Don Shula Quotations

Success is not forever and failure isn't fatal.

I think what coaching is all about, is taking players and analyzing there ability, put them in a position where they can excel within the framework of the team winning. And I hope that I've done that in my 33 years as a head coach.

The superior man blames himself. The inferior man blames others.

The one thing that I know is that you win with good people.

The thing we found out was, when you get to a Super Bowl, both teams are treated the same, talked about in glowing terms. But when the game is over, only the team that won matters.

I never felt I knew it all. I always felt there's something new to learn, something new to do.

Sure, luck means a lot in football. Not having a good quarterback is bad luck.

Anybody that's a Dolphins fan feels they're headed in the right direction.

You know it's only 50 miles from Grand River to Canton, but it took me 67 years to travel that distance.

Losing a Super Bowl destroys all the good things that happened to get you there.

You take on what's right in front of you. You want to do the best you can with the opportunities that you have.

One thing I never want to be accused of is not working.

I can't control the criticism. It's something you certainly don't appreciate, but by the same token, everybody is entitled to their opinion.

I don't know any other way to lead but by example.

And this year is going to be the 25th anniversary of the 17-0 team, the only undefeated season.

What I learned from that loss, and also another loss that I'm going to talk about later, was that when you're there, it's not good enough to be there, when you're there, you better walk away with that ring.

Because, they're only thinking about one team when that game's over. Before the game, they're talking about two football teams. When the game's over, there's only one winner.

And I coached against Mike when he was an assistant with the Bears and they won that football game.

I can't remember missing a practice because of illness.

When you're 0-2 in the Super Bowl, they say unkind things about you. They say, 'He can't win the big one.' And that's the worst thing that can be said about you.

And then to end up with a total of 347 wins, averaging 10 regular season wins for 33 years and the best winning percentage, and I'm very proud of this, of any professional team from 1970 to 1996.

He wants to be his own man and be recognized for what he's done. He's not asking for anything because of his name. That was a tough situation to go into at Alabama, but he probably wouldn't have been given the job if the situation would have been different.

Peyton Manning is doing things that I think no other quarterback in the history of the league has done at the line of scrimmage... I just think they are a team right now that's got a real chance to run the table.

I don't want a player that's content with not playing... But we wanted to play the guys that got us here.

I'm not going to worry about the critics until some of my peers start saying I'm a softie.

You try to get the most out of the talent. Make 'em work and let 'em play.

The 347 wins is the thing I'm most proud of. Nobody's even close to it.

You can't play enough golf or do any of those other things that fill that kind of excitement that coaching gave me in the big games.

I coached against Dave the last couple of years, and I was very proud to be the first time a father ever coached against his son. He beat me for 30 minutes the first time and 59 and a half minutes the second time.

You try to shut the criticism out, but it's pretty hard to do. You see people on the street, friends, people that you know are in your corner, and they come and tell you how bad they feel, and that's not the kind of conversation you want. I don't want anyone to feel bad for me.

When we got them together for the first time on the field, ... and had Woodley throwing on one side to a group of receivers and Marino on the other, it was so evident the ability Dan had throwing the football. Woodley was an athlete playing quarterback and Marino was a quarterback playing quarterback. You could just look at it and see, even in the simplest passing drills, that Marino had that great skill.

We didn't win a Super Bowl together, ... and that's something I'll always regret, not knowing what that feels like. ...

Mike knew what it was going to be like. He didn't play for Bear Bryant, but he played right after he was gone. He knows all about what Alabama fans want.

No other league has had labor peace for so long. Tagliabue has managed to keep the two sides together, and they've kept playing.

Obviously the Dolphins are 0-4 and not happy about that. They haven't been able to put together any drives offensively. If they can get something together offensively, with the great defense they play, they've got a chance to win some games this year, and they've got a chance against New England.

I wouldn't use them both at the same time, ... I'd alternate them, keep them fresh. It's a long season, and you're going to need the talent of both of those guys.

I got up and displayed some anger. I was sort of upset. Wouldn't you be?

I don't want a player that's content with not playing, ... But we wanted to play the guys that got us here.

He is (happy). He likes Tuscaloosa. They enjoy it there. He's got two young girls and they've got a third on the way, they just found out it's another girl, so that will be three girls. He likes everything about the job.

He is (happy), ... He likes Tuscaloosa. They enjoy it there. He's got two young girls and they've got a third on the way, they just found out it's another girl, so that will be three girls. He likes everything about the job.

Here's one thing I don't think people know about,

He was a great competitor and what Dan wanted to do was win, ... and as long as he felt he was getting the right help from the sideline, he certainly appreciated that. I coached him 13 years of his 17-year career and we put up big numbers.

He didn't walk into a great situation. Mike's worked hard to get the program where it is now. I couldn't be more proud.

He didn't like any play-action, ... He liked to drop back and go downfield. Of course, we didn't have much of a running game in those years.

The '85 Bears were a great football team and aside from that one game, they played exceptionally well all year, ... Denver at 13-0 was tremendously strong in all areas, too.

We're depicted as being happy about somebody's misfortune.

We had him rated right behind (John) Elway and ahead of (Jim) Kelly, ... But we never dreamed we'd have a shot at Dan.

We didn't have any champagne to toast each other. But we did have some Diet Cokes up there. We lifted the Diet Cokes.

And my rookie contract, my first rookie contract was for $5,000.

My coaching philosophy? Determine your players talents and give them every weapon to get the most from those talents.

When you're there, it's not good enough to be there.

I always want to do the best that I can with the opportunities that God has given me. The only way that you can possibly do that is to give yourself a chance to go as high as you possibly can. If you don't have the confidence in yourself and you don't have the desire to compete and move ahead, than you start to get stagnant....If I fall a little bit short, then I'm still farther than if I hadn't reached at all.

Everything that I have done has always been predicated on doing the best that I can with the ability that God has given me, trying to reach as far as I possibly can. And if I fall a little bit short, then I'm still farther ahead than if I hadn't reached at all.

You know it's only 50 miles but I've relished every moment of the longer route to get here. Thanks for letting me reflect on those great moments. Thank you.

Learn from everyone, copy no one.

I'm fairly confident that if I died tomorrow, Don would find a way to preserve me until the season was over and he had time for a nice funeral.

If you're going to take gambles, you must have one thing: self-confidence.

I don't know how to lead but by example.

I'm just a guy who rolls up his sleeves and goes to work!

The one man team is a complete and total myth.

Failure isn't fatal, and success isn't final.

Success is the peace of mind that comes when you know you have given everything you have to give to the opportunities that life has presented you.

Lots of leaders want to be popular. I never cared about that. I want to be respected.

Leadership implies movement toward something and convictions provide that direction.

The ultimate goal is victory. And if you refuse to work as hard as you possibly can toward that aim, or if you do anything that keeps you from achieving that goal, then you are just cheating yourself.

The whole idea is to get an edge. Sometimes it takes just a little extra something to get that edge, but you have to have it.

It's the start that stops most people.

Some clubs want to win so much they'll do anything to get it. Our approach has been just the opposite. We've tried to do things the right way. And the right way is [abiding by] the rules and regulations ... I may not like all of them, but once they are [official], we play by them.

The start is what stops most people.

There's nothing wrong with setting goals, but it doesn't mean a thing if you don't pay attention to the day-to-day details.

As a coach, your high standards of performance, attention to detail and - above all - how hard you work set the stage for how your players perform.

Success is not forever, and failure is never final.

I have no magic formula. The only way I know to win is through hard work.

The problem with most leaders today is they don't stand for anything. Leadership implies movement toward something, and convictions provide that direction. If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything

My responsibility is leadership, and the minute I get negative, that is going to have an influence on my team.

Strive for perfection, but settle for excellence.

To be successful, all you have to do is work half-days; you can work the first twelve hours or the second twelve hours.

You set a goal to be the best and then you work hard every hour of every day, striving to reach that goal. If you allow yourself to settle for anything less than number one, you are cheating yourself.

Dwight was everything the Bear ever said he would be.

It was the win that everybody had been waiting for, the one that he needed. Hopefully this will be the one that puts him over the top and they'll go on from here.

Now he's got the parts to make it all work.

As long as they stay healthy, I think they've got a great shot at it.

It's a special place, and he has an appreciation for the tradition.

Dan didn't like play-action; we didn't have a running game, so consequently we didn't have play action. Most of the stuff we did was drop-back passing or the shotgun, and Dan always was looking down field. He could sense where the pressure was coming from and quickly get the ball off.

Then somewhere along the line and it couldn't have been until late in the season we realized we had a chance to do something no one else had done: To win all the games. That became important, but if we had to lose, we wanted to make sure that it wasn't in the Super Bowl. If we ended 16-1, the season would have been a failure.

It's like he's invisible around here, ... You never see him, never see him, but, gosh, what a comfort it is for us coaches to know we've got somebody like that here. What a security blanket he is. We ought to make all of our grandsons learn to do what he does. Long snapping -- that's not a bad way to go.

They both had to sacrifice, but they finally understood what I was trying to do.

Invariably, the morning after the game, one of them was waiting outside my office to complain that he was not getting the ball enough, ... I never kept them happy. One was always complaining he wasn't in the game enough.

His delivery was kind of chest-high, ... The ball would leave his hand and just explode.

He took over a tough situation. They were on probation, and the scholarships were down. He had to get that turned around. He's done a good job. They are going in the right direction, but he's got Florida coming up, LSU coming up and Tennessee and Auburn coming up. He's got his work cut out for him.

He took over a program that was going through a lot of problems and he's trying to get it turned around, ... This would be a big step for him. (A win) would show they are headed in the right direction . . . That's a big job he's got, following Bear Bryant at the University of Alabama, 83,000 people. . . . College football is just very exciting. The fans are so loyal.

If I find out you said anything, you've had it,

How's it going, Coach? Great. Good to see you, Lenny.

And my rookie contract, my first rookie contract was for $5,000.