Hank Stram was a famous American football coach. He was the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs from 1960 to 1974. During that time, he led the Chiefs to three AFL championships and was named the AFL Coach of the Year in 1966.
Hank Stram Quotes
“Winning plays for the heart, not for the brain.” — Hank Stram
“You’ve got to be able to win a game when you’re down two scores with just minutes left.” — Hank Stram
“If you get in a position to make something happen, you must always do it. It’s part of your DNA. You must do it even if the odds of success are slim. That’s what I call being an optimist.” — Hank Stram
“The great ones have a knack for winning close games.” — Hank Stram
“The key to success is the ability to take advantage of hell breaking loose around you and still win!” — Hank Stram
“You can always get better, but never perfect.” — Hank Stram
“To be good, you’ve got to want to be good. If you think otherwise, then you’re probably on a losing team.” — Hank Stram
“We’ve had some close games, but let’s face it. All of them could have gone the other way.” — Hank Stram
“I believe that what you accomplish in your job is directly proportional to how well you treat the people around you.” — Hank Stram
“Winning is what I’m about.” — Hank Stram
“The players have to have a strong relationship with the coach. It’s a partnership.” — Hank Stram
“My goal is not to win just to win, but to win because you believe in yourself and your players.” — Hank Stram
“In the NFL, it’s about winning. Period.” — Hank Stram
“You must have confidence in the players and yourself. You must have control. If you have it, then you’re going to be successful.” — Hank Stram
“When we’re on defense, I tell the players to play like their hair’s on fire. A defensive lineman who is playing with his hair on fire isn’t worried about technique or anything else.” — Hank Stram
“When you’re a head coach, you get the chance to mold young men, and I’m most proud of that. It’s part of my legacy, and I’m fortunate to have all the good things I’ve accomplished.” — Hank Stram
“I have always had confidence in my ability as a head coach. The only thing that has ever threatened that is my health. But even then, I never doubted this team.” — Hank Stram
“The mind and the body must work together. You can’t have one without the other.” — Hank Stram
“We’ve played good football this year, and I told our players that we can play good football all season long. However, they had to believe it too.” — Hank Stram
“I like to take the blame from our players and then let them think I’m taking all of it.” — Hank Stram
“You have to have a high level of trust in your team. You have to believe in your players.” — Hank Stram
“To be a great coach, you must make your players want to fight for you.” — Hank Stram
“You can’t do anything about yesterday. You can only control today. That’s the secret to success.” — Hank Stram
“At the end of the day, I’ve always felt that if you treat people with respect and treat them right, they’ll respect you back.” — Hank Stram
“I had more than one chance in my career to walk away from coaching. But I knew if I did that, my legacy would be over.” — Hank Stram
“People seem to forget that. But you know that when you win, it’s a lot easier to move on from something.” — Hank Stram
“If the play doesn’t work on Sunday, it’s the players’ and coaches’ fault. We’re all in this together and we have to pull our own weight.” — Hank Stram
“I don’t know about turning points. Turning points occur every day for a coach. You can’t always anticipate them, but you know when they happen because it happens over and over again.” — Hank Stram
“It’s a team game. I walked into the playoffs expecting that we could be Super Bowl contenders. If you don’t believe that, you had better get out of this business.” — Hank Stram
“The key to the playoffs is poise. It would be best if you were poised to know what you do well and what you don’t do well. You must have a plan, and you must have the poise to stick with it.” — Hank Stram
“It’s not good enough to just win. You need to dominate. When it’s all said and done, it’s about winning.” — Hank Stram
“The biggest lesson I learned from Tom Landry was that you can never be too classy. He always wore a suit on the sidelines, even when other coaches wore sweatshirts. And he always won. His players respected that.” — Hank Stram
“I was just a kid who loved football and wanted to be involved in it.” — Hank Stram
“The key to life is balance. You have to be able to find happiness both on and off the field.” — Hank Stram
“It was one of the greatest experiences I ever had, and without a doubt, it was a major turning point in my life.” — Hank Stram
“I’m proud of my career. I’m proud of the job that I did when I was in the NFL, and I’m proud of what I accomplished as the head coach at UTEP.” — Hank Stram
“If you don’t do it, you can’t coach it. That’s the saying in coaching.” — Hank Stram
“If you want to be great, you’ve got to believe that greatness is possible.” — Hank Stram
“We’re a team. When we’re down and nearly out, we rally together and play harder than ever.” — Hank Stram
“I ensure they know they have my complete trust when they walk into the locker room. And sometimes that’s a problem.” — Hank Stram
Hank Stram Famous Quotes
“I never said, ‘This is our time.” — Hank Stram
“Players can’t be afraid of failure. They’ve got to trust themselves and trust that their team is behind them.” — Hank Stram
“It was my job as the head coach to make sure they kept playing.” — Hank Stram
“That’s why the great ones achieve greatness, because of their ability to stay humble and play with a sense of urgency.” — Hank Stram
“The key to the present is to make sure that you don’t get too far ahead of yourself.” — Hank Stram
“I was fortunate enough to have a lot of success as a head coach. But I also experienced the frustrations of losing and the disappointment of not getting all the credit I thought I deserved.” — Hank Stram
“Everything has to be done every day with passion and purpose. You can’t just play for today. You want to play for tomorrow.” — Hank Stram
“The key to being a head coach is having a lot of patience and being able to handle the media very well.” — Hank Stram
“I heard this from Coach Landry years ago: You can be tough and still be a gentleman.” — Hank Stram
“It was a great game, and it felt just like the old days. I wasn’t even thinking about the next game.” — Hank Stram
“If you’re not getting 100 percent effort from your players, you can’t do anything about it.” — Hank Stram
“The key to winning is mental toughness. You have to go out there every week and show your competitive nature.” — Hank Stram
“We have a saying around here: Do your job and let the chips fall where they may.” — Hank Stram
“I always felt that as long as you were winning, it didn’t matter what you did.” — Hank Stram
“The great thing about the NFL is that the fans respect hard work and toughness.” — Hank Stram
“We keep saying we want to be the best, but we want to do it one game at a time.” — Hank Stram
“I think the attitude on this team is that we’re headed in the right direction.” — Hank Stram
“All you ever want is to win, and that’s what we want.” — Hank Stram
“You have to enjoy the game, but also understand how important it is.” — Hank Stram
“I always tell my players to keep grinding hard and believe with all your heart that they can accomplish their goals.” — Hank Stram
“The fans know what to expect when they come to a Texans game. They’re going to see a good football team.” — Hank Stram
“I’d rather do something correctly than do it well.” — Hank Stram
“The key to the NFL is making sure you have the right players and then getting them in the right scheme.” — Hank Stram
“It just shows that we’re doing things right, and I think that’s what this team does best.” — Hank Stram
“The best thing Hank Stram ever did for the Texans was to teach me how to coach.” — Bum Phillips
“I never considered myself a great coach. I just tried to do my job so that people would respect and appreciate me.” — Hank Stram
“I didn’t want to be known as a good ol’ boy, but as someone who had a lot of respect in the NFL.” — Hank Stram
“All I ever wanted to do was be a game-day coach.” — Hank Stram
“The worst thing that can happen as a head coach is for the players to pull you off that platform.” — Hank Stram
“I think about retirement again now and then.” — Hank Stram
“We didn’t set out to win three championships in a row. We set out to play good football and win some games.” — Hank Stram
“I think a coach should be more concerned about how his players play than what they do off the field unless it interferes with their performance on the field.” — Hank Stram
“If you want to win in the NFL, you have to know how to win championships.” — Hank Stram
“When a player leaves, you never forget him.” — Hank Stram
“Teamwork is important. I preach it in every meeting.” — Hank Stram
“You cannot win if you cannot run.” — Hank Stram
“Very few players are natural passers. You have to learn how to throw the football.” — Hank Stram
“There are very few plays you can call to stop an offense. If you want your team to excel, devise plays that give your people an edge. It’s simple, really.” — Hank Stram
“Running the ball is the best way to control the clock.” — Hank Stram
Hank Stram Super Bowl Quotes
“The receivers are an integral part of the passing game. You must have good ones.” — Hank Stram
“We had a lot of guys committed to other schools, and we needed to get things done, and we did. I think that is always a plus.” — Hank Stram
“I think it was good that we had a few more quarterbacks in our class than we did. I feel perfect about it.” — Hank Stram
“I think the game has changed to where you can’t do everything with the defense. We need speed in all three phases of the game. I have told our coaches, ‘If you have speed, you are doing something right.” — Hank Stram
“I’ve been really blessed to coach some great players. It’s been fun. I’m happy for the guys and their families.” — Hank Stram
“If you just fly around, you can’t win with those types of athletes. But if you stick to your game plan, it is going to work out for you.” — Hank Stram
“You’ve got to try them all. You’ve got to make sure football’s number one priority in your life.” — Hank Stram
“I think they’ll do a good job. It takes time to get a feel for things. The thing about coaching is you never stop learning. I’m still learning.” — Hank Stram
“I’m going to have to be an expert on the rules because I’ve never been through this before.” — Hank Stram
“If you don’t want to be successful, get out there and run the ball. You can’t win if you don’t run the ball.” — Hank Stram
“You’ve got to play with speed and tempo. You can’t just play physical football. You have to mix it up and do a lot of things. You must be balanced.” — Hank Stram
“You have to have the ability to find out what your players can do.” — Hank Stram
“I believe we have enough speed to run. We have to be able to spread it out and get it into the open field.” — Hank Stram
“Players are going to take chances. It’s just part of the game.” — Hank Stram
“We don’t go out and try to hurt them, but you do everything you can within the rules. If they can’t block you, they are not going to be able to stop you. We have good players.” — Hank Stram
“I think our defense has a chance to be one of the top defenses in the country.” — Hank Stram
“As a coach, I tell them, ‘If you can’t win with speed, then you don’t have speed.’ You must play with speed and tempo. You must have balance.” — Hank Stram
“Our defense is going to be fast and physical. We’re going to try to pressure the passer.” — Hank Stram
“I think we have a chance to be very good. I wouldn’t be surprised if we are.” — Hank Stram
“It’s up to the players. They are the ones who go out there and perform.” — Hank Stram
“I think our defense has a chance to be one of the top defenses in the country. It will be challenging to defeat.” — Hank Stram
“We have a good defense and I think we’re going to be good on offense.” — Hank Stram
“I’ve always been a fan of Nebraska. That’s the school that recruited me (for football).” — Hank Stram
“I make my decisions based on what is best for my team.” — Hank Stram
“I feel very comfortable with the players we have in our program. I think that is a strong point for us.” — Hank Stram
“I don’t care what the records are. I want to know about your team and how you’re going to approach things.” — Hank Stram
“I think we’ve got a chance to be good at quarterback. There’s no question about that.” — Hank Stram
“We want players with imagination, and some of the best ones have all had it. That, in my opinion, is the strength of our program. We have tenacious and aggressive players.” — Hank Stram
“I’d rather have a team be good at something than go through the motions.” — Hank Stram
Best Hank Stram Quotes
“If we’re not playing well and losing, I become very critical. If you deal with that, you can get back on track pretty quickly.” — Hank Stram
“It’s tough to win if you’re not running the football. Those who think they can win on the run are kidding themselves. The way to win is to run the ball.” — Hank Stram
“It’s my job to ensure people are healthy and have a chance. I’m not a miracle worker. If someone doesn’t get hurt, then he should get rewarded. That’s my philosophy.” — Hank Stram
“The thing about recruiting is that it takes time. To be successful, you have to be patient.” — Hank Stram
“As a coach, you want guys who are eager to learn and want to do well. You want to have a winning program, and you can’t do it without toughness.” — Hank Stram
“I’ve been very fortunate to be with outstanding coaches. I’ve learned a lot from the best in the profession.” — Hank Stram
“I have taught at all kinds of universities. I’ve been blessed to coach players who have won on the football field. That is the goal at Nebraska.” — Hank Stram
“I think we can do anything. I believe in our program and what we’re doing. I think our players are dedicated to winning.” — Hank Stram
“It’s a fine line between being tough and being cheap. We need to make sure that doesn’t happen.” — Hank Stram
“Ours will be a defensive-oriented offense. We have good players, and I think we have good coaches. We want to run the ball and play good defense. We are aggressive in everything we do.” — Hank Stram
“When I first took the job, I thought it would be easy. I’ve learned it’s a lot harder than it looks.” — Hank Stram
“We are going to be a great football team if everyone is doing what they are supposed to do.” — Hank Stram
“I’m not trying to develop a better punter. I just want him to be consistent.” — Hank Stram
“You have to have great speed in order to run. People who try to play physical tackle football have very little chance of winning.” — Hank Stram
“It’s challenging to win on the road. When you take chances, you sometimes make mistakes. You’re always fighting to be successful.” — Hank Stram
“You can’t win just on talent. You have to play with enthusiasm and hustle.” — Hank Stram
“We’ve had several verbal commitments. This is a big year for the Nebraska football program.” — Hank Stram
“You can’t be in a hurry. You must be patient. You must work hard. You must prepare yourself physically and mentally for each training camp day. Players need to put the time in on their own to be successful.” — Hank Stram
“Our players understand that even if they are having a down year, they must still be aggressive and find other ways to contribute.” — Hank Stram
“As coaches, we must ensure we let players know that their performance is important. We must instill in them the desire to better themselves.” — Hank Stram
“One of our goals is to break every record in the book. I like our chances. That would mean we are a good team.” — Hank Stram
“We have had verbal commitments from guys who aren’t in my recruiting class. That tells me we have great players in the state of Nebraska.” — Hank Stram
“Ever since we’ve been here, I’ve felt like this is a good program and this is a good place to be close to home.” — Hank Stram
“The thing about football at Nebraska is that you can’t win unless you play hard and run the ball. My dad (Emory) played for Coach Osborne. I know how he ran his program.” — Hank Stram
“A lot of times, you have to talk to guys who may not be playing. You have to keep them interested. You have to teach them how to play special teams and work on a unit if they want to contribute.” — Hank Stram
