“Why We Win”—Key Ingredients For Championship Teams
Ara Parseghian
· It’s good chemistry. It’s loyalty. It’s good personnel. A team will reflect the intensity of a coach.
Anson Dorrance
· There are several keys. One is to have a collective will. We had some teams with very average talent that collectively were just so overwhelming. That was the key. It’s tied into team chemistry, really. And tied into philosophy that we’ve sort of encouraged from the beginning—that concept of playing for each other. Playing for championships or titles is overrated. In my experience, teams aren’t motivated for championship games; they’re motivated for each other.
Joe Gibbs
· People. You don’t win with X’s and O’s. They’re needed. You’ve got to be good at it, but you don’t win with it. You win with people.
Chuck Noll
· People. You can’t do it without talent. You have to have talented players who are good people. Attitude is the thing that separates people by far. You have to be ready to work together.
Tommy Lasorda
· A championship team is when you have a team who will play for the name on the front of the jersey and not for the one on the back.
Sparky Anderson
· It’s the players. If you have good players, you’re going to have good teams. Even if you’re not there. But if you are a good coach at any level, it’s what you do with that good personnel and how you keep them focused to play.
Dan Gable
· You have a championship team when everybody is contributing close to what they’re capable of contributing. When you have a group of individuals clicking for what they need, and still understanding the total team concept, then you’re going to have a championship team.
Bill Walsh
· It’s the day-to-day hard work, and making sure everyone is working for the same single purpose.
Joe Paterno
· The expectancy. The key ingredient is to plan for it.
