39 Dean Smith Quotes On Leadership, Coaching, Teamwork & Basketball

motivational quotes Jan 13, 2024

A collection of the best Coach Dean Smith quotes and sayings:

Coach Dean Smith was a legendary basketball coach who coached the University of North Carolina Tar Heels from 1961 to 1997.

He is widely regarded as one of the greatest coaches in college basketball history.

Coach Smith led the Tar Heels to two NCAA Championships in 1982 and 1993. He also took the team to 11 Final Four appearances and 13 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Tournament titles.

Coach Smith's teams consistently had winning seasons and he retired with a record of 879 wins and 254 losses.

Coach Smith was known for his innovative coaching strategies. He invented the "Four Corners" offense, which was meant to control the tempo of the game.

Off the court, Dean Smith emphasized teamwork, character, discipline and personal growth. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1983.

You might like:

• 50 Best Coach Pat Summitt Quotes >>

• 73 Coach John Wooden Quotes And Sayings About Basketball And Life >>

• Coach K On Leadership, Success, and Teamwork >>

Coach Dean Smith Basketball Quotes

1. "I would never recruit a player who yells at his teammates, disrespected his high school coach, or scores 33 points a game and his team goes 10-10."

2. "Play hard. Play smart. Play together."

3. "I've always believed in quickness over strength and size."

4. "If you make every game a life and death proposition, you're going to have problems. For one thing, you'll be dead a lot."

5. "You can't teach court savvy."

6. "The key statistic is still to get to the foul line."

More quotes: 24 Motivational Basketball Quotes to Build Confidence >>

Best Dean Smith Quotes About Leadership And Coaching

7. "Always have your players go and pick-up the guy who draws the charge."

8. "Only praise behavior that you want to be repeated. Never use false praise."

9. "The most important thing in good leadership is truly caring."

10. "Over coaching is the worst thing you can do to a player."

11. "I wasn’t as critical during games as I was at practice. Players needed confidence during games more than criticism."

12. "I believed a demanding teacher should treat each player as an important part of the team, which, of course, he is. The least skilled player received the same attention from me as the best player."

13. "I enjoy basketball. I enjoy coaching basketball. It's the out-of-season stuff I didn't handle well."

14. "I always mean what I say, but I don't always say what I'm thinking."

15. "I do believe in praising that which deserves to be praised."

16. "I only use statistics to reinforce what I already think, or if it’s something unusual."

17. "There is a point in every contest when sitting on the sidelines is not an option."

18. "I was very demanding, but the role of a head coach is that of a demanding teacher."

19. "A leader’s job is to develop committed followers. Bad leaders destroy their followers’ sense of commitment."

20. "The coach’s job is to be part servant in helping each player reach his goals within the team concept."

21. "If you do what we ask you to do, the victories will belong to you, and the losses to me."

22. "A demanding teacher is quick to praise action that deserves praise, but will criticize the act, not the person."

23. "You should sub a player out when you see a player not going full-speed or playing selfish basketball."

You might like: Top 50 Michael Jordan Quotes About Basketball and Life >>

Best Teamwork Quotes By Dean Smith

24. "One player's selfish attitude can poison a locker room and make it hard, if not impossible, to establish team work."

25. "Basketball is a team game. But that doesn't mean all five players should have the same amount of shots."

26. "Basketball, more than any other sport, is a team game…about the thousands of small, unselfish acts, the sacrifices on the part of the players that result in team building."