Words of Wisdom

Bud Grant
© More from this issue

          
To the people of he state of Minnesota, Bud Grant is an icon. To many in the NFL during the 1970s and 80s, he was iconoclastic. His belief in treating his players like men, as opposed to dogs, was more than unique; it was rebellious. His shortened training camps and less than arduous emphasis on hitting made Grant a coach who might have been run out of the good ol' boy club were it not for the fact he won at an amazing rate.

What kind of coach was Grant? Just like Sergeant Joe Friday used to say on Dragnet... the facts, just the facts:

NFL (he was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1994, as the ninth winningest coach in history 158-96-5, winning 11 NFC Central crowns and directing the Vikings to four Super Bowls in 18 years as Minnesota's head coach, he, also, was a first round draft choice of the Philadelphia Eagles, where he played WR and DE for two years before he left for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and a $2,000 raise).

CFL (he is a Hall of Famer as a coach, 10 years with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, 102-56-2, with four Grey Cup championships, and he had a four-year career as a standout WR and DB for the Blue Bombers; he still holds the all-time professional record for most interceptions in one game, 5).

"The assistant coaches are the technicians. I may go over the film a couple of times; they (the assistants) study it countless times. They present the actual game plan. The head coach then becomes the Chairman of the Board. Your staff can't be too strong. As the head coach, I'm the guy they look to for direction, but the teaching comes from the assistants."

"Some you have to coax and kiss, others you have to drive. You must never belittle a man in front of his teammates. You must get him aside, compliment him first and then let him know what he is doing wrong." - when asked about his philosophy of dealing with each player as an individual.

"Coaching, you know, is not the glamorous profession people seem to believe it is. It's a very structured, very one-dimensional existence... Coaching is not for everyone because of the work-ethic necessary... There aren't a lot of people who can work seven days a week and two or three nights a week for 26 straight weeks. However... time does not represent work. I've told our coaches if they can get six hours of work done in three hours, take the three hours and do something else, do something with their family or something recreational to recharge their batteries a little bit..."

"A good coach needs a patient wife, a loyal dog and a good quarterback, but not necessarily in that order. I happen to have been blessed with all three. And, when I did happen to have any extra time, I didn't spend it with my quarterback. ."

"There are coaches who spend 18 hours a day coaching the perfect game, then lose because the ball is an oval and they cannot control the bounce."

"You can either take the time or take the consequences." - referring to dealing with the media.

"If you're going to have a rule, have a reason for it."

"There is no instant success. It is impossible to acquire experience without some losing efforts."

Quotes from press clips and Football Coach Quotes: The Wit, Wisdom and Winning Words of Leaders on the Gridiron, by Larry Adler

NEW BOOK!

Digital Download - 304 Pages of Football Forms for the Winning Coach