Football at every level – high school, college and in the NFL – is in the news on a daily basis since seasons across the country will have gotten underway by the time this issue is mailed. Coaches are quoted each day about how things are going with their team. Some coaches are very good with the media. The following are some astute observations made in years past by some outstanding football coaches who were among the best in the business.

First there are those who are winners, and know they are winners. Then there are the losers who know they are losers. Then there are those who are not winners, but don’t know it. They’re the ones for me. They never quit trying. They’re the soul of our game.

Coach Paul Bryant – Alabama Crimson Tide

Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan. Football is an incredible game. Sometimes it’s so incredible, it’s unbelievable.

Coach Tom Landry – Dallas Cowboys

A winner never whines.

Coach Paul Brown – Cleveland Browns

The Green Bay Packers never lost a football game. They just ran out of time. Football is like life—it requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication and respect for authority.

Coach Vince Lombardi – Green Bay Packers

What these highly successful coaches said during their tenures still applies today. Each of these men contributed greatly to their game, but they also had a tremendous influence outside the world of football. I believe each of them would have been equally successful in any line of work. They also molded the lives of hundreds of young men in a positive manner and that’s very important. I believe that any man who played for these coaches came away a better person.