Top 67 Quotes & Sayings by Woody Hayes

I speak at a lot of banquets in small towns, because small towns have so many great people.

Nobody despises to lose more than I do. That's got me into trouble over the years, but it also made a man of mediocre ability into a pretty good coach.

I'm not trying to win a popularity poll. I'm trying to win football games.

A man is always better than he thinks.

Success is the only motivational factor that a boy with character needs.

Success - it's what you do with what you've got.

No back in the history of football was ever worth two fumbles a game.

I don't like nice people. I like tough, honest people.

I am not very smart, but I recognize that I am not very smart.

I'm no longer the head football coach at Ohio State.

The bowl games are only supposed to be a fun reward.

My brother and I were still in high school playing football, and we were both middleweight, and we couldn't find anyone else to fight in our weight class, so we'd fight each other. I was a stand-up fighter, and Ike was a weaving type of fighter, and we fought that way out there at Cy Young's farm, and we put on quite a show.

I may not be able to outsmart too many people, but I can outwork 'em.

The most deceptive course in football is straight at the goalposts.

The players fire the coach, and as long as I'm on the same wavelength with them, I can coach as long as I want to.

On our first date, all Anne wanted to talk about was Bob Feller, the new pitcher for the Cleveland Indians.

Without winners, there wouldn't even be any civilization.

As the youngest, I don't think there was any doubt I was spoiled.

Football is, after all, a wonderful way to get rid of your aggressions without going to jail for it.

Paralyze resistance with persistence.

I don't apologize for anything. When I make a mistake, I take the blame and go on from there.

The five big mistakes in football are the fumble, the interception, the penalty, the badly called play, the blocked punt - and most of these originate with the quarterback. Find a mistake-proof quarterback and you have this game won.

A good general always makes you search for his weaknesses.

The game of football is one of strategy and tactics.

Nothing that comes easy is worth a dime.

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.

Winners are men who have dedicated their whole lives to winning.

I love football. I think it is most wonderful game in world and I despise to lose.

You can outwork anybody. Try it, you will find out that you can do it.

The only meaningful statistic is number of games won.

Picking an assistant coach, the first thing I was interested in was the man's character.

We control by attitudes-positive mental attitudes-not by rules.

Indomitable in victory, insufferable in defeat.

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. “Any time you give a man something he doesn't earn, you cheapen him. Our kids earn what they get, and that includes respect.

It's never an upset if the so-called underdog has all along considered itself the better team.

You'll find out that nothing that comes easy is worth a dime. As a matter of fact, I never saw a football player make a tackle with a smile on his face. Never.

The height of human desire is what wins, whether it’s on Normandy Beach or in Ohio Stadium.

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.

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.

Perfect preparation prevents piss-poor performance.

There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you.

I recruited a Czech kicker, and during the eye exam, when asked to read the bottom line, the kicker replied, Read it? I know him.

It does not matter the size of the man, rather the amount of effort the man is willing to put forth

When I look in the mirror in the morning, I want to take a swing at me.

You can never pay back, so you should always try to pay forward.

Any time you give a man something he doesn't earn, you cheapen him. Our kids earn what they get, and that includes respect.

Even the best team, without a sound plan, can't score.

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.

Football represents and embodies everything that's great about this country, because the United States of America is built on winners, not losers or people who didn't bother to play.

You can never really pay back. You can only pay forward.

You don't get many chances to pay back what's been done for you. Take them.

You don't get hurt running straight ahead...three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust offense. I will pound you and pound you until you quit.

Statistics always remind me of fellow who drowned in a river where the average depth was only three feet.

Nothing that comes easy in this world is worth a damn.

To hell with exciting. I'd rather be drab as hell and win.

Anything easy ain't worth a damn!

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.

Because I couldn't go for three.

When you're winning - you don't need any friends. When you're losing - you don't have any friends anyway.

We do not pull in and fill up. And I'll tell you why we don't. It's because I don't buy one goddamn drop of gas in the state of Michigan. We'll coast and push this goddamn car to the Ohio line before I give this state a nickel of my money.