If you grow up with traditions in your family, it's always nice to be able to get home and have those moments.

My dad was a great man, and I loved him, but he had some demons he fought. It was tough to see some of those things as a kid, but I believe God doesn't save you from things; he saves you through them.

It's the journey to get there. It's that moment in that locker room when you're with a group of people that have gotten it done. There's nothing like it. If you could bottle that up and take that out in the world, you'd dominate.

I've always really respected Mark Richt. I think he's a great man, first of all, and I think he's a great coach and a guy that truly cares about the players and always has.

We're all going to experience death and failure and setbacks and disappointments and cancer and, you know, it's a really difficult world. And for me, God has always - in my relationship with Christ - He's given me hope and peace.

I think God has got a sense of humor. I really do.

My driving force in this business is to create and build great men, and to do that, you have to have great relationships.

You may not have any interest in Clemson whatsoever, but if Clemson calls, and they want to pay for you to come, and feed you and put you in a hotel, well, who doesn't want to go do that? Sign me up. Let's go, man.

I always told people Alabama was the smartest state because it has four As and a B.

My entire life, nothing's been easy. This is the way it ought to be.

The thing I enjoy the most about being the head coach is that I get to create the climate. I get to control the environment everybody comes to work in every day, and I'm very in tune to the chemistry, the morale of my staff, my support staff, my secretaries, the guy cleaning the building, the players, the walk-ons.

I'm a Christian, but I've coached and played with Muslims and all kind of different religions.

I had a lot of time as a kid to dream. There wasn't much else left to do.

Trust me, people that know me know I ain't perfect, but I do try to live my life in a way that hopefully can be pleasing to my maker because I know I'm going to meet Him one day, and He's not going to pat me on the back and talk about how many wins I had or how many Coach of the Year trophies we got or how much money I made.

All I know is, there's nothing we can't do at Clemson. I don't have to go somewhere else to win at the highest level, to recruit great players, to have great support - I really don't. I'm just really fortunate.

I ain't never going to apologize for a 21-point win over a state rival, ever.

I'm counting every silver lining I can get.

I was one of those kids who watched the Bear Bryant Show every Sunday, and every time Alabama played, I was listening on the radio. I'd fight you if you talked bad about Alabama.

I have an MBA, but my Ph.D. is in people. Everything I do is about relationships.

I love that about college football. I love all the funky matchups. I love the Funky Cold Medina Poulan Weed Eater Bowl. I love all of that. I like the crazy games. There's obviously a market for it because them TVs love to put it on there.

If my coach told me to go run them bleachers, you didn't ask no questions. I turned around and started running until he said stop.

Let's not be miserable when we win. There's definitely people in places that, even when they win, they're not happy. That's sad.

Everything in life is how you respond to it. If everything went perfect all the time - you never lost a game, you got to the championship every time, you always won, you always got the top recruit, you always made the A - you really wouldn't truly appreciate all that goes into it.

My vision is for other schools to be like Clemson. My vision is to build a model program.

When a guy comes unofficially, then he, to me, is sending you a message that, 'You know what? Hey, I'm interested in Clemson.' Now, he may hate it when he gets here. But at least he came on his own. That's just my personal philosophy.

A win is a win, and I've just always felt that way, and I've always been passionate about that.

I always tell people, good coaches are a dime a dozen. Good coaches that are good people, good husbands, good fathers, that love their players and are passionate about doing things in a way that I believe is important, that pool gets real small.

For me personally, joy comes from focusing on Jesus, others, and yourself.

For me, and I've been on record saying it, let's create two leagues: one for players who want the college football experience, and another for those that want to get paid, have the NFL help fund it, whatever. Guys who don't want to go to school to get an education, let them go to work.

I'm a big believer in the student-athlete part. I value the education and what it provides for you. Football is a vocation. Only 1.67 percent of these athletes go on to the NFL. An education provides you an opportunity for a career. A lot of people just don't get that. To say they aren't getting anything is misinformed.

When you win by three touchdowns in a state championship and you've got people who can't appreciate that? That's really sad.

I'm thankful for the experience and to be able to coach other young people on their journey through college football. It's a privilege.

I've never really hired anybody that people thought I should hire.

I just think there is a right way to do things, and I don't think two wrongs make a right.

Sometimes fans... they want more and more and more, and they think you win a national championship every year. It doesn't work that way.

Everybody runs, but only one wins first prize. So, run your race in such a way as to win.

A football team is really just a reflection of society. You've got 118, 120 guys on the team, you got a little bit of everything.

As long as I've been at Clemson, there's not a guy that's more committed to Clemson than Kelly Bryant. There's not a better leader. This guy, he's the epitome of what you want. He's what you want your son to be like. I love him like a son.

In recruiting, you talk about anything and everything a recruit wants to talk about that seems relevant.

In Alabama, when you come out of the hospital, they have to stamp your birth certificate with either Alabama or Auburn, or you don't leave.

There's some criminals that wear badges. Guess what? There's some criminals that work in the media. There's some criminals that are football coaches. There's some criminals that are politicians. There are criminals that work in churches.

It's hard for me to come up with a plan and hold my players accountable until I self-evaluate and hold myself accountable.

I'm kind of a bottom-of-the-barrel guy.

As I've said many times, it's one thing to dream about something; it's another thing to experience it. It's one thing to think you're good enough; it's another thing to know you're good enough.

My dad was the biggest Alabama fan ever, and I was brainwashed.

I thought, 'If I ever get a new football building, I want a slide.' Now I go down it every day.

I go to a church that's an interracial church.

That's just my - I think that I made a decision when I was 16 - I grew up in a family that I was taught there was a God and all that, but I didn't really have a relationship with Christ until I was 16. And that was a game changer for me. That's really become the foundation of my life.

Everybody sees me now, and I'm the head coach at Clemson and this and that, but my life hasn't always been this way.

You don't have to sacrifice your family to be a great coach.