Dame Football
Famous Quotes by Knute Rockne During Football’s Annual Bowl Season
College football’s annual bowl season is full of surprises and spectacular moments. Famous coaches have had some memorable remarks about American’s most popular sport, and here are some of them by legendary Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne, who many consider to be the best of the best.
Knute Rockne’s head coaching record in college football was second to none, and his won-loss percentage is better than any other college or pro coach ever.
In 13 years with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Rockne’s regular season won-loss percentage was 90% (105-12-5), his winning percentage among all games was 86%, and he led Notre Dame to 6 national championships, winning titles in 1919 (9-0), 1920 (9-0), 1924 (10-0), 1927 (7-1-1), 1929 (9-0) and 1930 (10-0). Five of his 6 national championships came from undefeated teams. Along the way he coached the immortal George “Gipper” Gipp, whose multiple skills lifted Notre Dame to national fame, and the “Four Horsemen” backfield of Harry Stuhldreher, Don Miller, Jim Crowley and Elmer Layden that led the Fighting Irish to a 28-2 record.
While covering a Notre Dame football game, sportswriter Grantland Rice penned the famous opening story line-”Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again”-that has become legend in sports history.
Rockne’s influence on the game of football was immense. He is credited with helping popularize the forward pass, initiating intersectional rivalries, building a national schedule, and instituting the “Rockne Shift”, a backfield T formation that quickly shifted into a box formation to the right or left as the ball was snapped. Hewas also the first coach to realize the market potential of football as an entertainment medium and openly promoted Notre Dame football by courting the media for free advertising so Notre Dame’s football program would be financially successful.
Knute Rockne was a Norwegian immigrant who graduated magna cum laude from Notre Dame in 1914, played end for the Fighting Irish that defeated the highly-ranked Army team for the first time in 1913, and was a graduate assistant in chemistry before eventually becoming Notre Dame’s head coach in 1918. A Protestant, he converted to Catholicism later in life.
Following his undefeated, 6th national championship team in 1930, Rockne died at age 43 as a passenger in a tragic Fokker airplane accident that would help revolutionize the transportation business and lead to the all-metal Boeing 247 aircraft. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951 as a charter member.
Here are some of Knute Rockne’s best known quotes:
“Four years of football are calculated to breed in the average man more of the ingredients of success in life than almost any academic course he takes.”
“At home we’re the hosts, and I never liked the idea of being embarrassed in front of our friends.”
“On the road we’re somebody else’s guests – and we play in a way that they’re not going to forget we visited them.”
“We count on winning. And if we lose, don’t beef. And the best way to prevent beefing is – don’t lose.”
“Let’s win one for the Gipper.”
“I’ve found that prayers work best when you have big players.”
“It isn’t necessary to see a good tackle. You can hear it.”
“One loss is good for the soul, too many losses is not good for the coach.”
“Show me a good and gracious loser and I’ll show you a failure.”
“Yes, I know that you feel you are not strong enough. That’s what the enemy thinks too. But we’re gonna fool them.”
“The secret is to work less as individuals and more as a team. As a coach, I play not my eleven best, but my best eleven.”
“One man practicing sportsmanship is better than a hundred teaching it.”
“Most men, when they think they are thinking, are merely rearranging their prejudices.”
Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley
About the Author
Ed Bagley’s Blog Publishes Original Articles with Analysis and Commentary on 5 Subjects: Sports, Movie Reviews, Lessons in Life, Jobs and Careers, and Internet Marketing. Read my weekly 14-part series on the 2007 College Football Season, and also “Meet the Nation’s Most Statistically Incredible Team – the University of Washington Huskeis”. Find my Blog at:
http://www.edbagleyblog.com
http://www.edbagleyblog.com/Sports.html
Notre Dame vs Michigan State Highlights 2011 Football (09/17/2011)
|
|
100 Things Notre Dame Fans Should Know & Do Before $15.29 |
|
|
New, Notre Dame University, Football Vault, 1887-2007, Memorablia $24.99 |
|
|
1989 Norte Dame v Pitt Panthers Football Program $24.00 |
|
|
1946 The Golden Years of Notre Dame Football VHS Irish $8.99 |
|
|
1948 The Golden Years of Notre Dame Football VHS Irish $8.99 |
|
|
College Football’s Great Dynasties: Notre Dame $1.99 |
|
|
Tailgate Toss NCAA Football Toss 2 -Notre Dame Fighting Irish FBTC-D-ND $109.99 |
|
|
1967 NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL 8X10 TEAM PHOTO NCAA VINTAGE INDIANA ROCKNE USA $7.99 |
|
|
1992 Michigan Wolverines v Notre Dame Football Program $30.00 |
|
|
Rockne of Notre Dame: The Making of a Football Legend by Ray Robinson $5.50 |
|
|
1977 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Star Ross Browner Sporting News $9.99 |
|
|
1971 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Star Walt Patulski Sporting News $9.99 |
|
|
1971 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Star Joe Theisman Sporting News $9.99 |
|
|
1973 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Star Tom Clements Sporting News $9.99 |
|
|
Vintage Football Program – Northwestern vs. Notre Dame – Sept. 23, 1972 $1.50 |
|
|
Vintage Football Program – Notre Dame vs. Michigan – September 20, 1980 $3.00 |
|
|
1989 Sports Illustrated: Steve McGuire Miami Football beats Notre Dame $4.00 |
|
|
1934 Army Notre Dame Football game original photo $194.99 |
|
|
1998 Hallmark Ornament JOE MONTANA Notre Dame Football $7.99 |
|
|
NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL National Champions 1943 Newspaper Fighting Irish unanimous $44.00 |
|
|
Vintage Football Program – Notre Dame vs. Northwestern – September 25, 1976 $3.00 |
|
|
Notre Dame Ara Parseghian Bobble Head Bobblehead Nodder Football Coaches Series $24.99 |
|
|
1977 NCAA College Collegiate Football Guide Ross Browner Notre Dame $15.00 |
|
|
ART PRINT Notre Dame Football Player $6.95 |
|
|
September 30 2002 Maurice Stovall Notre Dame College Football Sports Illustrated $3.00 |
|
|
December 30 2002 Maurice Stovall Notre Dame College Football Sports Illustrated $3.00 |
|
|
Football Coaching DVD Notre Dame Position Drills 2006 $5.99 |
|
|
Signed UNDER THE TARNISHED DOME How Notre Dame Betrayed Its Ideals for Football $39.99 |
|
|
Notre Dame Irish Football / Sports University School Crest Jacket Patch New $10.99 |
|
|
1961 Northwestern vs Notre Dame Irish College Football print, Program Cover $12.85 |
|
|
1949 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Vs NAVY College Football poster 18″x13″ ******* $12.85 |
|
|
Michael Floyd Rookie 2012 Press Pass Football Notre Dame Trading Card NFL $0.25 |
|
|
1956 NCAA Football Program Notre Dame vs Pittsburgh EX $75.00 |
|
|
1954 NCAA Football Program Notre Dame vs Pittsburgh $75.00 |
|
|
1964 Ara Parseghian and Wayne Hardin, Notre Dame Football Press Photo $13.88 |
|
|
Schutt Collectible Mini Football Helmet (Notre Dame) $21.99 Genuine on-field helmet, scaled down to 1/2 size… |
|
|
NCAA Notre Dame Game Time Full Size Football $17.87 The Rawlings tradition and quality is demonstrated in this full-size pvc pebble football. This durable pebble and classic on-field football features collegiate striping and is ready to be thrown at the next BBQ or street game…. |
|
|
NCAA Notre Dame Fighting Irish Signature Full Size Football $24.99 This collegiate classic team football features an embroidered team logo prominently displayed on the front and the school wordmark on the back. An autograph pen is included with each ball and the 3 smooth white panels provide ample autograph space…. |
|
|
Shake Down the Thunder: The Creation of Notre Dame Football $15.02 “Sperber…tackles the details, great and small, unearthing a treasure.” —New York Times Book ReviewShake Down the Thunder traces the history of the Notre Dame football program—which has acquired almost mythical proportions—from its humble origins in the 19th century to its status as the paragon of college sports. It presents the true story of the program’s formative years, the reality behin… |
|
|
The Gipper: George Gipp, Knute Rockne, and the Dramatic Rise of Notre Dame Football $9.98 The incredible story of how a small Indiana Catholic school emerged as a college football powerhouse.Win one for The Gipper. Has there ever been a better-known and widely-used exhortative phrase in sports? Not likely. But who was the “Gipper,” this mythical-like sports figure whose nickname has aroused, in turn, awe, wonderment, curiosity, and amusement since the second decade of the twentieth… |
|
|
Then Ara Said to Joe: The Best Notre Dame Football Stories Ever Told with CD (Best Sports Stories Ever Told) $5.40 Written for every sports fan who follows the Fighting Irish, this account goes behind the scenes to peek into the private world of the players, coaches, and decision makers—all while eavesdropping on their personal conversations. From the Notre Dame locker room to the sidelines and inside the huddle, the book includes comments from Ara Parseghian, Ziggie Czarobski, and Frank Leahy, among… |
|
|
University of Notre Dame Irish Blue Vintage ND Retro T-Shirt by Forty Seven Brand Forty Seven Brand provides the quality all true fans desire in their gear. Known for their vintage look and feel, ’47 has managed to also provide a new school spin to this old school craze. Screen-print logo lends a laid-back vibe to a vintage-washed T-shirt, cut with a contemporary, slim fit, super soft and well-worn…. |
|
|
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Child One-Fit Hat $12.99 NCAA Notre Dame Fighting Irish Child One-Fit Hat… |
|
|
NCAA Notre Dame Fighting Irish Bottle Jersey $3.95 The perfect item for any Notre Dame Fighting Irish fan! These jersey bottle holders are constructed from 3 mm Neoprene “Wetsuit” rubber, and will hold a long neck bottle. They are designed to keep your favorite beverage COLD… and your hands WARM! The neoprene construction makes it easy to remove the bottle from the holder – no pliers needed. It’s stretchable, washable and foldable. Made by Kolde… |
|
|
… |