Most parents were, like, Little League coaches and all that. My dad was a wrestling fan. Instead of going out and playing home run derby with my old man, we just watched wrestling together.

To become a good coach, you need to win a lot.

Governor is not the position to have in Oklahoma. It is the head coach of Oklahoma or Oklahoma State or Tulsa.

If the coach on the sidelines is not that strong, transmitting the kind of spirit he has, players won’t always handle it well. Life becomes difficult. But, with Mourinho, everything is good. He knows when to be among his players, as ‘one of us’ making jokes as a friend, and when to be strong and distant, even severe

Winning an Olympic quota place itself was a very hard job. Add to that a gold medal as well…. I mean it was a fantastic feeling. All the credit goes to my coach, and ultimately, this was the first Olympic quota place for India, so I’m really proud.

For sure it’s better to have a coach. I won’t lie to you. It’s better to have someone to help you. I need it, you know. But as I say all the time, it’s not easy to feel someone. That person has to be – has to be, for me, like good, first of all, but has to be hard and also understand my personality.

I started off as a right-winger, but my coaches pushed me further and further back. So much so that I ended up in defence, because I wasn’t good with my hands and there was nowhere else to go! So they put me there and that’s when I found my position.

All of you know how Pep Guardiola is as a manager… he is the best coach in history

I am not dependent on Pep. He is a great coach, but I do not need to take the same path as him.

Jose Mourinho was a difficult coach for me, and we had a respectful but complicated relationship. When I thought he would give me a chance, I couldn’t prove to him that I was in good shape.

I learned to respect the coach and to do everything within my power to show that I should be the one playing. That’s exactly what I did during my three years under Mourinho.

Mourinho helped me grow. He taught me to be patient, to keep fighting, and to respect the coach’s decisions. He helped me mature and turned me into a man.

It was important for us that we didn’t throw everything overboard after the lost game against France, but stuck to our plan, we trust the coach, we trust the system.

Having a head coach pushing you is definitely a plus.

Gymnastics does take great focus and concentration. What I do is look to my coach. He keeps me focused. And I meditate to get myself confident before the competition floor. That helps keep me focused, too.

I believe in believing. My coach John Kavanagh is a big atheist and he is always trying to persuade people to his way of thinking, and I think what a waste of energy. If people want to believe in this god, or that god, that’s fine by me, believe away. But I think we can be our own gods. I believe in myself.

One of the things I’ve always said is that if you’re given the ability to coach kids, then you’re really given the ability to be a father or parent of some sort.

No coach who is coaching kids should ever curse a kid.

Some of these kids are spending more time with the coaches than they are with their parents. The coach is supposed to be raising these kids, not belittling them and talking to them like the world is coming to an end.

I love passion. I love for a coach to be passionate.

I learned a long time ago how to be coachable.

A coach, especially at a college level – much more at a college or high school level, than at a pro level – you’re more of a teacher than an actual coach.

Coaches are very important to players. They’re people that are mentors, people that are advising them, people that should be their friends and somebody you can rely on on the tour.

A coach will impact more people in one year than the average person will in an entire lifetime.

Everyone needs a coach. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a basketball player, a tennis player, a gymnast or a bridge player.

The coach has turned into a pumpkin and the mice have all run away.

My one regret is that I didn’t win a trophy with Tottenham, despite us being a strong team who played good, attractive football.