"Now I understand. Average leaders have quotes. Good leaders have a plan. Exceptional leaders have a system.

"Time is a nonrenewable resource. If you waste it, you never get it back, so it's essential to pick your battles wisely.

"At the end of the day, I'm very convinced that you're going to be judged on how you are as a husband and as a father and not on how many bowl games we won.

"Coaches do get very nervous.

"Elite warriors, when they accomplish their mission, they celebrate.

"Go look at the great programs in the country; you don't hear that. So we've got to change that mentality. I'm happy to say it's changing very rapidly.

"He hasn't done enough. We would like to see more of a dominant RB. I'd like to see a 1,200- to 1,500-yard guy. We want a dominant back.

"I don't like disrespecting other teams.

"I have ignored my health for years, but recent developments have forced me to re-evaluate my priorities of faith and family.

"I have yet to be in a game where luck was involved.

"I saw today a team that wants to send the seniors out (with a victory). I saw that hunger today.

"If he goes in to play, we want him to have everything available to him.

"If you can raise the level of effort and performance in those around you, you are officially a leader.

"I'm not ready to say that. I'm happy with today's practice. I think our ones could be OK.

"In case you're wondering what the offense should look like, that wasn't it.

"It is so easy to be average. It takes a little something to be special. Why be around average.

"It was a great day today. A lot of times you worry about attitudes. It was a great practice.

"It was kind of a mutual agreement. I think guys want to play.

"It's been there, a little bit of selfishness and other issues we have had to deal with during the course of the year.

"It's competition. It's putting them in environments, in situations where I want to see who the fighters are and who they guys are that are going to compete. And there will be rewards at the end of the day. Gatorade if you win. You drink out of a water hose if you lose and do some running. And that includes the coaching staff.

"It's Thursday. Get me through Friday and Saturday and I'm all right.

"It's unacceptable, and we have to get better at it.

"Since then we've had some momentum going … It's a critical game.

"That just shows you how tough he is and his consistency.

"The doctor told me he's 80 percent today, which is very good. He was jogging today.

"The future is bright at Ohio State.

"Their linebackers are as good as they say.

"They're as talented a team as any I've ever coached against.

"They're both very serious people, and that's the kind of guys you like to be around.

"We still haven't named him a backup because he hasn't taken it yet, but he's close.

"Yeah, I think he's out. He's one of those guys that you always hope, but I think he's out.

"You don't get 5 years to build a team any more. You get 2 if you're lucky.

"I'm not shy about the love I have for this great state. To bring now a national title to the great state of Ohio, it's almost surreal. What it meant to Meyer to win a title for his home state school.

"I think angry is the way to play…The best teams I've ever coached, the best players, are the ones who are always trying to prove something.

"At some point in an individual battle, the other guy says I don't want to go anymore, I've had enough. The same thing with a team. At some point that team says, 'no wait a minute, that's too much for us to handle'. That's called tapping out. We will never see this here. That's a culture. That's a mindset. That's the way you're trained from January. You determine that by how hard you go. We determine when the team taps out.

"Why do you do what you do? You don't do it for yourself. If you do it for your teammates you have a chance to win this game.

"I have yet to be in a game where luck was involved. Well-prepared players make plays. I have yet to be in a game where the most prepared team didn't win.

"The whole theme this week was to go where the air is rare. The last door is a big one -- open it up, kick it open, do what you've got to do to get through the door. Once you're in there, it smells different, it tastes different, it looks different. I'm hoping our guys get that taste and they want to go do it again. Once you taste that, it tastes really good. The foundation, I think, is strong.

"I'm humbled ... and appreciate the people who did it, and that's our players, on winning his third national title as a head coach.

"We have good players. We have good coaches. But the best is thing they care and to coach kids that care is everyone's dream.

"Do we have to be aware? We're human beings, man. Last year, I don't think we had that sense of entitlement at all. This year, I'm watching it.

"I think he should be the best D-lineman in America. He's trying to take his game to the next level, which, we all know is very high. It was very high at the end of the season." Meyer on expectations for defensive lineman Joey Bosa in 2015.

"He's the best practice offensive player that I've ever had. I've had (Tim) Tebow, Percy Harvin and some other great ones. He's phenomenal at practice. He's the guy that finishes every run 25-30 yards downfield and works on making the safeties miss. If you watch the Oregon game, our first touchdown, he wasn't that good when we got him. He was a kid that worked himself into being that good. Meyer on Ohio State star running back Ezekiel Elliott.

"Everything is positive. Talent, quality people, value to the program, investment in the program? Check, check, check, check. The only negative is two people are going to have to watch. Meyer on the pending quarterback competition between Braxton Miller, J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones.

"It's great for college football and great for the Big Ten. Meyer on Michigan's hiring of Jim Harbaugh.

"Toughness can achieve things that talent by itself can never accomplish.

"It is important to remember players do not experience your intentions. They experience your behavior.

"Think hard. Be as specific as possible. Ask yourself: Exactly what is it that I am after every day? If you are Federal Express, your clarity of purpose is get it there. If you are Disney, it is make people happy. If you are the Ohio State.

"A leader is someone who inspires and empowers people to get to places that they wouldn’t be able to reach otherwise, sure, but you also need to have people who are willing to be led. You.

"Leadership isn’t a difference maker, it is the difference maker. Leadership is a skill, and like all skills it takes time and effort to develop.

"You don’t get the culture you want, you get the culture you build.

"It takes a little something special to be a great player. Push yourself to be great.

"You don’t come to work everyday for mat drills, for spring ball, for off-season training. You come for the pagentry of college football.

"We better have much better passing stats or we didn’t do a very good job in recruitment or development.

"I expect him to be more dynamic, not necessarily with the ball in his hands. That means distributing the ball to the people who can do what they’re supposed to do.

"I used to worry about it (criticism).

"You darn right I’d hold my own. – on if a fight broke out with another coach.

"A team with purpose is a hard team to beat.

"We have good players. We have good coaches. But the best is thing they care and to coach kids that care is everyone’s dream.

"One of the ways to take care of the team is to celebrate together.

"Don’t settle for average, push yourself and others, have a higher purpose, keep proving something, set lofty goals, develop others and make them successful, handle criticism, understand jealousy, toughness, purpose, caring, and celebrate. If you practice these 13 things, you too may be a highly successful leader.

"I've been at a place before where I've seen things slip. I promise you one thing, things aren't going to slip around here.

"From the bottom of our souls all the way through our body, we have to believe in [the training] and feel it. to his coaches.

"I want to make sure we're nine strong. If we line up next year, nine strong, who is going to beat this team?

"Go look at the great programs in the country; you don’t hear that. So we’ve got to change that mentality. I’m happy to say it’s changing very rapidly.

"In case you’re wondering what the offense should look like, that wasn’t it.

"It was a great day today. A lot of times you worry about attitudes. It was a great practice.

"It’s been there, a little bit of selfishness and other issues we have had to deal with during the course of the year.

"Ironically, some coaches are so preoccupied with pushing for results that they fail to build a culture that sustains the behavior that produces results. But winning behavior will not thrive in a culture that does not support it.

"As a leader, you are responsible for creating a winning culture that drives behavior and produces winning results. It's not someone else's job. It's your job!

"Exceptional leaders create a culture that engages hears and minds, energizes action, and executes with discipline. When that happens, the number and wins follow.

"Culture eats strategy for lunch. Talent, schemes, tactics and plans cannot replace a strong culture. A great culture can make even a mediocre strategy successful, but a weak culture will undermine even the best strategy. The foundation of culture is core beliefs. Not platitudes or quotes. Core beliefs. The beliefs that are the heart of the team.