Jon Gruden Quotes

It's different today than it was then. In those days we were strictly amateurs. If I had wanted to stay in for the '80 Olympics, my parents couldn't have afforded it.

I played baseball growing up, second base, and then when I got to high school, it just didn't exist there.

My wife runs the house. She raised our kids with me only partly there. It's just what coaching is. A lot of times, you're raising other people's children, sometimes at the expense of your own. I hope that wasn't the case with my children, but at times, it probably was.

I wasn't really that interested in playing. I had gone through some hard times not playing in high school, but my coach had it in his mind that basketball was the way I would get an education.

I got to know Peyton Manning when he was a high school junior and I was the offensive coordinator at Mississippi State.

Going to a powerhouse high school, playing on ESPN a couple times a year, playing a nationally ranked schedule and also playing in the best conference in the world in high school, I was lucky. We'd have no less than nine guys go Division 1 every year.

I had other coaches when I was younger but my father was there, following all my training. He has seen as much tennis as many coaches on tour.

My first club was FT Gern. I joined through my parents and friends. My father played for them and a friend from nursery school took me to training once. I was five at the time.

When I was in college, I was a landscaper. Other than that, coaching has been my life and my job. A lot of people like coaching college, but I would never do it again. There are too many NCAA bylaws, rules and politics.

My dad was always at work running a business, so our mom really took care of us. She'd bring us all to our practices, and we all basically played four sports: baseball, hockey, football, and basketball.

When my daughter Somah was young, I didn't have much money. But I was fortunate to find a preschool where I could volunteer in exchange for lower tuition. I saw firsthand how an early childhood education shaped my daughter's success.

This great game of football is about challenges every day.

When I was a campaign worker, you would meet people who would want to vote but didn't have any money for postage. It happens more often than people think.

I don't know where sports in general will go. But when I grew up, you just played the sport. Parents just wanted to make sure that you were happy doing something.

I remember my first camps when I was in high school, freshman year. I did a LeBron James camp, and I thought that was the coolest thing ever.

There were so many things in Baltimore not many people know about. I had struggles with my pitching coach. A lot of guys did.

I haven't played quarterback since eighth or ninth grade. I didn't see it get much attention when I completed a pass then.

I've not seen my two girls play high school sports.

I am not joking when I state that I remained uneducated because I could not afford education.

When I got in this profession, as a young guy, as a college coach at San Jose State, I knew right then that I had a passion to do this, to touch people's lives, to develop young men in the game of football.

My grandad and mom would drive me to training all the time, and from then - around seven to eight - coaches were telling me I had something special and needed to stick with it.

I worry for Scottish football.

Traditionally it's been difficult for Africans to play over here, mainly because the African calendar is very different to that in Europe. Most of the coaches over here can't accept that we have to go back home to play at the Nations' Cup for a month while the season is still on over here. That made people reluctant to sign Africans.

Coach Kingsbury, I know the type of offense he runs. He recruited me out of high school and I have a great relationship with him.

Some of the most innovative things in football I see at high school games. It's not the play - it's when you run it. The right time.