williams

You never know how a horse will pull until you hook him to a heavy load. – Bear Bryant

The six W’s: Work will win when wishing won’t. – Todd Blackledge

The prospect who does what is required of him is a player. When he does more, he becomes an athlete. – Hank Iba

When you see a successful individual, a champion, you can be very sure that you are looking at an individual who pays great attention to the perfection of minor details. – John Wooden

The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender. – Vince Lombardi

My determination more than made up for any lack of speed, height, weight or whatever else I wasn’t supposed to have. – Jack Lambert

Note: Most, if not all, of the material that appears in the “What We, And Others Smarter, Believe” section has been borrowed from fellow coaches, including former colleagues Randall Zimmerman, Steve Hopkins, Mike McBride, Tami Holthus and Brian Lohafer.

On Winning and Losing

WINNING AND LOSING

You are never really playing an opponent. You are playing yourself, your own highest standards, and when you reach your limits, that is real joy. – Arthur Ashe

The final score is not the final score. My final score is how prepared you were to execute near your own particular level of competence, both individually and as a team. – John Wooden

Don’t let winning make you soft. Don’t let losing make you quit. Don’t let your teammates down in any situation. – Larry Bird

Success isn’t something that just happens. Success is learned, success is practiced, success is shared. – Sparky Anderson

Losing is only temporary and not all encompassing. You must simply study it, learn from it, and try hard not to lose the same way again. Then you must have the self-control to forget about it. – John Wooden

Many times, the best way to learn is through mistakes. A fear of making mistakes can bring individuals to a standstill, to a dead center. Fear is the wicked wand that transforms human beings into vegetables. – George Brown

How a man plays the game shows something of his character; how he loses shows all of it. – Frosty Westering

The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning. – Pele

We compete, not so much against an opponent, but against ourselves. The real test is this: Did I make my best effort on every play? – Bud Wilkinson

If you don’t invest much of yourself, then defeat doesn’t hurt very much and winning isn’t very exciting. – Dick Vermeil

Failures are expected by losers, ignored by winners. – Joe Gibbs

We play with enthusiasm and recklessness. We aren’t afraid to lose. If we win, great. But win or lose, it is the competition that gives us pleasure. – Joe Paterno

I’ve learned that something constructive comes from every defeat. – Tom Landry

Note: Most, if not all, of the material that appears in the “What We, And Others Smarter, Believe” section has been borrowed from fellow coaches, including former colleagues Randall Zimmerman, Steve Hopkins, Mike McBride, Tami Holthus and Brian Lohafer.

On Integrity and Enthusiasm

INTEGRITY AND ENTHUSIASM

Integrity

One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than 50 preaching it. – Knute Rockne

When what we want to do and what we ought to do are two different things, character is built in the choice we make. – Bill Bennett

The true test of character is not how much we know how to do, but how we behave when we don’t know what to do. – John Holt

You can easily judge a man by how he treats a person that can do nothing for him. – Unknown

The measure of a man’s real character is what he would do if he would never be found out. – Thomas MacCauley

How hard you work at correcting your faults reveals your character. – John Wooden

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation. Character is what you really are. Reputation is just what people say you are. – John Wooden

I have prepared for death all my life by the life I lived. – Socrates

Enthusiasm

The successful man has enthusiasm. Good work is never done in cold blood; heat is needed to forge anything. Every great achievement is the story of a flaming heart. – Harry Truman

It is a funny thing about life – if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you often get it. – Somerset Maugham

If you are killing time, it is not murder, it is suicide. – Lou Holtz

Everything may be taken from us except the last of the human freedoms – our ability to choose our own attitude in any situation. – Victor Frankl

It is more probable that your attitude, rather than your aptitude, will determine your altitude in life. – Unknown

Note: Most, if not all, of the material that appears in the “What We, And Others Smarter, Believe” section has been borrowed from fellow coaches, including former colleagues Randall Zimmerman, Steve Hopkins, Mike McBride, Tami Holthus and Brian Lohafer.

On Courage and Perseverance

COURAGE AND PERSEVERANCE

Courage

If you’re willing to put yourself and your dreams on the line, at the very least you’ll discover an inner strength you may not have known existed. – Kurt Warner

Do you want to be safe and good, or do you want to take a chance and be great? – Jimmy Johnson

If you want to achieve a high goal, you’re going to have to take some chances. – Alberto Salazar

Courage means being afraid to do something, but still doing it. – Knute Rockne

To see what is right and not do it, is lack of courage. – Confucius

Perseverance

Most people give up just when they’re about to achieve success. They quit on the one-yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game, one foot from a winning touchdown. – H. Ross Perot

It’s not so important who starts the game but who finishes it. – John Wooden

I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. – Michael Jordan

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. – Thomas Edison

Everybody is looking for instant success, but it doesn’t work that way. You build a successful life one day at a time. – Lou Holtz

Patience is a virtue. It takes time to create excellence. If it could be done quickly, more people would do it. – John Wooden

There is a correlation between sustained effort and winning – Anonymous

Try not to do too many things at once. Know what you want. The number one thing for today and tomorrow is to persevere and get it done. – George Allen

Note: Most, if not all, of the material that appears in the “What We, And Others Smarter, Believe” section has been borrowed from fellow coaches, including former colleagues Randall Zimmerman, Steve Hopkins, Mike McBride, Tami Holthus and Brian Lohafer.

A Baseball Family Philosophy

A BASEBALL FAMILY PHILOSOPHY

We are not just a baseball team. We are a BASEBALL FAMILY.

We are a support system for one another.

We care for one another and take pride in one another’s accomplishments.

We understand that our baseball team is not about any one of us individually.

We communicate truthfully.

When we speak, we look one another in the eye.

We embrace discipline and personal responsibility.

We hold ourselves accountable to one another. Whatever happens to one of us happens to all of us.

We show respect and appreciation to each member of our baseball family. The players, the coaches, the parents, the official scorers, the field maintenance crew, the staff at NBA…all have important roles.

We represent our organization and our community with pride and passion.

We define our own success and allow no one else to define it for us.

Our number one goal: TO GET BETTER EVERY DAY — AS A PLAYER AND A PERSON.

Note: Most, if not all, of the material that appears in the “What We, And Others Smarter, Believe” section has been borrowed from fellow coaches, including former colleagues Randall Zimmerman, Steve Hopkins, Mike McBride, Tami Holthus and Brian Lohafer.