Pat Summitt, the legendary coach of the University of Tennessee women’s basketball team, passed away yesterday, Tuesday, June 26, 2016, from the effects of early onset Alzeheimers. As coach, Summitt’s teams won eight national titles and 1,098 games — the most by any Division 1 basketball coach, male or female. Her teams made 31 consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament

Beyond the wins and the statistics, Summitt had a profound impact on women’s college athletics and, most importantly, the women she coached throughout her career. At least 25 of the women she coached or who worked as assistant coaches in her programs went on to coach in the NCAA themselves.

Pat Summit left also a legacy of inspiring words about what it takes to win in sports, in work…and in life. Here are just of few.


Inspiring Quotations From Pat Summitt

(Quotations via: Tennessean.com, WATE.com)

“Here’s how I’m going to beat you. I’m going to outwork you. That’s it. That’s all there is to it.”


“Sometimes you learn more from losing than winning.
Losing forces you to reexamine.”


“Discipline helps you finish a job, and finishing is what separates excellent work from average work.”

“It’s harder to stay on top than it is to make the climb. Continue to seek new goals.”

“I won 1,098 games, and eight national championships, and coached in four different decades. But what I see are not the numbers. I see their faces.”


“Teamwork is what makes common people capable of uncommon results.”


“Life. It gives you vision. But you can’t acquire it if you’re afraid of keeping score.”

“I remember every player—every single one—who wore the Tennessee orange, a shade that our rivals hate, a bold, aggravating color that you can usually find on a roadside crew…But to us the color is a flag of pride, because it identifies us as Lady Vols and therefore as women of an unmistakable type. Fighters. I remember how many of them fought for a better life for themselves. I just met them halfway.”

“Attitude is a choice. What you think you can do, whether positive or negative, confident or scared, will most likely happen.”

“No one feels strong when she examines her own weakness. But in facing weakness, you learn how much there is in you, and you find real strength.”


“Success is all a matter of perspective.
It depends on where you start from, and where you want to end up.”


(Photo: Kevin813 via Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND)

Related Articles