Don Shula Quotes

Success is not forever and failure isn't fatal.

The superior man blames himself. The inferior man blames others.

Sure, luck means a lot in football. Not having a good quarterback is bad luck.

To be successful, all you have to do is work half-days; you can work the first twelve hours or the second twelve hours.

Strive for perfection, but settle for excellence.

My responsibility is leadership, and the minute I get negative, that is going to have an influence on my team.

There's nothing wrong with setting goals, but it doesn't mean a thing if you don't pay attention to the day-to-day details.

I have no magic formula. The only way I know to win is through hard work.

And my rookie contract, my first rookie contract was for $5,000.

It's the start that stops most people.

As a coach, your high standards of performance, attention to detail and - above all - how hard you work set the stage for how your players perform.

Success is not forever, and failure is never final.

The start is what stops most people.

The whole idea is to get an edge. Sometimes it takes just a little extra something to get that edge, but you have to have it.

One thing I never want to be accused of is not working.

Lots of leaders want to be popular. I never cared about that. I want to be respected.

Success is the peace of mind that comes when you know you have given everything you have to give to the opportunities that life has presented you.

And this year is going to be the 25th anniversary of the 17-0 team, the only undefeated season.

Failure isn't fatal, and success isn't final.

The one thing that I know is that you win with good people.

I don't know any other way to lead but by example.

Leadership implies movement toward something and convictions provide that direction.

And I coached against Mike when he was an assistant with the Bears and they won that football game.

The one man team is a complete and total myth.

You know it's only 50 miles from Grand River to Canton, but it took me 67 years to travel that distance.

Anybody that's a Dolphins fan feels they're headed in the right direction.

Learn from everyone, copy no one.

If you're going to take gambles, you must have one thing: self-confidence.

I'm just a guy who rolls up his sleeves and goes to work!

I don't know how to lead but by example.

My coaching philosophy? Determine your players talents and give them every weapon to get the most from those talents.

When you're there, it's not good enough to be there.

I'm fairly confident that if I died tomorrow, Don would find a way to preserve me until the season was over and he had time for a nice funeral.

And then to end up with a total of 347 wins, averaging 10 regular season wins for 33 years and the best winning percentage, and I'm very proud of this, of any professional team from 1970 to 1996.

You know it's only 50 miles but I've relished every moment of the longer route to get here. Thanks for letting me reflect on those great moments. Thank you.

Because, they're only thinking about one team when that game's over. Before the game, they're talking about two football teams. When the game's over, there's only one winner.