- I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth.
I know.
I was born in Follansbee, West Virginia.
(crowd laughing)
And I went by where I was born last night about 10:30.
I's born in a cellar at home,
delivered by a Dr. McGraw.
We had one bedroom for my sister, myself, and my parents.
We had a half bath and a kitchen.
Seven and a half years we lived in that place.
There was no welfare.
There was no food stamps.
There was no safety net.
But I always had plenty to eat because every time I asked
for seconds my dad would say, "No, you had plenty."
(crowd laughing)
But the reason I was born with a silver spoon,
my dad had only gone to the third grade.
That's all the education he had.
But why was I born with a silver spoon in my mouth?
'Cause I was taught by my parents
that life's a matter of making choices wherever you are,
good or bad, it's 'cause the choices you make.
Don't blame anybody else, but if you get an education,
you're willing to work, and overcome problems
or difficulties, in this great country,
you can amount to something.
That's how I, that's why I's born with a silver spoon.
I was in this country, and I was taught
personal responsibility for choices ya make.
When we talk about a commitment to excellence,
that's a choice you make.
What do you wanna do?
Havin' hopes and dreams and ambition.
Say, I think that is absolutely critical.
Don't make the mistake I made.
I've done a lot of dumb things,
but let me tell you one thing I regret.
We went to the University of Notre Dame, and we took
our program on the bottom, and we took it to the very top.
And for nine straight years, we went to a January one bowl,
the Sugar, the Cotton, the Orange, and the Fiesta.
And nobody's done it before.
Nobody's done it since.
We put it on top, and we maintained it.
That's the thing I regret the most.
See there's a rule in life that says
you're either growin' or you're dying.
Tree's either growin' or it's dying.
So is grass.
So's a marriage.
So's a business.
So's a person.
It doesn't have a thing to do with age.
My birthday candles cost more than the cake.
(crowd laughing)
But it has everything to do with my tryin' to get better,
my tryin' to prove we got on top.
You say, you know this is pretty good, let's maintain it.
Let's not take any risk.
We finished second in the country at Notre Dame,
and everybody called me an idiot.
Guy finishes last in medical school, they call him doctor.
That doesn't seem fair.
(crowd laughing)
When I left Notre Dame, I never thought I'd coach again.
Where do you go from Notre Dame.
According to my mother, you go directly to heaven,
and you sit by the pope.
You don't coach anymore.
(crowd laughing)
And then I went to live in a town
where the average age was deceased.
(crowd laughing)
And when I found out, I wasn't tired of coachin'.
You have to have something to hope for, something to dream.
And even though you've done great things so far,
what's gonna happen now?
I want to give you a simple plan.
Life doesn't have to be complicated.
I try to keep life simple.
Do you realize there are only seven colors in the rainbow?
Only seven.
Look what Michelangelo did with those seven colors.
There's only seven musical notes.
Look what Beethoven did with those seven notes.
There's only 10 numbers.
Look at what Bernie Madoff did with those 10 numbers.
(crowd laughing)
The point I make is, it doesn't have to be complicated.
See, you need four things in your life.
If you don't have any of these four things in your life,
you're going to have a tremendous void.
See, everybody needs something to do.
Number two, everybody needs someone to love.
Number three, everybody needs someone to believe in,
and in my case, it's Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
But the fourth thing you need in your life,
is you need something to hope for.
There's never a right time to do the wrong thing.
And there's never a wrong time to do the right thing.
Just do what's right.
I think it's right, be honest, right, be on time.
See, Ladies and gentleman, enjoy life.
Have fun.
You're going to have problems.
You're gonna have difficulties.
That's part of life.
And don't tell people about your problems.
Do you know that 90% of the people don't care.
(crowd laughing)
And the other 10% are glad you got 'em.
(crowd laughing)
So you're better off then, keep 'em to yourself then.
You're gonna have problems.
But have fun with what you're doin.
People say, did you have fun doin ESPN?
Not really, 'cause if you have fun bein' there,
people have fun bein' around.
Doesn't mean I don't do dumb things.
And sometimes I wasn't real honest.
Do everything to the best of your ability
with time allotted.
You know, ladies and gentlemen,
not all of us can be All-American.
Not everybody can be First State.
Everybody can be the best you're capable of bein'.
And I want to tell you, if you wanna fail,
you have the right to fail.
That's what's great about this country.
You do not have the right to cause other people to fail
'cause you don't do everything that you're goin to.
When you join a spouse, you bring a child into the world,
join a business, you join a team, you have obligations
and responsibilities and you owe it to other people
to do the maximum you can at each and every thing you do.
It's not complicated.
And the last rule, is show people you care.
When you walk in a room, do your attitude,
hey here I am, look at me?
No, your attitude, there you are, how can I help you?
I wished I'd knew those three rules when I was 21.
I've used 'em for the last 40 years.
There's a statue of me at Notre Dame.
I guess they needed a place for the pigeons to land,
but (crowd laughing) if you go and look at it,
just don't look, look at three words on the pedestal,
trust, commitment, love.
(soft hollow crash)
(quiet synth music)