“I think there’s a certain pride people have in competition.”

Teachers are always trying to inspire people to do better, to learn, to grow. That’s what we do, and we’re proud of the success we’ve had here doing that, and it’s something we’ll certainly continue to do.

There’s certain things that I was taught growing up about not quitting and seeing things through.

Talent is talent, and everybody knows somebody who has talent or ability, but they never really converted it into a productive performance for whatever reasons.

No matter what is thrown at them, no matter how deep the hole, they find a way to bounce back and overcome adversity.

If you’re a coach, you’re a teacher.

I try to stay out of the spotlight.

Golf is a great example to me. Golf is a metaphor of life. I mean, every shot.

I want what’s best for people who want to improve the quality of their life.

But the other guys that you have have to accept their leadership. They have to respond to it. That’s the chemistry that you never know how that is going to happen.

I think the worst thing a player can do is just not be yourself.

I said as soon as we had a playoff, we were going to minimize the importance of all the other bowl games. I’m not saying it’s good or bad; it kind of is what it is.

It’s great to see our players get some of their dreams come true.

You can’t keep your team together, and you are going to have more changes all the time. Personnel decisions aren’t always made by you, especially who you bring to your team.

I’ll write an authorized book because there’s only one expert on my life, and guess who that is… me. And there won’t be any misinformation. There won’t be any false statements.

There needs to be somebody that looks out for what’s best for the game, not what’s best for the Big 10 or what’s best for the SEC or what’s best for Jim Harbaugh, but what’s best for the game of college football – the integrity of the game, the coaches, the players, and the people that play it.

Our players get scrutinized pretty hard at Alabama.

In a certain sense a writer is ‘selected’ by his subject – his subject being the consciousness of his own era.

Formerly I regarded it miserable business to be a Christian, but now I think differently. Once I thought certain things delightful, now I think them vile. Once I thought other things utterly worthless, now I think them most precious. That is a change of mind, and that is repentance.

My hunch is yes. It would certainly do something for those who are most ruthless, who tend to make others most miserable.

I don’t take anything personal. I just have a certain file in my head, so Earthlings must be careful with what they say.

We are more than just flesh and bones. There’s a certain spiritual nature and something of the mind that we can’t measure. We can’t find it. With all our sophisticated equipment, we cannot monitor or define it, and yet it’s there.

It would be foolish, in forming our expectations, to attach great weight to matters which are very uncertain.

There is a time for departure even when there’s no certain place to go.

I don’t believe in “original sin.” I don’t believe in “guilt.” I don’t believe in villains or heroes – only right or wrong ways that individuals have taken, not by choice but by necessity or by certain still-uncomprehended influences in themselves, their circumstances, and their antecedents.