“There are two pains in life. There is the pain of discipline and the pain of disappointment. If you can handle the pain of discipline, then you’ll never have to deal with the pain of disappointment.”

Nick Saban, Head Football Coach, University of Alabama

Variation:

There are two pains – the pain of discipline and the pain of regret. One is temporary. The other lasts forever. You alone decide which to endure.

All the lessons of the competitive crucible are bound up in this simple statement. Everyone has the will to win. Who has the will to prepare? The agony of conditioning, study, and focus is a temporary price to pay when one considers the alternative. Deep and abiding regret over lost opportunity endures throughout life.

Coach Bill Curry http://billcurry.net/words/two-pains

More Sabanisms:

• ‘I don’t think it’s about who you play, I think it’s about who you are.’
• “It doesn’t matter what you are ranked until the end,”
• “What happened yesterday is history. What happens tomorrow is a mystery. What we do today makes a difference – the precious present moment.”
• “The ‘good enough is enough’ attitude is not what we’re looking for, we have got to use every opportunity to improve individually so we can improve collectively.”
• “We love college coaching because of the ability it gives you to (see players) overcoming adversity.”

Teamwork

• “I always use the analogy that you really can’t be a great player unless you affect somebody on your team. Players make plays. Good players affect somebody on their team. Great players affect their entire unit.”
• ‘You play for your team and what your team can do. You want your team to dominate so that they can be successful. You really want to win on your ability to execute, not on someone else’s inability… You don’t really want anything bad to happen to the other team, you just want your team to play well.’

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