Craig Johnston Quotes

When you decide to go into coaching, obviously you don't forget why. That's to help develop young people, help them chase their dreams, help them reach their goals.

I'm coaching 'swing at this, don't swing at that,' and in the middle of it, a kid looks at me and says, 'Coach, I think I'm going to fail history.' Or maybe their girlfriend just dumped them. These are kids, and once I embraced that, this became a lot more fun.

I'd love to be coaching kids three or four years. You kidding me? That's what I used to do.

I had great, great times as a Little League coach. People were talking about me quitting acting, and they would say, What about your creative juices? Coaching is creative, because you could take a kid who thought he wasn't any good and, within four minutes, change his mind. And I didn't have to wait six months for them to put music to it.

Even though I retired from coaching, I still believe that is my calling.

I want to be involved with young people in some way. Teenagers. Because that's the most vulnerable time. I have a fantasy of becoming a teacher one day.

At the end of the program, I tried to talk to the kids a little bit about life skills.

I want to spend more time with those kids. I want to dedicate my time to train those kids and teach them what it takes, what they need to do to get to this level.

I didn't really want to be the coach who wins but the coach who educates.

My desires are simply I love to teach, I love to be in uniform, I love to throw batting practice, I love to be with the kids.

Definitely, I think I'm a life coach for real. The lessons I give are lessons you can take to the bank.

Every kid needs a mentor. Everybody needs a mentor.

I used to get stressed out all the time when I thought winning was important. I wanted to try to win and help my kids win. Once I figured out it wasn't about winning or losing, it was about teaching these kids about being men, that's when I started to relax.

I think Little League is wonderful. It keeps the kids out of the house.

I wrote a book on life coaching, because my life became my own reference point how to live.

I thoroughly enjoy working with kids, whether it's The First Tee or the lesson tee with my grandkids.

Three coaches at Notre Dame made a big difference in my life, not that I played any football when I attended Notre Dame. But Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian, and Lou Holtz - they all made a difference to me, and I respected them for their attitudes about life and how they handled loss.

The whole thing is develop players, develop them as people, develop teams.

It's very rare to find a basketball coach that gets both: that gets the Xs and Os and also gets life.

To work with the kids and help them come through from the Academy to the first team would be brilliant.

Coaches around the country are influencing the next generation of men in a positive way.

I've watched what coaches do for young people in our country.

Every camp I do, I'm always trying to figure out how I can help kids get better, so holding the actual title of coach, that doesn't matter to me. In life, I'm a coach. I think we all are.

I'm especially thankful for being able to coach so many talented young men over my 18 years here. It has been so rewarding to see these players come to OU and mature over a four- or five-year career, and not just on the field. To play a small part in their growth is what I will always cherish the most.

I've always enjoyed the coaching side, working with young players, trying to improve them and to make them not only see football different but to see life differently.