Football Quotes by John Wooden · Page 2

The best way to improve your team is to improve yourself.

— John Wooden

Once you become a good person, then you have a chance of becoming a good basketball player.

— John Wooden

The player who puts the ball through the hoop has ten hands.

— John Wooden

Over-coaching can be more harmful than under-coaching. Keep it simple!

— John Wooden

The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.

— John Wooden

It's not so important who starts the game but who finishes it.

— John Wooden

It's not how big you are, it's how big you play

— John Wooden

A gifted player, who is not a team player, will ultimately hurt the team.

— John Wooden

Team spirit means you are willing to sacrifice personal considerations for the welfare of all. That defines a team player.

— John Wooden

When you give total effort - everything you have - the score can never make you a loser. And when you do…

— John Wooden

I found the bench to be the greatest ally when I had to make individuals comply with what was best for the…

— John Wooden

Selfishness is the greatest challenge for a coach. Most players are more concerned with making themselves better than the team.

— John Wooden

Defense is a definite part of the game, and a great part of defense is learning to play it without fouling.

— John Wooden

Good coaching is about leadership and instilling respect in your players. Dictators lead through fear - good coaches do not.

— John Wooden

A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good…

— John Wooden

You'd like to see your team reasonably happy, but that's not your job. Gain their respect and get them to accept their…

— John Wooden

The coach must never forget that he is, first of all, a teacher. He must come (be present), see (diagnose), and conquer…

— John Wooden

Losing is only temporary and not encompassing. You must simply study it, learn from it, and try hard not to lose the…

— John Wooden

I always tried to make clear that basketball is not the ultimate. It is of small importance in comparison to the total…

— John Wooden

We can become great in the eyes of others, but we'll never become successful when we compromise our character and show disloyalty…

— John Wooden

“A good coach can change a game. A great coach can change a life.”

— John Wooden

Teaching players during practices was what coaching was all about to me.

— John Wooden

You can lose when you outscore somebody in a game, and you can win when you're outscored.

— John Wooden

What you are as a person is far more important that what you are as a basketball player.

— John Wooden

The better conditioned team will probably win in the long run.

— John Wooden

The team that makes the most mistakes usually wins, because doers make mistakes

— John Wooden

When you choose to become part of a team, you cease to exist as an individual.

— John Wooden

The best players don't win championships. The best team players win championships.

— John Wooden

I always talked to my players about today. It's the only day that matters.

— John Wooden

If a player's not doing the things he should, put him on the bench. He'll come around.

— John Wooden

If I were a young coach today, I would be extremely careful in selecting assistants.

— John Wooden

A coach's primary function should be not to make better players, but to make better people

— John Wooden

Winning and losing aren't all they're cracked up to be, but the trip to the destination is.

— John Wooden

If we, as coaches, aren't teachers, we are nothing

— John Wooden

The greatest ally you have to get things working well and the players performing as a team is the bench. Don't be…

— John Wooden

Losing does not make you a failure; it is when you blame someone for losing when you become a failure

— John Wooden

Our titles would not have been possible without the unselfishness displayed by all our teams, the team wins, not the individuals

— John Wooden