- "Gentlemen, it is better to have died a small boy than to fumble the football" - John Heisman
- "I make my practices real hard because if a player is a quitter, I want him to quit in practice, not in a game." - Bear Bryant / Alabama
- "It isn't necessary to see a good tackle, you can hear it!" - Knute Rockne / Notre Dame
- "At Georgia Southern, we don't cheat. That costs money, and we don't have any." - Erik Russell / Georgia Southern
- "The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it." - Lou Holtz / Arkansas - Notre Dame
- "When you win, nothing hurts." - Joe Namath / Alabama
- "A school without football is in danger of deteriorating into a medieval study hall." - Frank Leahy / Notre Dame
- "There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you." - Woody Hayes / Ohio State
- "I don't expect to win enough games to be put on NCAA probation. I just want to win enough to warrant an investigation." - Bob Devaney / Nebraska
- "In Alabama , an atheist is someone who doesn't believe in Bear Bryant." - Wally Butts / Georgia
- "I never graduated from Iowa. But I was only there for two terms - Truman's and Eisenhower's." - Alex Karras / Iowa
- "My advice to defensive players is to take the shortest route to the ball, and arrive in a bad humor." - Bowden Wyatt / Tennessee
- "I could have been a Rhodes Scholar except for my grades." - Duffy Daugherty / Michigan State
- "Always remember Goliath was a 40 point favorite over David." - Shug Jordan / Auburn
- "I asked Darrell Royal, the coach of the Texas Longhorns, why he didn't recruit me ." He said, “Well, Walt, we took a look at you, and you weren't any good." - Walt Garrison / Oklahoma State
- "Son, you've got a good engine, but your hands aren't on the steering wheel." - Bobby Bowden / Florida State
- "Football is NOT a contact sport, it is a collision sport. Dancing IS a contact sport." - Duffy Daugherty / Michigan State
- "If lessons are learned in defeat, our team is getting a great education." - Murray Warmath / Minnesota
- "The only qualifications for a lineman are to be big and dumb. To be a back, you only have to be dumb." - Knute Rockne / Notre Dame
- "I've found that prayers work best when you have big players." - Knute Rockne / Notre Dame
- Ohio State 's Urban Meyer on one of his players: “He doesn't know the meaning of the word fear. In fact, I just saw his grades and he doesn't know the meaning of a lot of words."
Of course, John McKay deserves his own section:
- After USC lost 51-0 to Notre Dame, his post-game message to his team was, "All those who need showers, take them." - John McKay / USC
- "We didn't tackle well today, but we made up for it by not blocking." - John McKay / USC
- After the Buccaneers won their first regular season game against the New Orleans Saints during the 1977 season 33–14, McKay mused, "Three or four plane crashes and we're in the playoffs."
- Following a game in 1967 in which O. J. Simpson received over 30 hand offs, McKay was asked "Why are you giving the ball to Simpson so often?" He replied, "Why not? It's not heavy, and he doesn't belong to a union."
- On recruiting his son, J.K., to play football at USC: "I had a rather distinct advantage. I slept with his mother."
- After a series of questionable calls helped Notre Dame tie top-ranked USC in 1968, McKay was asked about the officiating. He answered "I'm not surprised. The referee is a fine Catholic fellow by the name of Patrick Murphy."
- When asked his opinion of the NFL, he said "I've seen what they do in the professional ranks and it's not anything different than what we do here." McKay also did not understand the huge amounts of drama the league built around games, stating "What's so different between losing in the NFL and losing in college? You win, you put a check mark next to the game on the schedule list, and when you lose, you put an X next to it."
- Following a Tampa Bay Buccaneer loss, McKay was asked, "What's it like in the professional ranks, coach? Anything special?" He replied, "No I was beat 51–0 in the college ranks. It's the same thing."
- Standing on the sidelines during a game, McKay said, "Can't stop a pass, or a run...otherwise we're in great shape."
- During a team meeting, McKay told his players that games are won and lost in "the trenches." He then spotted Howard Fest sleeping in the back. McKay yelled, "FEST FEST, where are games won and lost?" Fest replied, "Right here with the Buccaneers coach."
- Following a Tampa Bay Buccaneers loss in their early seasons, McKay was asked what he thought of his team's "execution." He replied, "I'm all for it."
- "Capece is kaput," referring to Buccaneers kicker Bill Capece after he missed game-winning field goals in the final game of the 1983 season.
- After receiving harsh criticism from the media about McKay's coaching skills in the NFL, McKay replies "You guys don't know the difference between a football and a bunch of bananas." In the next interview, members of the media left bananas for McKay. He then replied, "You guys don't know the difference between a football and a Mercedes Benz."
- "I make my practices real hard because if a player is a quitter, I want him to quit in practice, not in a game." - Bear Bryant / Alabama
- "It isn't necessary to see a good tackle, you can hear it!" - Knute Rockne / Notre Dame
- "At Georgia Southern, we don't cheat. That costs money, and we don't have any." - Erik Russell / Georgia Southern
- "The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it." - Lou Holtz / Arkansas - Notre Dame
- "When you win, nothing hurts." - Joe Namath / Alabama
- "A school without football is in danger of deteriorating into a medieval study hall." - Frank Leahy / Notre Dame
- "There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you." - Woody Hayes / Ohio State
- "I don't expect to win enough games to be put on NCAA probation. I just want to win enough to warrant an investigation." - Bob Devaney / Nebraska
- "In Alabama , an atheist is someone who doesn't believe in Bear Bryant." - Wally Butts / Georgia
- "I never graduated from Iowa. But I was only there for two terms - Truman's and Eisenhower's." - Alex Karras / Iowa
- "My advice to defensive players is to take the shortest route to the ball, and arrive in a bad humor." - Bowden Wyatt / Tennessee
- "I could have been a Rhodes Scholar except for my grades." - Duffy Daugherty / Michigan State
- "Always remember Goliath was a 40 point favorite over David." - Shug Jordan / Auburn
- "I asked Darrell Royal, the coach of the Texas Longhorns, why he didn't recruit me ." He said, “Well, Walt, we took a look at you, and you weren't any good." - Walt Garrison / Oklahoma State
- "Son, you've got a good engine, but your hands aren't on the steering wheel." - Bobby Bowden / Florida State
- "Football is NOT a contact sport, it is a collision sport. Dancing IS a contact sport." - Duffy Daugherty / Michigan State
- "If lessons are learned in defeat, our team is getting a great education." - Murray Warmath / Minnesota
- "The only qualifications for a lineman are to be big and dumb. To be a back, you only have to be dumb." - Knute Rockne / Notre Dame
- "I've found that prayers work best when you have big players." - Knute Rockne / Notre Dame
- Ohio State 's Urban Meyer on one of his players: “He doesn't know the meaning of the word fear. In fact, I just saw his grades and he doesn't know the meaning of a lot of words."
Of course, John McKay deserves his own section:
- After USC lost 51-0 to Notre Dame, his post-game message to his team was, "All those who need showers, take them." - John McKay / USC
- "We didn't tackle well today, but we made up for it by not blocking." - John McKay / USC
- After the Buccaneers won their first regular season game against the New Orleans Saints during the 1977 season 33–14, McKay mused, "Three or four plane crashes and we're in the playoffs."
- Following a game in 1967 in which O. J. Simpson received over 30 hand offs, McKay was asked "Why are you giving the ball to Simpson so often?" He replied, "Why not? It's not heavy, and he doesn't belong to a union."
- On recruiting his son, J.K., to play football at USC: "I had a rather distinct advantage. I slept with his mother."
- After a series of questionable calls helped Notre Dame tie top-ranked USC in 1968, McKay was asked about the officiating. He answered "I'm not surprised. The referee is a fine Catholic fellow by the name of Patrick Murphy."
- When asked his opinion of the NFL, he said "I've seen what they do in the professional ranks and it's not anything different than what we do here." McKay also did not understand the huge amounts of drama the league built around games, stating "What's so different between losing in the NFL and losing in college? You win, you put a check mark next to the game on the schedule list, and when you lose, you put an X next to it."
- Following a Tampa Bay Buccaneer loss, McKay was asked, "What's it like in the professional ranks, coach? Anything special?" He replied, "No I was beat 51–0 in the college ranks. It's the same thing."
- Standing on the sidelines during a game, McKay said, "Can't stop a pass, or a run...otherwise we're in great shape."
- During a team meeting, McKay told his players that games are won and lost in "the trenches." He then spotted Howard Fest sleeping in the back. McKay yelled, "FEST FEST, where are games won and lost?" Fest replied, "Right here with the Buccaneers coach."
- Following a Tampa Bay Buccaneers loss in their early seasons, McKay was asked what he thought of his team's "execution." He replied, "I'm all for it."
- "Capece is kaput," referring to Buccaneers kicker Bill Capece after he missed game-winning field goals in the final game of the 1983 season.
- After receiving harsh criticism from the media about McKay's coaching skills in the NFL, McKay replies "You guys don't know the difference between a football and a bunch of bananas." In the next interview, members of the media left bananas for McKay. He then replied, "You guys don't know the difference between a football and a Mercedes Benz."
