Woody Hayes with fullback Dick Doyle and assistant coach Ernie Godfrey, 1952.
A good football player finds out that he gets knocked down dozens of times. But he gets up, and the first thing he knows he’s knocking other people down. The great thing about football is that when you get knocked down, you get up and go again. You don’t lie there and moan and groan and rail against the fates. Woody Hayes
A man is always better than he thinks. Woody Hayes
All my life I have been and always will be a hero-worshiper. Woody Hayes
Any time you give a man something he doesn’t earn, you cheapen him. Our kids earn what they get, and that includes respect. Woody Hayes
Being cold, like being determined to win, is just a state of mind. Woody Hayes
Defeats are the things that make men out of you. Woody Hayes
Even the best team, without a sound plan, can’t score. Woody Hayes
Football is, after all, a wonderful way to get rid of your aggressions without going to jail for it. Woody Hayes
I am not very smart, but I recognize that I am not very smart. Woody Hayes
I came to Ohio State primarily for opportunity, not security. Woody Hayes
I could beat Jesse Owens in a 100 yard dash if you gave me enough of a head start. Woody Hayes
I don’t apologize for anything. When I make a mistake, I take the blame and go on from there. I just despise to lose, and that has taken a man of mediocre ability and made a pretty good coach out of him. Woody Hayes
I don’t like nice people. I like tough, honest people. Woody Hayes
I don’t motivate the players. I get them to motivate themselves. That’s the only kind of motivation that’s worth a damn. Woody Hayes
I get along fine with the fans. They want to win, and I can understand that. So do I. That’s the idea of this game. The only idea. Anyway, I’m just a little bit meaner than they are. Woody Hayes
I love football. I think it is the most wonderful game in the world and I despise to lose. I’ve hated to lose ever since I was a kid and threw away the mallets when I lost at croquet. Woody Hayes
I wanted that undefeated season more than anything I ever wanted in my life. I’d give anything – my house, my bank account, anything but my wife and family – to get it. Woody Hayes
If I don’t bring you a championship, then this is no place for Woody Hayes. Woody Hayes
If you show me a good guy that the players love all the time, I will show you a loser. Woody Hayes
I’ll sweep out the gym if it will help us to win. Woody Hayes
Woody Hayes Quotes
I’m enthusiastic. The day I’m not, I’ll quit. It is one’s own fault if his enthusiasm is gone; he has failed to feed it. Woody Hayes
I’m not trying to win a popularity poll. I’m trying to win football games. Woody Hayes
In football we always said that the other team couldn’t beat us. We had to be sure that we didn’t beat ourselves. And that’s what people have to do, too – make sure they don’t beat themselves. Woody Hayes
It does not matter the size of the man, rather the amount of effort the man is willing to put forth. Woody Hayes
I’ve had smarter people around me all my life, but I haven’t run into one yet that can outwork me. And if they can’t outwork you, then smarts aren’t going to do them much good. That’s just the way it is. And if you believe that and live by it, you’d be surprised at how much fun you can have. Woody Hayes
Loyalty is a two-way street, not a blind alley. Woody Hayes
Not everybody can be first team, but you can always put the team first. Woody Hayes
Nothing that comes easy is worth a dime. Woody Hayes
Now I want to tell you that people need friends. I visited an old friend today, Dick Nixon. Right now, he has no friends. Nobody wants to be friends with him, but I am still Dick’s friend. Dick can count on Woody. Woody will be there for Dick Nixon. Woody Hayes
Paralyze their resistance with your persistence. Woody Hayes
Some people accuse me of buying football players at Ohio State. Hell, I don’t buy football players. I sell ’em! Woody Hayes
Son, at Ohio State we run straight for the goal line. Woody Hayes
Statistics always remind me of fellow who drowned in a river where the average depth was only three feet. Woody Hayes
Strategy is the plan you have before the game and tactics are the changes you make in strategy during the game. Woody Hayes
Success – it’s what you do with what you’ve got. Woody Hayes
Success is the only motivational factor that a boy with character needs. When he sees that he’s getting in shape, that all this work is good for him, then he doesn’t grouse about it anymore. He begins to drive himself. Hell, he wants to win as much as I do. There’s a lot of silly talk about building character in football – and I happen to believe in it. In our society, there aren’t too many things that a boy can do anymore. Football is one of the few. He has to whip that guy across from him and he has to do it as a member of a team, playing within the rules. But a coach doesn’t go out to build character; he goes out to win. The character will take care of itself. Woody Hayes
The Bible says turn the other cheek, but I’ll be damned if I’ll tell my kids to do that when they’ll just get it fractured. Woody Hayes
The important thing is not always to win. The important thing is always to hope. Woody Hayes
The minute I think I’m getting mellow, I’m retiring. Who ever heard of a mellow winner? Woody Hayes
The most deceptive course in football is straight at the goalposts. Woody Hayes
Woody Hayes Quotes
The only meaningful statistic is number of games won. Woody Hayes
The only thing even in this world is the number of hours in a day. The difference in winning or losing is what you do with those hours. Woody Hayes
The problem comes from people believing they have too many rights, and the word ‘rights’ to them means acting like an idiot. Woody Hayes
The Russians can’t beat us at anything – they can’t even feed themselves. Woody Hayes
The thing you have to do is go back each year and review what actually wins for you. You’ll find it’s the discipline on your squad and your morale and how you handle your players and how well you bring them along. Those are the things on which you win, rather than all the technical ideas that all of us have. Woody Hayes
The will to win is not as important as the will to prepare to win. Woody Hayes
There are two things I know about motivation. I’ve read a lot of books on it. If you want to motivate a person, give him personal attention; secondly, show him improvement. When he sees that, he’s going to stick with it. Woody Hayes
There’s nothing in this world that comes easy. There are a lot of people who aren’t going to bother to win. We learn in football to get up and go once more. Woody Hayes
There’s nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you. Woody Hayes
This game of football used to be pretty important to me. It isn’t anymore. Now it’s damn near everything. It represents and embodies everything that’s great about this country, because the United States is built on winners, not losers or people who don’t bother to play. Woody Hayes
We control by attitudes not by rule. Woody Hayes
We make no apologies for winning or for aiming our entire program toward that goal. Woody Hayes
When I look in the mirror in the morning, I want to take a swing at me. Woody Hayes
When we are stopped, we don’t go to another play. We change the blocking angles in the line until the play works. Maybe that is why we don’t look very spectacular early in the game. But we look pretty spectacular sometimes in the fourth quarter. Woody Hayes
When you start living in the past, you’re done for. Woody Hayes
When you’re winning – you don’t need any friends. When you’re losing – you don’t have any friends anyway. Woody Hayes
Winning takes care of everything. Woody Hayes
Without winners, there wouldn’t even be any civilization. Woody Hayes
You don’t get many chances to pay back what’s been done for you. Take them. Woody Hayes