J. B. Bickerstaff Quotes

Young men think old men are fools; but old men know young men are fools.

I love to be directed, and I can glean something from almost anyone.

Well, I just can't play the game anymore. I'm 63 years old, and I've been in the business for 40 years now. I take good advice and direction really well, but I don't need somebody that finished college two years ago to come in and tell me what I should be recording.

I've put in 63 years now in the big leagues as a player, coach, manager. And now just being around these young guys, it keeps you going pretty good.

I'm not afraid to learn from my coaches.

Young men should prove theorems, old men should write books.

Everybody has an inferiority complex when they step into a room. But then when you have children and you get older, it doesn't really matter. When I was young I had so many inferiority complexes. I had an inferiority complex because I didn't go to university. I had an inferiority complex because I didn't train.

Guys that are young in the league. Guys that you get to teach them your way. It's not a bad thing. It's actually a good thing. It's working for them. Teach them that way, and I guarantee they aren't as stubborn and hard-headed as I was, which sometimes is good, sometimes is bad. But like I always say, I'm not going to change who I am.

I do have a lot to learn, and I think that has a big factor in everything. Being 19 years old and being able to be in the UFC has a big effect on every single thing that people look at.

You have to be coachable.

The years that pass eat up your margin for error until there is no margin left. The mistakes you make are no longer flaws of inexperience, they are flaws of character. To be young is to be constantly on the precipice of perfection—just a little further and you’ll get there—but you never get there, and suddenly you’re old, and find yourself in a permanent state of imperfection, which you must reckon with.

The coaching community is really tight-knit.

In terms of being able to adapt to any situation on any given night, in any given moment and that just comes with nearly twenty years of experience and paying attention to the guys that I've tried to emulate throughout my career.

I remember Nigel Martyn joking with me at Leeds, saying he was old enough to be my father, which he certainly was.

I've been fortunate my whole career because I've had great guys to learn from.

Our modern coaching culture is not to put too much pressure on any one performance, to let an individual flourish over time.

I'd like young people to seek my advice, and trust that the decades I have lived through have added to my abilities to be a valuable contributor to the workplace and society.

Mentorship is important for everybody, but it can come in a variety of forms. It can come from your boss or another colleague who may be more of a peer, or someone who reports into you if they have a lot of experience or creative experience.

You see guys that have been in the league for a long time and have taken that opportunity to not only make their game better but to make the people around them better. And to help them know things that maybe you wish you had known.

When you're younger you've got all these hang-ups, but when you get to your 50s you just have a good time.

I think I was 24 when I went to USC with Pete Carroll. Pete believed in people and never worried about their age. I learned that from him.

I'm good at what I do and still improving as I learn from mentors, founders, partners, friends, family, strangers, my own investors, and the experience itself.

I know my first years sitting on the bench, largely behind Rickey Green, was a great learning tool for me.

I've been very, very lucky because I've had so many great mentors.

I've worked with a lot of good coaches, so I would be stupid if I did not pick anything up.