Bill Bowerman Quotes

United States, Coach
February 19, 1911 – December, 24, 1999.

William Jay "Bill" Bowerman (February 19, 1911 – December 24, 1999) was an American track and field coach and co-founder of Nike, Inc. Over his career, he trained 31 Olympic athletes, 51 All-Americans, 12 American record-holders, 22 NCAA champions and 16 sub-4 minute milers. During his 24 years as coach at the University of Oregon, the Ducks track and field team had a winning season every season but one, attained 4 NCAA titles, and finished in the top 10 in the nation 16 times. As co-founder of Nike, he invented some of their top brands, including the Cortez and Waffle Racer, and assisted in the company moving from being a distributor of other shoe brands to one creating their own shoes in house.

I still bother with runners I call hamburgers. They're never going to run any record times. But they can fulfill their own potential.

Bill Bowerman
- Running
- Sports
- Bother
I think people can handle 150 to 200 miles a week. But something has to give somewhere. If he's a student, how's he going to study? He may be at the age of chasing and courtship, and that's an important form of sport and recreation, too.

Bill Bowerman

The magic is in the man, not the 100 miles.

Bill Bowerman
- Magic
Several of my critics have said, 'Bowerman just tacks up a piece of paper in the locker room and turns his runners loose.' They're partially right. I do give the athletes a relatively free rein and for good reason. One of my principles is? 'Don't overcoach.'

Bill Bowerman
- Up
- Good
- Free
The idea that the harder you work, the better you're going to be is just garbage. The greatest improvement is made by the man or woman who works most intelligently.

Bill Bowerman
- Work
- Men
- Improvement
It's easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission.

Bill Bowerman
- Forgiveness
- Easier
- Asks
Now to explore the limits of the one competitor above everyone else you've always loved to face: Steve Prefontaine.

Bill Bowerman
- Explore
- Faces
- Limits
The real purpose of running isn't to win a race, it's to test the limits of the human heart.

Bill Bowerman
- Real
- Heart
- Running

God determines how fast you're going to run; I can help only with the mechanics.

Bill Bowerman
- God
- Help
- Running
A teacher is never too smart to learn from his pupils. But while runners differ, basic principles never change. So it's a matter of fitting your current practices to fit the event and the individual. See, what's good for you might not be worth a darn for the next guy.

Bill Bowerman
- Good
- Guy
- Teacher
If at the end of a race you know yourself that you have done your best, you're a winner.

Bill Bowerman
- Done
- Knows
- Race
To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world.

Bill Bowerman
There is no bad weather, just soft runners.

Bill Bowerman
- Bad
- Running
- Weather
This killing of Israel athletes is an act of war. And if there's one place that war doesn't belong, it's here. 1200 years. From 776 B.C. to 393 A.D., your fellow Olympians laid down their arms to take part in these games. They understood there was more honor in out running a man than in killing him. I hope the competition will resume, and if it does, you must not think that running or throwing or jumping is frivelous. The games were once your fellow Olympians answer to war – competition, not conquest. Now, they must be your answer.

Bill Bowerman
- Men
- Thinking
- War

If someone says, 'Hey, I ran 100 miles this week. How far did you run?' ignore him! What the hell difference does it make?.... The magic is in the man, not the 100 miles.

Bill Bowerman
- Men
- Running
- Magic
The athlete makes himself, the coach doesn't make the athlete.

Bill Bowerman
- Athlete
- Coaches
Everything you need is already inside.

Bill Bowerman
- Running
- Needs
- Race Day
There's no such thing as bad weather, just soft people.

Bill Bowerman
- People
- Bad
Victory is in having done your best. If you've done your best, you've won.

Bill Bowerman
- Done
- Sports
- Victory
Men of Oregon, I invite you to become students of your events. Running, one might say, is basically an absurd past-time upon which to be exhausting ourselves. But if you can find meaning, in the kind of running you have to do to stay on this team, chances are you will be able to find meaning in another absurd past-time: life.

Bill Bowerman
- Life
- Time
- Men

If you have a body, you are an athlete!

Bill Bowerman
Don't give anything away. Never make it easy for the guys you are trying to beat.

Bill Bowerman
- Trying
- Guy
- Giving