Respectability? Who wants to be respectable? That's spoken like a true loser.
— Chuck Noll
It would have been great to have had 10 victories and been in the playoffs and have gone all the way and then said, 'Goodbye,' but it didn't work out that way.
I tried to look around to see what I wanted to do. Football was something I knew the most about.
Everyone's job is important, but no one is indispensable.
Pressure is something you feel when you don't know what you're doing.
I'm really not a celebrity; I'm just a teacher.
Never make a major decision based solely on money.
The thrill isn't in the winning, it's in the doing.
Good things happen to those who hustle.
It's not my job to hold your hand. It's my job to take motivated people and show them how to become better.
Right now, you hear about teamwork, and it's defined as 50-50, and that is a falsehood. There's no such thing as 50-50. You know, you do whatever you have to do as part of the team.
I used to tell the players that professional football is a part-time profession. I used to tell them it gets you ready for your life's work.
The critics are always right. The only way you shut them up is by winning.
One of the things you learn in football is that you're only as good as your last outing. I don't like to reflect on what we've done in the past. I'm not a very good storyteller, for one thing. I'd disappoint you. When it's time, I'll talk about the good old days. But it's a sign of old age, reveling in the past.
I've always avoided publicity. I've never been good copy at any stage of my life. I don't strive for it, because I don't think it's important whether I'm good copy or not. The two can go together, if that's your personality, but every person on this earth is unique.
The key to a winning season is focusing on one opponent at a time. Winning one week at a time. Never look back and never look ahead.
A life of frustration is inevitable for any coach whose main enjoyment is winning.
We were really lucky and fortunate in the '70s because we got a group of not only good football players but good people... a group that wanted to be together and wanted to be the best.
In 1969, we decided we had to do certain things technically to win, and we decided to do them then, even though we knew some of the personnel couldn't do it. In other words, instead of adapting the system to the players, we just installed our system. Then we set out to fill our team through the draft.
The single most important thing we had in the Steelers of the '70s was the ability to work together.
Some coaches pray for wisdom. I pray for 260-pound tackles. They'll give me plenty of wisdom.
Mamas, don't let your sons grow up to be Cowboys... or Oilers.
Losing has nothing to do with geography.
It's not pleasant when you lose your whole football team.
Before you can win a game, you have to not lose it.
