Years ago, when he was head coach of the Houston Oilers, Bum Phillips was asked who the all-time greatest football coach was. “Bear Bryant.” Why? “Because he could beat your’un with his’un and his’un with you’un.”

Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant was one of college football’s most legendary coaches. As a head coach at Maryland, Kentucky, Texas A&M, and Alabama, Bryant impacted the lives of many men and left a lasting legacy on the sport and the schools he worked with.

The majority of Bear Bryant’s success came at The University of Alabama. Bryant coached at Alabama for 25 years, winning six national titles (1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, and 1979) and thirteen SEC championships. When he retired from the game after the 1982 season, his all-time record as a coach was 323-85-17.

Bryant was known as a master motivator when he coached and many of his quotes continue to be used today. To help remember many of them, here are several of his best quotations:

o “If you want to walk the heavenly streets of gold, you gotta know the password, ‘Roll, Tide, Roll.'”

o “If you believe in yourself and have dedication and pride – and never quit – you’ll be a winner. The price of victory is high but so are the rewards.”

o “Have you called your mama today? I wish I could call mine.”

o “I ain’t never been nothin but a winner.”

o “A good, quick, small team can beat a big, slow team any time.”

o “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.”

o “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.”

o “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.”

o “If they don’t have a winning attitude, I don’t want them.”

o “It’s not the will to win that matters – everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.”

o “I don’t guess anybody would think much of what Joe (Namath) did nowadays, including myself. But he was supposed to be a leader, so he had to live by the rules. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do, and it was to the greatest athlete I ever coached.”
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o I don’t have to apologize for who I play. I’m trying to win the game.”

o At Alabama our players do not win Heisman Trophies, our teams win national championships.”

o “You boys were eight and ten years old last time Alabama was on top. That was before any of you were paying much attention to it. What are you doing here? Tell me why you are here. If you are not here to win a national championship, you’re in the wrong place. You boys are special. I don’t want my players to be like other students. I want special people. You can learn a lot on the football field that isn’t taught in the home, the church, or the classroom. There are going to be days when you think you’ve got no more to give and then you’re going to give plenty more. You are going to have pride and class. You are going to be very special. You are going to win the national championship for Alabama.”

o “In life, you’ll have your back up against the wall many times. You might as well get used to it.”

o “Don’t give up at halftime. Concentrate on winning the second half.”
“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.”

o “In a crisis, don’t hide behind anything or anybody. They’re going to find you anyway.”

o “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.”

o “Winning isn’t everything, but it beats anything that comes in second.”

o “There’s no substitute for guts.”