Quotes by Lou Holtz

How you respond to the challenge in the second half will determine what you become after the game, whether you are a winner or a loser.

Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you respond to it.

You aren't going to find anybody that's going to be successful without making a sacrifice and without perseverance.

It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it.

We have an obligation to help people that cannot help themselves. The mentally retarded, the physically retarded, et cetera.

Give your players something they can physically do -- don't ask them to do something they can't do.

All winning teams are goal oriented. Teams like these win consistently because everyone connected with them concentrates on specific objectives. They go about their business with blinders on; nothing will distract them from achieving their aims.

Only the unprepared are overcome by pressure.

I think everyone should experience defeat at least once during their career.

Don't ever ask a player to do something he doesn't have the ability to do. He'll just question your ability as a coach, not his as an athlete.

After winning, most teams become individuals; most teams become complacent.

Do right. Do your best.

It was a great game if you don't care who won. I cared.

You will never be indecisive if you know your purpose.

All I've seen agents do is talk players into having bad senior seasons because they're trying to keep themselves from getting injured.

Do what's right. Be on time, be polite, and be honest; remain free from drugs; and if you have any questions, get out your Bible. 2. Do your best. Mediocrity is unacceptable when you are capable of doing better. 3. Treat others as you want to be treated. Practice love and understanding.

Don't let failure get you down. Babe Ruth struck out over 1,300 times.

The only people who aren't going to be criticized are those who do absolutely nothing.

Broadcasting is easy; you just talk until you think of something to say.

After landing his invasion forces on the shores of some country, the sixteenth-century Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes would immediately burn his own boats. He was sending his army a message: We can't turn back. Either we succeed here or we die here. Excuses were not an option.

Those who know Notre Dame, no explanation's necessary. Those who don't, no explanation will suffice.

Build your empire on the firm foundation of the fundamentals.

You've got to have great athletes to win, I don't care who the coach is. You can't win without good athletes but you can lose with them. This is where coaching makes the difference.

ESPN is a great organization to work for.

All my life, I've been trying to make a hole-in-one. The closest I've come is a bogey.

People eyeing you as a potential leader tend to ask three questions: Are you committed? Do you care about me? Can I trust you?

Do what's right! Do the best you can and treat others the way you want to be treated because they will ask three questions: (1) Can I trust you? (2) Are you committed? (3) Do you care about me as a person?

I believe your attitude is the most important choice you can make.

To my wife 'I told you I was sick.'

Never tell your problems to anyone...20% don't care and the other 80% are glad you have them.

There are certain things in this world we all have in common such as time. Everybody has sixty seconds to a minute, sixty minutes to an hour, twenty-four hours to a day. The difference is what we do with that time and how we use it.

All you need is something to say, and a burning desire to say it... it doesn't matter where your hands are.

The freedom to do your own thing ends when you have obligations and responsibilities. If you want to fail yourself -- you can -- but you cannot do your own thing if you have responsibilities to team members.

I don't think we can win every game. Just the next one.

No, but you can see it from here.

So many times people are afraid of competition, when it should bring out the best in us. We all have talents and abilities, so why be intimidated by other people's skills?

I'd say handling people is the most important thing you can do as a coach. I've found every time I've gotten into trouble with a player, it's because I wasn't talking to him enough.

The team that's on defense first (in overtime) has the advantage because they know whether they need a touchdown a field goal or just a score.

I can't explain why a bride buys her wedding dress, whereas a groom rents his tux.

What's important now? -- To evaluate the past, focus on the future, and tell you what you have to do in the present.

They say a tie is like kissing your sister. I guess that is better than kissing your brother.

We have an obligation to help people that cannot help themselves. The mentally retarded, the physically retarded, et cetera.

One reason I won't compromise is because I believe honesty helps you win over the long haul. You can win a game tomorrow and lose a team. You can lose a game tomorrow and win a football team.

Remember. Every day, some ordinary person does something extraordinary. Today, it's your turn.

So what if someone wrote your obituary... that doesn't mean you are obligated to die.

A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.

You build a successful life a day at a time.

I've followed Notre Dame football since 1946, when I listened on the radio and Johnny Lujack tackled Doc Blanchard in the open field to preserve a 0-0 tie.

It's a better view if you're standing up than if you're laying down.

Teamwork is the foundation of success. The three universal questions that an individual asks of his coach, player, employee, employer are: Can I trust you? Are you committed to excellence? And, do you care about me?

If you don't make a total commitment to whatever you are doing, then you start looking to bail out the first time the boat starts leaking.

The standards you establish for others must reflect the standards you set for yourself. No one will follow a hypocrite.

Nothing is as good as it seems and nothing is as bad, but somewhere between reality falls.

You might not be able to outthink, outmarket or outspend your competition, but you can outwork them.

I've never known anybody to achieve anything without overcoming adversity.

Your talent determines what you can do. Your motivation determines how much you are willing to do. Your attitude determines how well you do it.

No matter how bad someone has it, there are others who have it worse. Remembering that makes life a lot easier and allows you to take pleasure in the blessings you have been given.

Your neighbors will make judgments about you based on how your lawn and house look, and people who see you passing will judge you based on how clean you keep your car. It's not always fair, but it has always been true. Appearances matter, so make yours a good one.

You were not born a winner, and you were not born a loser. You are what you make yourself be.

Attitude determines how well you do it.

The answers to these questions will determine your success or failure. 1) Can people trust me to do what's right? 2) Am I committed to doing my best? 3) Do I care about other people and show it? If the answers to these questions are yes, there is no way you can fail.

Patience isn't a virtue; it's a necessity.

The Sisters of Notre Dame at St. Aloysius Grade School influenced my life tremendously. This was due to the fact that they encouraged you always to make sure that God is the focus of your life, and they didn't allow you to do anything except to the very best of your ability.

I'll assure you this: I will have nothing to do with politics.

My wife doesn't even want to spend 2 hours with me.

I don't drink water, haven't drank water in 40 years.

When I work a game as an analyst, all I do is look at the game like a coach.

When I die, and people realize that I will not be resurrected in three days, they will forget me. That is the way it should be.

I believe -- we all pay taxes. I'm happy to pay it, but I hate to have it abused, money wasted, no accountability. That's going to bother you.

I think life is a matter of choices and that wherever we are, good or bad, is because of choices we make.

I look at athletes in all sports and try to picture what kind of football player they'd be, what position they'd play and so on.

Don't run if you can walk. Don't walk if you can stand. Don't stand if you can sit. Don't sit if you can lie down.

I'm so old, I don't buy green bananas any more.

Nothing on this earth is standing still. It's either growing or it's dying. No matter if it's a tree or a human being.

No matter what happens on the field, getting an education makes you a winner.

I do think coaches need to get away from the game more, though. It's good for them.

If you burn your neighbors house down, it doesn't make your house look any better.

The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely the one who dropped it.

I think that everybody needs four things in life. Everybody needs something to do regardless of age. Everybody needs someone to love. Everybody needs something to hope for, and, of course, everybody needs someone to believe in.

At home I have a copy of the April 21, 1986, issue of 'Sports Illustrated.' I'm on the cover with the blurb, 'Can Lou Do It?' I'd just arrived at Notre Dame, and with spring football underway, I was the focal point of that week's coverage.

I give opinions, not advice.

If he's got golf clubs in his truck or a camper in his driveway, I don't hire him.

You'll never get ahead of anyone as long as you try to get even with him.

If Tiger Woods had played football, he would have been a quarterback.

I was raised in a religious environment, and my wife is one of the more religious people that I have ever known.

As a coach, one thing that used to frustrate me was one player would make a bad decision, and that's all you would read about in the papers all over the country. We have so many athletes do so many wonderful things for other people, and you never read about it.

I have no desire at all to become the winningest coach at Notre Dame. The record belongs to Knute Rockne or some other coach in the future.

The University of Notre Dame does not redshirt, and I endorse that policy completely. I am very much in favor of redshirting, but not at Notre Dame. But there's no doubt about it. It puts us at a huge disadvantage.

If you try to fight the course, it will beat you.

I do know this: God does answer your prayers, but it's not always in the way you expect. God knows what's best for us, though, so there's no need to worry when things don't go how we originally wanted them to go.

I look like I have beriberi and scurvy.

If you look at the history of Notre Dame, if you hire a coach who's been successful at another college program, they're going to be ultra successful at Notre Dame because the talent will always be there.

If you're bored with life -- you don't get up every morning with a burning desire to do things -- you don't have enough goals.

When people need love and understanding and support the most is when they deserve it the least.

I'm proud to be part of the Dr. Pepper Scholarship Giveaway. It's a great program that gives me the chance to brighten the day for some lucky college students with free tuition.

I never learn anything talking. I only learn things when I ask questions.

Winners embrace hard work. They love the discipline of it, the trade-off they're making to win. Losers, on the other hand, see it as punishment. And that's the difference.

I was born January 6, 1937, eight years after Wall Street crashed and two years before John Steinbeck published The Grapes of Wrath, his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about the plight of a family during the Great Depression.

Successful people will always tell you you can do something. It's the people who have never accomplished anything who will always discourage you from trying to achieve excellent things.

I'm an old man, and all my life I've said that Notre Dame should remain independent because it's a national school.

Notre Dame is the one school that has a national recruiting base, from Florida to Texas to California.

A lifetime contract for a coach means if you're ahead in the third quarter and moving the ball, they can't fire you.

Sacrifice, discipline and prayer are essential. We gain strength through God's word. We receive grace from the sacrament. And when we fumble due to sin -- and it's gonna happen -- confession puts us back on the field.

I follow three rules: Do the right thing, do the best you can, and always show people you care.

Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.

I used to pray that God would make me a great athlete, and He never did.

See, winners embrace hard work.