Top 120 Bear Bryant Quotes (2025 Update)
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101. “We can’t have two standards, one set for the dedicated young men who want to do something ambitious and one set for those who don’t.”

— Bear Bryant

102. “They say I teach brutal football, but the only thing brutal about football is losing.”

— Bear Bryant

103. “If it is worth playing, it is worth paying the price to win.”

— Bear Bryant

104. “I plan on staying at Alabama for the rest of my career. I guarantee that I’ll be here for you through it all, regardless of what happens.”

— Bear Bryant

105. “Lee Roy was the best college linebacker – bar none. He would have made every tackle on every play if they had stayed in bounds.”

— Bear Bryant

106. “I know what it takes to win. If I can sell them on what it takes to win, then we are not going to lose too many football games.”

— Bear Bryant

107. “That’s all it takes to get people to win football games for you.”

— Bear Bryant

108. “I didn’t have a thing to do with picking a coach, and didn’t want to. But I didn’t think they’d pick one I didn’t like.”

— Bear Bryant

109. “I don’t hire anybody not brighter than I am. If they’re not brighter than I am, I don’t need them.”

— Bear Bryant

110. “I’m no genius, but I’m a damn good football coach.”

— Bear Bryant

111. “It’s nice to have the opportunity to play for so much money, but it’s nicer to win it.”

— Bear Bryant

112. “I’m happy with the coach we have. I think any one of the ones I asked them to consider would’ve been good.”

— Bear Bryant

113. “If I miss coaching that much, I could go to some little school where they didn’t recruit, where all the kids wanted to go. I believe I could find somewhere to coach.”

— Bear Bryant

114. “Baton Rouge happens to be the worst place in the world for a visiting team. It’s like being inside a drum.”

— Bear Bryant

115. “You have to be willing to out-condition your opponents.”

— Bear Bryant

116. “Motivating people- the ingredient that separates winners from losers.”

— Bear Bryant

117. “I’m no innovator. If anything I’m a stealer, or borrower. I’ve stolen or borrowed from more people than you can shake a stick at.”

— Bear Bryant

118. “I hope to get out before they start football next year.”

— Bear Bryant

119. “You try to make your team do something they’re not capable of and you get murdered.”

— Bear Bryant

120. “Football games are generally won by the boys with the greatest desire.”

— Bear Bryant

121. “You take those little rascals, talk to them good, pat them on the back, let them think they are good, and they will go out and beat the biguns.”

— Bear Bryant

122. “Scout yourself. Have a buddy who coaches scout you.”

— Bear Bryant

123. “The faint old man shall lean his silver head To feel thee; thou shalt kiss the child asleep, And dry the moistened curls that overspread His temples, while his breathing grows more deep.”

— Bear Bryant

124. “It’s been years since I’ve had a real input in the game anyway. For this game, I’ve just tried to keep all the other stuff away from the players and coaches.”

— Bear Bryant

125. “In my lifetime, I may have put too much emphasis on winning, because here I am an old man and the only fun I’ve had is winning, and that’s ridiculous.”

— Bear Bryant

126. “Don’t ever give up on ability. Don’t give up on a player who has it.”

— Bear Bryant

127. “All I know is, I don’t want to stop coaching, and I don’t want to stop winning, so we’re gonna break the record unless I die.”

— Bear Bryant

128. “My approach to the game has been the same at all the places I’ve been. Vanilla. The sure way. That means, first of all, to win physically. If you got eleven on a field, and they beat the other eleven physically, they’ll win. They will start forcing mistakes. They’ll win in the fourth quarter.”

— Bear Bryant

129. “Everybody’s got pretty good players now, more players than there’ve ever been. If you play poorly, you’re going to get beat.”

— Bear Bryant

130. “Nearly every coach I’ve talked with tells me that the attention you get from media and other people is the thing you miss most. I don’t know if that’s right.”

— Bear Bryant

131. “There’s no substitute for guts.”

— Bear Bryant