Jeff Van Gundy Quotes

We probably spend more time talking about individual players in our coaching sessions than anything else.

So you get two good hours on the field about every day, you get about an hour and a half in the meeting room and that's pretty much all you need to thoroughly coach your team.

People talk about tactics, but when you look at it, tactics are just players. You change things so that the team can get the most out of the skills they have to offer, but you don't go any further than that.

When I went to the Dolphins, we retained most of their coaching staff, and of course, we had a few veteran players. So, I just tried to add a few pieces here and there.

We have to talk about the players we have.

As a coach, you have to play to how your team is built.

As a player, I had no idea whatsoever about getting a team ready for a game, what it entails.

The concept of head coach simply means being hyperfocused on the pitch and team performance.

Us coaches love to have as many players available as possible.

People often talk about a coach's philosophy, but generally, I think managers look at the players they have and then decide on their style.

As a player, I've always been interested in understanding the coaches' minds, in seeing how they made a group function.

You need young, hungry, developing players in your team, but you also need that experience to level things out and get hold of some of the youngsters when they need advice in certain areas of the pitch.

I have a lot of admiration for those who build tactical systems, but I always thought the most important thing a good coach must do is build the team around the characteristics of his players.

To look at the players, to communicate with the players, to observe and to analyze - that's my job.

The challenge coaches face is replacing players they were counting on to be major pieces of a puzzle. In a lot of cases, there is just no way to make the necessary adjustments.

The head coach is the chemist.

If you're a coach and your team doesn't win, at some point you've got to change the coach.

I think your team evolves every year. The more you know about it, the better you can coach it.

I think you have to be more flexible to be a pro coach because once you pay the guy the money, whether he can backpedal the way you want him to or whatever, his style of play may not suit you, but you still are going to play him, and he is going to be a part of your team.

I want to build a team who can play home and away the same.

There are small things that every coach brings when they go to a new team. Like, you need to press this way or the other way.

We have to understand the abilities of the players. We will try to build a game model with our ideas and with the players we have.

I think there is a difference between being critical of plays and being critical of players and coaches.

The preseason's all about getting good film out there, making the most of the opportunities that you get.

As a coach you're able to have better relationships with the players because you're not picking the team.