Top 50 Darrell Royal Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “Dance with the one who brung ya.”

— Darrell Royal

2. “There is no such thing as defeat except when it comes from within. As long as a person doesn’t admit he is defeated, he is not defeated-he’s just a little behind and isn’t through fighting.”

— Darrell Royal

3. “Potential just means you ain’t done it yet.”

— Darrell Royal

4. “The coach is the team, and the team is the coach. You reflect each other.”

— Darrell Royal

5. “You’ve got to think lucky. If you fall into a mudhole, check your back pocket – you might have caught a fish.”

— Darrell Royal

6. “We live one day at a time and scratch where it itches.”

— Darrell Royal

7. “I try not to make the same mistakes today that I made yesterday.”

— Darrell Royal

8. “Three things can happen when you throw the ball, and two of them are bad.”

— Darrell Royal

9. “The real make of a man is how he treats people who can do nothing for him.”

— Darrell Royal

10. “If worms carried pistols, birds wouldn’t eat ’em.”

— Darrell Royal

11. “As far as I’m concerned, everything’s ham and jam.”

— Darrell Royal

12. “I try not to play two days in succession. I usually try to space it so I have a day in between.”

— Darrell Royal

13. “Once you cross the 50 you feel like an unsaddled horse.”

— Darrell Royal

14. “He’s as quick as a hiccup.”

— Darrell Royal

15. “We don’t want any candy stripes on our uniforms. These are work clothes.”

— Darrell Royal

16. “Football doesn’t build character. It eliminates the weak ones.”

— Darrell Royal

17. “There are always going to be people who run faster, jump higher, dive deeper, and come up drier.”

— Darrell Royal

18. “You’ve got to be in a position for luck to happen. Luck doesn’t go around looking for a stumblebum.”

— Darrell Royal

19. “The majority of people pull for the underdog. Heck, even your friends don’t like you to be too successful. We’ve lost enough over the years for me to maintain my friendships.”

— Darrell Royal

20. “Don’t matter what they throw at us. Only angry people win football games.”

— Darrell Royal

21. “I don’t count on the boy who waits till October, when it’s cool and fun, then decides he wants to play.”

— Darrell Royal

22. “You know, a football coach is nothing more than a teacher. You teach them the same subject, and you have a group of new guys every year.”

— Darrell Royal

23. “Coaching at Texas and playing at the University of Oklahoma, I had the opportunity to see a lot of guys in Texas – Texas lettermen – who I played against.”

— Darrell Royal

24. “They cut us up like boarding house pie. And that’s real small pieces.”

— Darrell Royal

25. “For one thing, I like to walk when I play golf. Now I don’t walk the whole way, but I try not to be the driver when in a cart.”

— Darrell Royal

26. “I know that the odds are against a marriage lasting 60 years.”

— Darrell Royal

27. “I never have planned a whole lot of future. It’s one day at a time.”

— Darrell Royal

28. “I had hoped God would be neutral.”

— Darrell Royal

29. “My wife, Edith, and I both have good health – and she’s been very tolerant.”

— Darrell Royal

30. “You never lose a game if the opponent doesn’t score.”

— Darrell Royal

31. “I don’t have the proudest moment in football.”

— Darrell Royal

32. “I was still enjoying coaching, but there was a repetitious manner about it.”

— Darrell Royal

33. “I’ve enjoyed my retirement.”

— Darrell Royal

34. “A boy shows how much he wants to play in the spring, when it’s tough, and during two a days, when it’s hot and tough.”

— Darrell Royal

35. “It has really filled a big space, especially since I have been so-called retired – although I haven’t noticed my schedule slacking at all.”

— Darrell Royal

36. “On game day, I’m as nervous as a pig in a packing plant.”

— Darrell Royal

37. “I’m not bored; I’m not a guy who has nothing to do.”

— Darrell Royal

38. “It’s more fun when you shoot well and when you have a good score, but that’s not a prerequisite to me for having a good time.”

— Darrell Royal

39. “I was in a profession that received a lot of media.”

— Darrell Royal

40. “I didn’t want to stay until I had used up all the enjoyment because that’s too long to stay anywhere.”

— Darrell Royal

41. “He looks like he needs worming.”

— Darrell Royal

42. “I move around and play different golf courses. I just enjoy it.”

— Darrell Royal

43. “The Texas-OU game is a big revenue bear. And because it’s played at a neutral site, you don’t have as many student body going as you would if it was home-and-home. These are full-price tickets.”

— Darrell Royal

44. “I have found that the players who have played in that game really do have respect for their adversaries.”

— Darrell Royal

45. “Winning coaches must treat mistakes like copperheads in the bedclothes – avoid them with all the energy you can muster.”

— Darrell Royal

46. “We’re as average as everyday’s wash.”

— Darrell Royal

47. “I knew that when I resigned from the University of Texas that I would never coach again.”

— Darrell Royal

48. “I enjoy traveling and playing some of the well-known courses sometimes, but basically, I have a good time at Barton Creek.”

— Darrell Royal

49. “The only thing that would change would be the year, the names. It just got to be a repetitious life.”

— Darrell Royal

50. “But I do have time to pencil in golf, and we’ve got four excellent courses.”

— Darrell Royal