Massimiliano Allegri Quotes

You know over 20 years I played for a number of managers and dozens of coaches. I don't know any of them that I didn't learn something from to help make me a better player.

I watched Hiddink and Ferguson at close quarters, and I realized that I am not a coach.

Hiddink really taught me a lot. We talked every day at Anzhi and I saw how he dealt with difficult situations, how he always seemed to know what the players needed. He was a great teacher. I hope I can be as successful as him.

That is what it is like with Pep. At first, you don't understand. But then you grow up, you work, and now we understand the things he wants much better. It's not like the first season when it took him more time to make us understand his ideas. Some players didn't understand immediately what he wanted.

Some of the best coaches I've been around are those people I worked with in high school.

You don't know a player until you coach him.

Coming in, you're so concerned about learning your job and the things you need to do to be successful individually. Once that's good, you can start to focus on learning guys around you and learning defenses and what they're trying to do to you.

A coach coaches. That's what he does. That's what he's good at. He's not managing people. He manages his players, but that's different.

Over my NFL career, I've had five head coaches who have helped me become better at my craft and have helped me become a better human being: Jim Mora, Tony Dungy, Jim Caldwell, John Fox, Gary Kubiak.

The biggest learning during my tenure as a captain was that, a lot of time, I used to think that this is common sense. But no, there is nothing called common sense.

Coach Smart did a great job of just letting me come to terms with myself as a basketball player and a person.

Before I came to Barcelona, I only thought about one facet of the game: destroying. My qualities were completely defensive, and I wouldn't take responsibility for organising my team's game, our attacks.

Knowing who I am as a player and working on my deficiencies, communication is something I try to pride myself on.

I think that when I start a season, I speak with my players, and I always talk about education and respect. And I demand this, but I give this.

I think there is a lot of experiences you have in coaching, and if you learn from the experiences as you go through them, whether it's as a coordinator or position coach, a quality-control coach, a head coach, whatever it might be, and you learn from those mistakes you make.

I've been following some of the coaches, trying to get a little bit more experience, because coaching is very different from being a player.

I have a very English coaching philosophy.

People asked me, 'Why aren't you doing something more important?' When I was doing well in the D-League, they were like, 'Why can't you get an NBA job? Or a college job?' I don't think people thought much of what I was doing. That's fine. I was learning. Not just X's and O's, but team dynamics.

I think I have been able to slow down a little bit and really work on different things... I think I improved on being a leader on the court. Controlling the game, controlling the pace... that is where I have grown.

I'm especially thankful for being able to coach so many talented young men over my 18 years here. It has been so rewarding to see these players come to OU and mature over a four- or five-year career, and not just on the field. To play a small part in their growth is what I will always cherish the most.

I have been very fortunate to coach a lot of very good secondary players through the years.

I think the 20-year-old me from that time, if I could have been managed under Jurgen Klopp, I'd have benefitted.

Ancelotti is a great coach, and we talk often.

Coach Dunleavy has done a great job of humbling me, letting me go out there and make mistakes and I've got a great feel for the game right now.

I learned a lot from Al Davis, and I got a lot better as a coach.