When we think of great coaches in sports, we usually think of inspiring loudmouths who said witty things. So it’s funny that the winning-est college coach of all time – John Gagliardi – doesn’t seem to have said much of anything quotable. This may be a side effect of his No-How Coaching approach – no blocking sleds or dummies, no athletic scholarships, no weightlifting program, no whistles, no calling the coach “coach” (players call him John), and no tackling in practice. Or maybe he just figured that since he worked for St John, he had somebody watching out for him. In any case, we couldn’t find a single good quote attributed to the guy.

The second winning-est coach of all time – Eddie Robinson – also was a man of few words. And it’s interesting to note that the few quotable things he said were more based on love and positive feelings:

Leadership, like coaching, is fighting for the hearts and souls of men and getting them to believe in you.
- Eddie Robinson

Coaching is a profession of love. You can’t coach people unless you love them.
- Eddie Robinson

One of the people behind Amusing Enterprises, Hal, is something of a Michigan Football fan. Okay, that’s putting it lightly. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear he’s actually on the team. I don’t care much for football myself, but if I ever want to know if Michigan won on a random Autumn Saturday, I just ask Hal how he’s doing. So Hal may be a little disappointed to learn that not only did Bo Schembechler not win as many games as Woody Hayes, he didn’t say nearly as many clever things:

Show me a gracious loser, and I’ll show you a bus boy.
- Woody Hayes

You can never really pay back. You can only pay forward.
- Woody Hayes

Paralyze resistance with persistence.
- Woody Hayes

Anything easy ain’t worth a damn!
- Woody Hayes

To hell with exciting. I’d rather be drab as hell and win.
- Woody Hayes

There’s nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you.
- Woody Hayes

Although we might give Bo extra credit for seeming a little more intelligent:

What the mind can conceive, the mind can achieve and those who stay will be champions.
- Bo Schembechler

If I make a mistake, I’m going to make a mistake aggressively and I’m going to make it quickly. I don’t believe in sleeping on a decision.
- Bo Schembechler

Plus, Woody probably doesn’t have his own wine label either.

We’ll be back with more sports quotes all week, and on Friday, we’ll answer the question: How many teams are in the Big Ten?