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The Education of a Coach
Pulitzer Prize-winner David Halberstam's bestseller takes you inside the football genius of Bill Belichick for an insightful profile in leadership. Bill Belichick's thirty-one years in the NFL have been marked by amazing success--most recently with the New England Patriots. In this groundbreaking book, David Halberstam explores the nuances of both the game and the man behind it. He uncovers what makes Bill Belichick tick both on and off the field. "Halberstam does for the three-time Super Bowl winner what Moneyball did for the Oakland A's Billy Beane."
-- Best Life "If you want to learn about schooling and allegiance and leadership and, most of all, football, by all means--slip inside the sweatshirt."
-- The Wall Street Journal "Halberstam takes the classic sports-bio formula--one stellar performer's rise to the pinnacle of American sport--and transforms it into a nuance-rich story of individual triumph and social history."
-- Booklist "In describing the triumph of 'an unadorned man,' a coach without artifice, Halberstam has created a tale of excellence."
-- The New York Times Book Review
-- Best Life "If you want to learn about schooling and allegiance and leadership and, most of all, football, by all means--slip inside the sweatshirt."
-- The Wall Street Journal "Halberstam takes the classic sports-bio formula--one stellar performer's rise to the pinnacle of American sport--and transforms it into a nuance-rich story of individual triumph and social history."
-- Booklist "In describing the triumph of 'an unadorned man,' a coach without artifice, Halberstam has created a tale of excellence."
-- The New York Times Book Review
288 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2005
186 people are currently reading
3,653 people want to read
About the author
David Halberstam
111听books810听followersDavid Halberstam was an American journalist and historian, known for his work on the Vietnam War, politics, history, the Civil Rights Movement, business, media, American culture, and later, sports journalism. He was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 1964.
Halberstam graduated from Harvard University with a degree in journalism in 1955 and started his career writing for the Daily Times Leader in West Point, Mississippi. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, writing for The Tennessean in Nashville, Tennessee, he covered the beginnings of the American Civil Rights Movement.
In the mid 1960s, Halberstam covered the Vietnam War for The New York Times. While there, he gathered material for his book The Making of a Quagmire: America and Vietnam during the Kennedy Era. In 1963, he received a George Polk Award for his reporting at the New York Times. At the age of 30, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the war. He is interviewed in the 1968 documentary film on the Vietnam War entitled In the Year of the Pig.
Halberstam's most well known work is The Best and the Brightest. Halberstam focused on the paradox that those who shaped the U.S. war effort in Vietnam were some of the most intelligent, well-connected and self-confident men in America鈥�"the best and the brightest"鈥攁nd yet those same individuals were responsible for the failure of the United States Vientnam policy.
After publication of The Best and the Brightest in 1972, Halberstam plunged right into another book and in 1979 published The Powers That Be. The book provided profiles of men like William Paley of CBS, Henry Luce of Time magazine, Phil Graham of The Washington Post鈥攁nd many others.
Later in his career, Halberstam turned to the subjects of sports, publishing The Breaks of the Game, an inside look at the Bill Walton and the 1978 Portland Trailblazers basketball team; an ambitious book on Michael Jordan in 1999 called Playing for Keeps; and on the pennant race battle between the Yankees and Red Sox called Summer of '49.
Halberstam published two books in the 1960s, three books in the 1970s, four books in the 1980s, and six books in the 1990s. He published four books in the 2000s and was on a pace to publish six or more books in that decade before his death.
David Halberstam was killed in a car crash on April 23, 2007 in Menlo Park, California.
Halberstam graduated from Harvard University with a degree in journalism in 1955 and started his career writing for the Daily Times Leader in West Point, Mississippi. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, writing for The Tennessean in Nashville, Tennessee, he covered the beginnings of the American Civil Rights Movement.
In the mid 1960s, Halberstam covered the Vietnam War for The New York Times. While there, he gathered material for his book The Making of a Quagmire: America and Vietnam during the Kennedy Era. In 1963, he received a George Polk Award for his reporting at the New York Times. At the age of 30, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the war. He is interviewed in the 1968 documentary film on the Vietnam War entitled In the Year of the Pig.
Halberstam's most well known work is The Best and the Brightest. Halberstam focused on the paradox that those who shaped the U.S. war effort in Vietnam were some of the most intelligent, well-connected and self-confident men in America鈥�"the best and the brightest"鈥攁nd yet those same individuals were responsible for the failure of the United States Vientnam policy.
After publication of The Best and the Brightest in 1972, Halberstam plunged right into another book and in 1979 published The Powers That Be. The book provided profiles of men like William Paley of CBS, Henry Luce of Time magazine, Phil Graham of The Washington Post鈥攁nd many others.
Later in his career, Halberstam turned to the subjects of sports, publishing The Breaks of the Game, an inside look at the Bill Walton and the 1978 Portland Trailblazers basketball team; an ambitious book on Michael Jordan in 1999 called Playing for Keeps; and on the pennant race battle between the Yankees and Red Sox called Summer of '49.
Halberstam published two books in the 1960s, three books in the 1970s, four books in the 1980s, and six books in the 1990s. He published four books in the 2000s and was on a pace to publish six or more books in that decade before his death.
David Halberstam was killed in a car crash on April 23, 2007 in Menlo Park, California.
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June 3, 2013
If you decide to read this you're going to want to be a Patriots fan. If you're not, you run the risk of projectile vomiting.
In The Education of a Coach, Halberstam has crafted an excellent treatise on the coaching aspect of Bill Belichick's life and it's almost nothing but praise. It stops short of out-and-out sycophancy, citing Belichick's faults, most notably displayed in a rough five years with the troubled Cleveland Browns. But how can you blame Halberstam for showering praise upon the man? Belichick has created a dynasty (a team that remains dominant season after season) out of a ragged football team in an age where the league itself has intentionally twisted the rules in order to "level the playing field" which has essentially made it all-but-impossible to maintain a dynasty.
That's great and all if you're a New England fan, but there are 31 other teams in the league and even though I've been a Patriots fan since I was about 10, I do understand why people hate them. Heck, I hated the Cowboys back in the 90s when they were the dominate power and my team was the suck of sucks. But for the last decade and more it's been the Pats who have been one of the top dogs. That alone would make most fans of other teams want to puke, but also during that time not only have they gone to the Super Bowl five times and won three of them, but they were embroiled in the Spygate scandal, they were the beneficiaries of the highly contested/controversial "Tuck Rule", and they have a quarterback with movie star good looks and a supermodel wife...so you see, there is PLENTY to hate about them and their antisocial, genius, troll-under-the-bridge coach who created all this, god bless his cold, little heart!
However, if you can get passed that, and if you want to read about the kind of drive, ambition and determination it takes to rise to the top and be a successful coach in the NFL, this is a very worthwhile read indeed.
In The Education of a Coach, Halberstam has crafted an excellent treatise on the coaching aspect of Bill Belichick's life and it's almost nothing but praise. It stops short of out-and-out sycophancy, citing Belichick's faults, most notably displayed in a rough five years with the troubled Cleveland Browns. But how can you blame Halberstam for showering praise upon the man? Belichick has created a dynasty (a team that remains dominant season after season) out of a ragged football team in an age where the league itself has intentionally twisted the rules in order to "level the playing field" which has essentially made it all-but-impossible to maintain a dynasty.
That's great and all if you're a New England fan, but there are 31 other teams in the league and even though I've been a Patriots fan since I was about 10, I do understand why people hate them. Heck, I hated the Cowboys back in the 90s when they were the dominate power and my team was the suck of sucks. But for the last decade and more it's been the Pats who have been one of the top dogs. That alone would make most fans of other teams want to puke, but also during that time not only have they gone to the Super Bowl five times and won three of them, but they were embroiled in the Spygate scandal, they were the beneficiaries of the highly contested/controversial "Tuck Rule", and they have a quarterback with movie star good looks and a supermodel wife...so you see, there is PLENTY to hate about them and their antisocial, genius, troll-under-the-bridge coach who created all this, god bless his cold, little heart!
However, if you can get passed that, and if you want to read about the kind of drive, ambition and determination it takes to rise to the top and be a successful coach in the NFL, this is a very worthwhile read indeed.
January 28, 2013
let me start by saying that if youre looking for a biography of a public figure which reads like a novel OR has some sort of life-affirming message, this probably isnt going to be what youre looking for.
however, if youre interested in both the complicated history of football (as told mostly though coaching and front-office politics), and like to savor the technical aspects of organizing and executing at the highest level of football, then youll find this an enjoyable read.
im a pretty huge football fan, but as a relative latecomer - that is, i only got 'serious' about watching as an adult - i lack some of the context on the players from decades ago. tracking some of the players and coaches and names across universities and towns and teams was occasionally a little overwhelming, but it didnt (for me) diminish the enjoyment of following this coach's path to where he is now. i already respected belichick for his quite-obvious abilities and work ethic, and this well-organized and well-written book only added to it, for me.
however, if youre interested in both the complicated history of football (as told mostly though coaching and front-office politics), and like to savor the technical aspects of organizing and executing at the highest level of football, then youll find this an enjoyable read.
im a pretty huge football fan, but as a relative latecomer - that is, i only got 'serious' about watching as an adult - i lack some of the context on the players from decades ago. tracking some of the players and coaches and names across universities and towns and teams was occasionally a little overwhelming, but it didnt (for me) diminish the enjoyment of following this coach's path to where he is now. i already respected belichick for his quite-obvious abilities and work ethic, and this well-organized and well-written book only added to it, for me.
February 5, 2018
The book contained some interesting insights into Belichick's background and football strategy. The beginning suffered from a lack of chronology jumping back and forth between young Bill Belichick and his father Steve. It also felt like there wasn't enough about his most important time on the Patriots, in part because his early years on the Patriots were somewhat devoid of the bitter politics he encountered at his other jobs, and in part because this book came out in 2005, and since then Belichick has been coaching the Patriots an additional 12 years and won another 2 Super Bowls. I am a Patriot's fan via my Massachusetts-born husband, and I was disappointed that Belichick didn't pull out any defensive magic last night in Super Bowl LII.
May 1, 2021
Halberstam is one of those writers who could pen a grocery list and you'd still want to read it. He has classic books about US politics, Michael Jordan and the NBA and here, Bill Belichick and the NFL.
True to its title, this book is more about how Belichick came to be the Patriot's coach. There's no great mystery or single revealing anecdote. The aura is partly a reflection of authenticity. Someone who has always wanted to do what they do, cares only for what they do, and is very very good at it.
There's a Hemmingway-esq tone to the writing in this volume. 'Bill came from a hard town. Of hard men and dirty work. He knew what it meant to work'. And so on. Which is enjoyable, without being corny. This is a positive book, but not haigographic. Halberstam doesn't try and sell you on Belichick's lessons of leadership, or suggest he has tapped into some secret feel for the game. It's mainly just a story of a man who is smart and works really really hard. Thus, the book somewhat deflates the aura even if it reflects it as well.
An enjoyable read, and one that has me keen for the NFL season to start, even if we are over 5 months away.
True to its title, this book is more about how Belichick came to be the Patriot's coach. There's no great mystery or single revealing anecdote. The aura is partly a reflection of authenticity. Someone who has always wanted to do what they do, cares only for what they do, and is very very good at it.
There's a Hemmingway-esq tone to the writing in this volume. 'Bill came from a hard town. Of hard men and dirty work. He knew what it meant to work'. And so on. Which is enjoyable, without being corny. This is a positive book, but not haigographic. Halberstam doesn't try and sell you on Belichick's lessons of leadership, or suggest he has tapped into some secret feel for the game. It's mainly just a story of a man who is smart and works really really hard. Thus, the book somewhat deflates the aura even if it reflects it as well.
An enjoyable read, and one that has me keen for the NFL season to start, even if we are over 5 months away.
May 31, 2021
It's just in the last couple of years that I stopped disliking Bill Belichick and became a huge fan. This book goes a long way in explaining why. Having recently finished Michael Holley's book on Brady and Belichick, it was a delight to read something that wasn't driven by innuendo and crowd opinion. David Halberstram is a superior writer, he obviously did his research and wasn't just writing an opinion piece. This is a terrific book on how to do things right. Belichick went through some very tough times but was always focused. He just did his job, something he always tells his players. he worked harder than anyone, but was not a tyrant like Bill Parcells who he learned from. Halberstram, worked just as hard putting his book together. To do so, he must have watched as much game film as Belichick. He writes as well about football as he did about politics. Bill had the discipline, organizational skills, and was detailed and tough minded. Aspiring c.e.o.'s could use this book as a template for success. Halberstram was not afraid to quote the language used by the players and coaches( F bombs for example) but it was never for effect. I am now going to get some more of his books.
December 27, 2021
David Halberstam gets into the fraternity that is coaching well in his look at how Bill Belichick became the greatest coach of all time. Whether you're a New England Patriots fan or not, you should enjoy this one.
Sure, there are all the other Patriots books, including "The Dynasty" by Jeff Benedict, the Belichick bio by Ian O'Connor and the Michael Holley stuff, but Halberstam is.. well, Halberstam. This is not as much a sports book as a book on how time, education, being in the right place, knowing people and working hard creates what you are. Had Belichick been a police officer or nuclear physicist, I'm sure Halberstam would have written just as compelling a book as he has done with football.
Football fans know of Belichick's career with Baltimore and Cleveland and the one-day head coaching job with the Jets, but Halberstam does a nice job of compiling all that in a short, 277-page book. Parts are repetitive... plays in certain games, anecdotes with other coaches, his father's career are repeated a few times but it's to make a point again.
The book was published in 2005, so there's no Spygate stuff or Inflategate or the continuous Super Bowl victories and Tom Brady is only mentioned toward the end. If Halberstam was still alive, it'd be nice if he updated the book to include all the new stuff as Belichick moved on up into the stratosphere of great coaching.
Sure, there are all the other Patriots books, including "The Dynasty" by Jeff Benedict, the Belichick bio by Ian O'Connor and the Michael Holley stuff, but Halberstam is.. well, Halberstam. This is not as much a sports book as a book on how time, education, being in the right place, knowing people and working hard creates what you are. Had Belichick been a police officer or nuclear physicist, I'm sure Halberstam would have written just as compelling a book as he has done with football.
Football fans know of Belichick's career with Baltimore and Cleveland and the one-day head coaching job with the Jets, but Halberstam does a nice job of compiling all that in a short, 277-page book. Parts are repetitive... plays in certain games, anecdotes with other coaches, his father's career are repeated a few times but it's to make a point again.
The book was published in 2005, so there's no Spygate stuff or Inflategate or the continuous Super Bowl victories and Tom Brady is only mentioned toward the end. If Halberstam was still alive, it'd be nice if he updated the book to include all the new stuff as Belichick moved on up into the stratosphere of great coaching.
June 22, 2024
DNF. I gather this bio of Bill Belichick was written without help from Bill Belichick. But that鈥檚 no excuse for constant back-and-forth time shifts, seemingly without dramatic purpose. Nor is it an excuse to spend so much time on the coach鈥檚 father, Steve. But what did me in was when Halberstam repeats the same anecdote about Steve getting fired from Vandy, loading the family鈥檚 worldly goods in the car, and driving East, checking a pay phone to learn Steve got a new coaching job at UNC Chapel Hill. Nor narrating the Superbowl win over The Greatest Show on Turf Rams without discussing the Bledsoe/Brady crisis.
December 29, 2024
quite a wonderful book. i鈥檓 glad to have been gifted it, it makes what felt to be the fog cutter in what made Belichick so mysterious. i appreciated how the book built of those who guided Belichick first, especially his father, to how Belichick then found his way into the NFL. it was a thoughtful process because by the end you realized you more or less understood how his way was implemented, thus the more stories of player acquisitions and game moments were put into the book. i could be wrong, but i really appreciated it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 21, 2024
Love the 80s-early 00s NFL nostalgia and learning about Bill鈥檚 family + coaching progression. Hindsight of his hire 2 weeks ago makes the anecdotes about his early childhood in Chapel Hill even more interesting. Audiobooked this one. Bill on the Hill Era is upon us; absolutely cannot wait and still can鈥檛 believe it
January 28, 2019
This book gave me more positive feelings about football than actually watching football ever did.
May 13, 2010
Pulitzer-winning journalist and author Halberstam focuses on Bill Belichick, one of the NFL's most successful coaches, and the game of football as a team sport with rich detail, exacting research and colorful anecdotes. He reveals what fans of the head coach of the New England Patriots have always known: the roots of Belichick's coaching lie in the essential mentoring by his father, an excellent teacher and college coach who taught his son how to scout players and teams, instructing the author on how to study films of players when he was just nine years old.
As an assistant coach working with Bill Parcells's New York Giants in the 1980s, Belichick's "football first" credo was born of precision and discipline. He went on to guide the Patriots to win three Super Bowls in four years (2002, 2004 and 2005). Halberstam brings to his seventh sports book an encyclopedic knowledge of football, a firm grasp on the inner workings of effective coaching, an understanding of the systematic roles of the players and a shrewd psychological analysis of Belichick himself as a man and team leader.
His book reminds readers that "residence at the top [is:] as much a product of good fortune as it [is:] of talent, willpower and planning."
Bill Belichick is the head coach of the New England Patriots and a second-generation descendant of a determined Croatian immigrant family. The Pats have won three of the last four Super Bowls, an extraordinary accomplishment in an NFL that is structured to prevent extended dominance by one team.
Celebrated investigative journalist Halberstam, who likes to do a sports book now and then, was first drawn to Belichick when he was a young linebacker coach with the New York Giants in the mid-eighties. He tells Belichick's story as part of the larger context of his family's acclimation to America during the Depression, and he spends as much time on Belichick's high-school and college years as he does on his career as a professional coach. Belichick learned his trade early on (his father was a football coach, too) and began breaking down opponents' film when he was nine years old. The natural affinity for x's and o's meshed with a passion for the game and, as Halbertsam tells it, produced a brilliant tactician and an effective leader who draws from the styles of other coaches he has encountered in his career, from a my-way-or-the-highway high-school coach to Andover Academy's Steve Sorota, the quintessential player-empowering coach-as-teacher. As he's done in the past, Halberstam takes the classic sports-bio formula--one stellar performer's rise to the pinnacle of American sport--and transforms it into a nuance-rich story of individual triumph and social history.
As an assistant coach working with Bill Parcells's New York Giants in the 1980s, Belichick's "football first" credo was born of precision and discipline. He went on to guide the Patriots to win three Super Bowls in four years (2002, 2004 and 2005). Halberstam brings to his seventh sports book an encyclopedic knowledge of football, a firm grasp on the inner workings of effective coaching, an understanding of the systematic roles of the players and a shrewd psychological analysis of Belichick himself as a man and team leader.
His book reminds readers that "residence at the top [is:] as much a product of good fortune as it [is:] of talent, willpower and planning."
Bill Belichick is the head coach of the New England Patriots and a second-generation descendant of a determined Croatian immigrant family. The Pats have won three of the last four Super Bowls, an extraordinary accomplishment in an NFL that is structured to prevent extended dominance by one team.
Celebrated investigative journalist Halberstam, who likes to do a sports book now and then, was first drawn to Belichick when he was a young linebacker coach with the New York Giants in the mid-eighties. He tells Belichick's story as part of the larger context of his family's acclimation to America during the Depression, and he spends as much time on Belichick's high-school and college years as he does on his career as a professional coach. Belichick learned his trade early on (his father was a football coach, too) and began breaking down opponents' film when he was nine years old. The natural affinity for x's and o's meshed with a passion for the game and, as Halbertsam tells it, produced a brilliant tactician and an effective leader who draws from the styles of other coaches he has encountered in his career, from a my-way-or-the-highway high-school coach to Andover Academy's Steve Sorota, the quintessential player-empowering coach-as-teacher. As he's done in the past, Halberstam takes the classic sports-bio formula--one stellar performer's rise to the pinnacle of American sport--and transforms it into a nuance-rich story of individual triumph and social history.
December 19, 2007
I had the good fortune to have started this book only a week or two before the 'Spygate' scandal broke out, and it really provided some context into the whole situation for me. Belichick is a guy who will do anything to win, and it's not inconceivable that this is something he would do. That said, I do think he is an honorable man as well, and I don't think what he did was the dramatic mess it was made out to be. With great success comes the inevitable backlash, and that's what 'spygate' was, no different from Dane Cook being heckled all over the internet by the same folks who worshiped him a year earlier.
Halberstam was a great writer, and this book shows his dedication to the details. We're given a heretofore unseen glimpse into the life and mind of possibly the greatest coach in football history, and it's clear how he came to be such. As a huge Patriots fan for my whole life, I thought I'd evaluated the Belichick era from every possible angle, and for someone like me, it was refreshing to see it on display from a new, deeper one. Fans of the Patriots can read the book and see certain Belichick 'tricks of the trade' such as faking an injury to stop the clock or slow another team's momentum, described from his early days as a Defensive Coordinator with the Giants, and then smile, remembering games such as the one in Indianapolis against the Colts in the regular season a few years back, where the Patriots benefited from a Willie McGinest 'injury' to slow the Colts' approach to the goal line, and then McGinest was the one to make the final tackle against Edgerrin James on 4th and Goal from the 1, sprinting to mid-field to celebrate the victory.
In other words, Patriots fans will have a deeper appreciation for this book, but I think it can be enjoyed by anyone who appreciates a good character study.
Halberstam was a great writer, and this book shows his dedication to the details. We're given a heretofore unseen glimpse into the life and mind of possibly the greatest coach in football history, and it's clear how he came to be such. As a huge Patriots fan for my whole life, I thought I'd evaluated the Belichick era from every possible angle, and for someone like me, it was refreshing to see it on display from a new, deeper one. Fans of the Patriots can read the book and see certain Belichick 'tricks of the trade' such as faking an injury to stop the clock or slow another team's momentum, described from his early days as a Defensive Coordinator with the Giants, and then smile, remembering games such as the one in Indianapolis against the Colts in the regular season a few years back, where the Patriots benefited from a Willie McGinest 'injury' to slow the Colts' approach to the goal line, and then McGinest was the one to make the final tackle against Edgerrin James on 4th and Goal from the 1, sprinting to mid-field to celebrate the victory.
In other words, Patriots fans will have a deeper appreciation for this book, but I think it can be enjoyed by anyone who appreciates a good character study.
October 22, 2016
Between 2002-2005 the New England Patriots football team accomplished the improbable: winning three Super Bowls in four years. David Halberstam鈥檚 book details how the franchise鈥檚 remarkable success rests largely in the hands of their coach, Bill Belichick. In this engaging biography, Halberstam traces the Belichick family ancestry and chronicles the upbringing of young Belichick under his revered father, Steve, a lifetime coach and gifted scout. Steve taught his son at the age of nine how to become a studious disciple of the game by breaking down film and assembling a game plan to think like the other team. Halberstam probes Belichick鈥檚 uncharismatic coaching style to show how his scholarly intelligence of football have made him a great leader. Always an inscrutable figure, Belichick, however, prides himself on shunning the spotlight, trying to remain as anonymous and unadorned as possible. His passion for learning is matched only by his peerless work ethic, which has enabled him to create an atmosphere where players abandon their egos in favor of a role-playing system that produces championships teams. Proving that hard work and camaraderie surpass superior talent and strength, Belichick has assembled players committed to the very essence of team. This is a thoughtful book about a singularly driven and intensely devoted coach in an era where the limelight culture, the lucrative contracts, and the excessive egos of athletes too often pollute the team concept. Halberstam has captured Belichick鈥檚 life as a coach at the height of stardom. He is a leader who, nonetheless, values his privacy and wants no part of celebrity. The book鈥檚 storytelling is rich with insight, focusing throughout on Belichick鈥檚 growth as a champion.
April 7, 2012
I have almost zero interest in football, but my faith in David Halberstam is so great that I got this. It鈥檚 an incredibly glowing biography of Patriots coach Bill Belichick that at time approaches hagiography. Part of that, no doubt, is because the Patriots鈥� Spygate scandal was only uncovered two years after the book was published. While well written and serious like all of Halberstam's works, it doesn鈥檛 come off as one of his best.
December 31, 2008
Biography of New England Patriots head coach, Bill Bellichick. The coverage seems pretty good for his very early years, but then lacks details once he gets a foothold in professional coaching. The book seems to have been written without the benefit of direct research involving Bellichick himself, and gets less and less interesting as the book progresses.
June 13, 2010
I don't even watch football anymore, but Halberstam does such a great job of narrating the subtleties of being a professional coach, the strategies, the intrigues, that I was completely drawn into the narrative.
October 28, 2024
The nuggets of information about Ernie Adams were more valuable and interesting than the rest written about Coach Belichick.
"That year Agase was a little surprised when he received in the mail, unsolicited, an unusual document, beautifully bound as if it were a college thesis." (41)
"That year Agase was a little surprised when he received in the mail, unsolicited, an unusual document, beautifully bound as if it were a college thesis." (41)
January 16, 2011
This biography of Bill Belichik (whom, as I root for the Jets, I hate) is the best biography of a sports coach that I have ever read.
December 10, 2009
Winter 2007
- (Steve) Belichick鈥檚 general defensive philosophy was simple: Find out what the other guys do best鈥攚hich is what they always want to do, especially under pressure in a big game鈥攖ake it away from them, and make them do things that they are uncomfortable with. 3
-You worked hard. You saved. You did not waste anything. If possible, you grew your own food. You did not complain. You did not expect anyone to do anything for you. Discipline was not so much taught as it was lived, as an essential part of life for which there was no alternative. 18
-He was about one thing only鈥攃oaching鈥攁nd wary of anything that detracted from it, and in his mind, much of the modern media, especially television, did precisely that鈥odern media created a Me-Me-Me world, whereas he insisted on a We world. 21
-His ego was exceptional, and it was reflected by his almost unique determination. He like being the best and wanted credit for being the best, a quiet kind of credit. But his ego was about the doing; it was fused into a larger purpose, that of his team winning. 21
-鈥he little details added up until they represented significant differences. 25
-There is no celebration of victory in the past鈥攚e鈥檙e all working for the next victory, the one yet to come鈥�.he doesn鈥檛 want the trappings of the past, doesn鈥檛 need them. He knows they lead to complacency. He doesn鈥檛 allow complacency. 26
-鈥榊ou are talking about someone who walks up and down a football field.鈥�-Steve Belichick in response that his son, Bill, was a genius
-Football Scouting Methods 鈥� Steve Belichick; 鈥淪couting is essential to successful football coaching.鈥� 鈥� Paul Brown
-鈥業f you have to write it down, you don鈥檛 know it well enough.鈥� 鈥揇r. Allen Gillingham 38
-Game plan in Super Bowl against Rams: Take away Marshall Faulk (Where is he? Where is he?) Slow the game down. Encourage the Rams to run (same with Bills 鈥� we will win if Thurman Thomas gets over 100 yards). Hit the receivers hard at the line, and hammer them when they caught the ball. Run the ball themselves, as successfully as they could, and thereby shorten the game. 鈥ave WRs line up downfield to simulate speed 鈥� same with DL. 49
-The X鈥檚 and O鈥檚 are fine, but the Xs and Os don鈥檛 always work like they do on a chess board. The Xs don鈥檛 get to where they鈥檙e supposed to get to, and the Os turn out to be smarter than you thought. 49
-(Bill) Edwards did not coach through fear and intimidation, but through a certain optimism. He would tell his players what they needed to do and add that they could do it, that all they had to do was remember what they had been taught. He was not an emotional coach, and his pregame speeches did not seem to vary much. 64
-Each player, he felt, should go into a game feeling he had a distinct advantage over the player he was matched up against. 66
-鈥he world of football was one of great insecurity. In addition to the usual pitfalls鈥攖he injuries sustained by key players, the coveted recruits who went elsewhere, and the bad calls by referees鈥here were other forces, like politics. 69
-鈥nticipate the play and read it鈥he key鈥as to watch the center, for the center almost always told you so much: whether the play was a pass or run, and which way the play was going. 72
-(H)e not only saw the game as very few scouts did, but as he was seeing it, he understood it as very few scouts do. 72
-Have the punters practice the way they punt in games. Punt, and then take a fifteen minute break, and then punt, and then take another break. 鈥deal punt time 2.0. Let them be. Keep it simple. 76
-鈥ost scouts looked at other teams and thought that the most important thing was to find out what their weakness was, but the right way to do it was to search for their strengths and try to take that away from them, and make them do what they don鈥檛 want to do鈥�82
-His power came from his intelligence, his subtlety, and his kindness, not from his position in the hierarchy. He coached through persuasion, not through orders and yelling. He would always, in a calm, low-key voice, explain to his players what they needed to do in a given game, and which part of their mission he expected them to figure out and execute on their own. 92
-He was very respectful of his players, and he understood how complicated life could be for a young man struggling through his teenage years, that the fact that a young man looked strong, and had a strong body, did not necessarily mean he was strong, that an adolescent boy was often dealing with all kinds of interior problems and pressures and doubts, almost all of them emotional, none of them readily visible to a coach. These were young men, who, despite their noisiness, and on occasion braggadocio, were still unsure of who they were. The job of a good coach was to encourage a boy鈥檚 better self, to let his confidence grow, but to do it ever so gently. 93
-鈥ow aware he was that all of them deserved admiration for what they were doing, of how important he believed it was not to take any young person for granted. 94
-鈥渟andbox鈥� drill on Friday 鈥� unexpectedly find out hidden talents, but also about 鈥渓etting football be fun, letting young men who work so hard at everything most of the time, both sports and schoolwork, enjoy themselves.鈥� 95
-鈥渢hey challenged you, challenged you to reach for more, to work harder than you thought you could and always to think for yourself.鈥�98
-You have to buy into the entire thing. A lot of players come in, and they鈥檝e played at a high level, and so they think they know everything, because they鈥檝e played at big-time schools. But the truth is they don鈥檛 know very much at all, because the game is always changing and because the systems are always changing鈥�.you had to adapt game by game; he knew everything was always changing鈥�.You could always give him more鈥攈e always wanted more. He always wanted to get better. 110
-鈥he most important thing, he believed, the thing that in the end generated respect, was not necessarily a loud and commanding or threatening voice, but knowledge. Players respected coaches who could help them play better and who knew things they didn鈥檛.114
-鈥mpowering the players by giving them so much information, which allowed them to adapt game by game to what was coming. 116
-He always wanted to know not just if you knew what he had been talking about, but also if you understood what he had been talking about. 116
-鈥ust because he could not play at a certain level did not mean that he could not coach there. 118
-鈥淒o not try to be the players鈥� pal. It won鈥檛 work. They鈥檒l screw you every time. 鈥ou鈥檙e here to coach them, and that often means telling them things they don鈥檛 want to hear about doing things they don鈥檛 want to do鈥�.The more you can help them, the better, and they鈥檒l know it when it happens, and the other coaches will know it. 鈥uthority is the only thing you have.鈥� 鈥� Floyd Reese
-鈥f you were going to coach defense, you had to master the offense as well, otherwise you were only half a coach. 126
-Oakland looked only for size and speed. Their players had to be big and fast. 鈥he constancy of player evaluation. Most coaches stopped serious evaluation of their personnel on draft day鈥攖hey chose their people, and that was that. But (Al) Davis never stopped evaluating his people鈥攚hat they could do, what you could teach them, and what you couldn鈥檛 teach them. He made his coaches rate the players every day. Were they improving? Were they slipping? Who had practiced well? Who had gone ahead of whom in practice? The jobs the starters had were not held in perpetuity鈥�.they would have to challenge the players鈥o one could rest on what he had done in the past鈥t made you know your own personnel better, something teams did not always do鈥ou kept your players alert by keeping your coaches alert. 129
-鈥eature players who knew their roles and understood that playing their role was more important than being a star. 鈥he little things were not little things, because it was the accumulation of little things that made big things happen. 130
-鈥he key to success: It was in being organized; the more organized you were at all times, the more you knew at every minute what you were doing and why you were doing it, the less time you wasted and the better a coach you were. 131
-If they were going to lose, they were going to lose playing hard. 136
-In addition he thought it was the wrong way to go (reaching players emotionally), that it was too short-range, and that in the end you could only go to that emotional well so often, and then it went dry. What did fit his personality was the sum of his knowledge, being the best-prepared coach on the field. Players would do what he asked not because he was their pal, but because he could help them win and they came to believe in his abilities. 145
-They did not want to put their defense in a bad situation, and they did not want to wear it out. 146
-But the very sense that he had a choice made him feel better, indeed liberated him. 鈥e had chosen his job, and the job had not entirely chosen him. 151
-鈥榟inge plays鈥� that swing games 160
-Poor play calling (power on short yardage to seal game) on (Seifert鈥檚) part, a coaching mistake. It was too much of a finesse play, with the guard pulling. 168
-He did not want Jim Kelly throwing on every down. The Bills were less dangerous, he thought, given the superb abilities of the New York defense, if they went to their running game, which also had the advantage of taking more time off the clock. He thought that the Giants could stop Thurman Thomas, even though he was an exceptional back, if and when they needed to, because they were so good against the run. 172
-Keep same defensive formation and alignment but interchange LBs for DL, DBs for LBs as situation dictates. 174
-in the sixties, when marketing, soon to be one of the great growth areas of the NFL (and the American economy), was a small part of the package, and when producing things was more important than marketing and selling them. 179
-There are two sets of standards for the media in the world of sports, and the first rule is that a coach or player can get away with almost anything if he is winning. 181
-You can be right, but sometimes when you are right you are wrong, too. 191
-鈥hey were willing to put aside their egos鈥攖hat was rule number one鈥攁s he put aside his. 198
-鈥reate a system and to play for the future as well as the present. 204
-鈥楾he more you can do, the more you can do.鈥欌€f you did well, you would be rewarded with a good deal more work. 210
-Why wine them and dine them at fancy places, when we鈥檙e really meat and potatoes? 211
-鈥haracter and a willingness to fit into the system would be of the essence, not just ability. 211
-鈥n a real team, the kind of team he intended to create, the more senior, more experienced players enforced the coach鈥檚 concept of team by setting a certain example, working harder at practice and in the weight room than anyone else. 229
-CYA 鈥� Cover Your Ass theory of coaching 鈥� conservative, consensus decision to protect self from criticism 231
-Belichick was also aware of how fortune had smiled at critical moments, and how thin the line in making the playoffs really was, how easy it was to fail with the exact same team. 233
-Kirk Ferentz鈥檚 interview 鈥� two day marathon - run film of a drill, judge how well it went, clip of potential draft choice, evaluate him 237
-鈥f all the positions, offensive lineman was the one where you could take good, strong kids who were available in some of the lower draft rounds and, by dint of good teaching, mold them into first-rate offensive lineman. It was not technically a skill position, and it did not demand speed; rather it demanded size, strength, football intelligence, and a willingness to learn and work very hard. 238
-OL punt catching wager in two-a-days; if caught, no practice, if dropped, extra conditioning 241
-鈥t鈥檚 a team without an ego, all they want to do is win. 244
-don鈥檛 give up TD passes over 30 yards 245
-Your players wear down. Especially the defensive lineman, they鈥檙e the first to go. 246
-The two men were friends in the delicate sense of friendship that football coaches are allowed鈥攊n the we-may-be-on-opposite-sides-of-the-field-but-we-have-similar-problems-and-similar-enemies-and-we-may-need-each-other-yet-you-coaching-for-me-or-me-coaching-for-you kind of friendship. 247
-The virus of higher personal expectations (that comes with team success). 鈥揓immy Johnson 249
-Equally important, he made very few negative plays鈥攈e was rarely in the habit of beating himself. 256
-Show Cover Two, play Cover Four 257
-Pregame speech鈥mphasis on technical things they were supposed to do, the specifics of the game at hand鈥�259
-Before Super Bowl, had players eat in locker room before game because of extended game (four instead of three). 260
-Cover Two in prevent situations: give some yards, but not too much too quickly 261
-鈥he pinnacle was the most dangerous of places, and the reigning champion the most endangered of species鈥�.You got to the pinnacle because you were very good, but also because you were lucky. 263
-鈥e had been preparing for more than two years (for departure of Romeo Crennel and Charlie Weis), moving other good people into the slots right beneath them. 268
-attack the opposing team鈥檚 QB 269
-At press conferences he sometimes seems a little goofy and is often way too grim. But he is a leader without the swagger, selfishness, and pomposity that so many men in business, politics, and sports embrace as an entitlement of their gender and position. 270
-(Football) demanded, in the end, a totality of knowledge and experience, and the ability to assess human behavior, including your own. It also demanded a staggering amount of discipline. 271
-PB: The Paul Brown Story, The Future is Now, Parcells, Where Else Would You Rather Be?
- (Steve) Belichick鈥檚 general defensive philosophy was simple: Find out what the other guys do best鈥攚hich is what they always want to do, especially under pressure in a big game鈥攖ake it away from them, and make them do things that they are uncomfortable with. 3
-You worked hard. You saved. You did not waste anything. If possible, you grew your own food. You did not complain. You did not expect anyone to do anything for you. Discipline was not so much taught as it was lived, as an essential part of life for which there was no alternative. 18
-He was about one thing only鈥攃oaching鈥攁nd wary of anything that detracted from it, and in his mind, much of the modern media, especially television, did precisely that鈥odern media created a Me-Me-Me world, whereas he insisted on a We world. 21
-His ego was exceptional, and it was reflected by his almost unique determination. He like being the best and wanted credit for being the best, a quiet kind of credit. But his ego was about the doing; it was fused into a larger purpose, that of his team winning. 21
-鈥he little details added up until they represented significant differences. 25
-There is no celebration of victory in the past鈥攚e鈥檙e all working for the next victory, the one yet to come鈥�.he doesn鈥檛 want the trappings of the past, doesn鈥檛 need them. He knows they lead to complacency. He doesn鈥檛 allow complacency. 26
-鈥榊ou are talking about someone who walks up and down a football field.鈥�-Steve Belichick in response that his son, Bill, was a genius
-Football Scouting Methods 鈥� Steve Belichick; 鈥淪couting is essential to successful football coaching.鈥� 鈥� Paul Brown
-鈥業f you have to write it down, you don鈥檛 know it well enough.鈥� 鈥揇r. Allen Gillingham 38
-Game plan in Super Bowl against Rams: Take away Marshall Faulk (Where is he? Where is he?) Slow the game down. Encourage the Rams to run (same with Bills 鈥� we will win if Thurman Thomas gets over 100 yards). Hit the receivers hard at the line, and hammer them when they caught the ball. Run the ball themselves, as successfully as they could, and thereby shorten the game. 鈥ave WRs line up downfield to simulate speed 鈥� same with DL. 49
-The X鈥檚 and O鈥檚 are fine, but the Xs and Os don鈥檛 always work like they do on a chess board. The Xs don鈥檛 get to where they鈥檙e supposed to get to, and the Os turn out to be smarter than you thought. 49
-(Bill) Edwards did not coach through fear and intimidation, but through a certain optimism. He would tell his players what they needed to do and add that they could do it, that all they had to do was remember what they had been taught. He was not an emotional coach, and his pregame speeches did not seem to vary much. 64
-Each player, he felt, should go into a game feeling he had a distinct advantage over the player he was matched up against. 66
-鈥he world of football was one of great insecurity. In addition to the usual pitfalls鈥攖he injuries sustained by key players, the coveted recruits who went elsewhere, and the bad calls by referees鈥here were other forces, like politics. 69
-鈥nticipate the play and read it鈥he key鈥as to watch the center, for the center almost always told you so much: whether the play was a pass or run, and which way the play was going. 72
-(H)e not only saw the game as very few scouts did, but as he was seeing it, he understood it as very few scouts do. 72
-Have the punters practice the way they punt in games. Punt, and then take a fifteen minute break, and then punt, and then take another break. 鈥deal punt time 2.0. Let them be. Keep it simple. 76
-鈥ost scouts looked at other teams and thought that the most important thing was to find out what their weakness was, but the right way to do it was to search for their strengths and try to take that away from them, and make them do what they don鈥檛 want to do鈥�82
-His power came from his intelligence, his subtlety, and his kindness, not from his position in the hierarchy. He coached through persuasion, not through orders and yelling. He would always, in a calm, low-key voice, explain to his players what they needed to do in a given game, and which part of their mission he expected them to figure out and execute on their own. 92
-He was very respectful of his players, and he understood how complicated life could be for a young man struggling through his teenage years, that the fact that a young man looked strong, and had a strong body, did not necessarily mean he was strong, that an adolescent boy was often dealing with all kinds of interior problems and pressures and doubts, almost all of them emotional, none of them readily visible to a coach. These were young men, who, despite their noisiness, and on occasion braggadocio, were still unsure of who they were. The job of a good coach was to encourage a boy鈥檚 better self, to let his confidence grow, but to do it ever so gently. 93
-鈥ow aware he was that all of them deserved admiration for what they were doing, of how important he believed it was not to take any young person for granted. 94
-鈥渟andbox鈥� drill on Friday 鈥� unexpectedly find out hidden talents, but also about 鈥渓etting football be fun, letting young men who work so hard at everything most of the time, both sports and schoolwork, enjoy themselves.鈥� 95
-鈥渢hey challenged you, challenged you to reach for more, to work harder than you thought you could and always to think for yourself.鈥�98
-You have to buy into the entire thing. A lot of players come in, and they鈥檝e played at a high level, and so they think they know everything, because they鈥檝e played at big-time schools. But the truth is they don鈥檛 know very much at all, because the game is always changing and because the systems are always changing鈥�.you had to adapt game by game; he knew everything was always changing鈥�.You could always give him more鈥攈e always wanted more. He always wanted to get better. 110
-鈥he most important thing, he believed, the thing that in the end generated respect, was not necessarily a loud and commanding or threatening voice, but knowledge. Players respected coaches who could help them play better and who knew things they didn鈥檛.114
-鈥mpowering the players by giving them so much information, which allowed them to adapt game by game to what was coming. 116
-He always wanted to know not just if you knew what he had been talking about, but also if you understood what he had been talking about. 116
-鈥ust because he could not play at a certain level did not mean that he could not coach there. 118
-鈥淒o not try to be the players鈥� pal. It won鈥檛 work. They鈥檒l screw you every time. 鈥ou鈥檙e here to coach them, and that often means telling them things they don鈥檛 want to hear about doing things they don鈥檛 want to do鈥�.The more you can help them, the better, and they鈥檒l know it when it happens, and the other coaches will know it. 鈥uthority is the only thing you have.鈥� 鈥� Floyd Reese
-鈥f you were going to coach defense, you had to master the offense as well, otherwise you were only half a coach. 126
-Oakland looked only for size and speed. Their players had to be big and fast. 鈥he constancy of player evaluation. Most coaches stopped serious evaluation of their personnel on draft day鈥攖hey chose their people, and that was that. But (Al) Davis never stopped evaluating his people鈥攚hat they could do, what you could teach them, and what you couldn鈥檛 teach them. He made his coaches rate the players every day. Were they improving? Were they slipping? Who had practiced well? Who had gone ahead of whom in practice? The jobs the starters had were not held in perpetuity鈥�.they would have to challenge the players鈥o one could rest on what he had done in the past鈥t made you know your own personnel better, something teams did not always do鈥ou kept your players alert by keeping your coaches alert. 129
-鈥eature players who knew their roles and understood that playing their role was more important than being a star. 鈥he little things were not little things, because it was the accumulation of little things that made big things happen. 130
-鈥he key to success: It was in being organized; the more organized you were at all times, the more you knew at every minute what you were doing and why you were doing it, the less time you wasted and the better a coach you were. 131
-If they were going to lose, they were going to lose playing hard. 136
-In addition he thought it was the wrong way to go (reaching players emotionally), that it was too short-range, and that in the end you could only go to that emotional well so often, and then it went dry. What did fit his personality was the sum of his knowledge, being the best-prepared coach on the field. Players would do what he asked not because he was their pal, but because he could help them win and they came to believe in his abilities. 145
-They did not want to put their defense in a bad situation, and they did not want to wear it out. 146
-But the very sense that he had a choice made him feel better, indeed liberated him. 鈥e had chosen his job, and the job had not entirely chosen him. 151
-鈥榟inge plays鈥� that swing games 160
-Poor play calling (power on short yardage to seal game) on (Seifert鈥檚) part, a coaching mistake. It was too much of a finesse play, with the guard pulling. 168
-He did not want Jim Kelly throwing on every down. The Bills were less dangerous, he thought, given the superb abilities of the New York defense, if they went to their running game, which also had the advantage of taking more time off the clock. He thought that the Giants could stop Thurman Thomas, even though he was an exceptional back, if and when they needed to, because they were so good against the run. 172
-Keep same defensive formation and alignment but interchange LBs for DL, DBs for LBs as situation dictates. 174
-in the sixties, when marketing, soon to be one of the great growth areas of the NFL (and the American economy), was a small part of the package, and when producing things was more important than marketing and selling them. 179
-There are two sets of standards for the media in the world of sports, and the first rule is that a coach or player can get away with almost anything if he is winning. 181
-You can be right, but sometimes when you are right you are wrong, too. 191
-鈥hey were willing to put aside their egos鈥攖hat was rule number one鈥攁s he put aside his. 198
-鈥reate a system and to play for the future as well as the present. 204
-鈥楾he more you can do, the more you can do.鈥欌€f you did well, you would be rewarded with a good deal more work. 210
-Why wine them and dine them at fancy places, when we鈥檙e really meat and potatoes? 211
-鈥haracter and a willingness to fit into the system would be of the essence, not just ability. 211
-鈥n a real team, the kind of team he intended to create, the more senior, more experienced players enforced the coach鈥檚 concept of team by setting a certain example, working harder at practice and in the weight room than anyone else. 229
-CYA 鈥� Cover Your Ass theory of coaching 鈥� conservative, consensus decision to protect self from criticism 231
-Belichick was also aware of how fortune had smiled at critical moments, and how thin the line in making the playoffs really was, how easy it was to fail with the exact same team. 233
-Kirk Ferentz鈥檚 interview 鈥� two day marathon - run film of a drill, judge how well it went, clip of potential draft choice, evaluate him 237
-鈥f all the positions, offensive lineman was the one where you could take good, strong kids who were available in some of the lower draft rounds and, by dint of good teaching, mold them into first-rate offensive lineman. It was not technically a skill position, and it did not demand speed; rather it demanded size, strength, football intelligence, and a willingness to learn and work very hard. 238
-OL punt catching wager in two-a-days; if caught, no practice, if dropped, extra conditioning 241
-鈥t鈥檚 a team without an ego, all they want to do is win. 244
-don鈥檛 give up TD passes over 30 yards 245
-Your players wear down. Especially the defensive lineman, they鈥檙e the first to go. 246
-The two men were friends in the delicate sense of friendship that football coaches are allowed鈥攊n the we-may-be-on-opposite-sides-of-the-field-but-we-have-similar-problems-and-similar-enemies-and-we-may-need-each-other-yet-you-coaching-for-me-or-me-coaching-for-you kind of friendship. 247
-The virus of higher personal expectations (that comes with team success). 鈥揓immy Johnson 249
-Equally important, he made very few negative plays鈥攈e was rarely in the habit of beating himself. 256
-Show Cover Two, play Cover Four 257
-Pregame speech鈥mphasis on technical things they were supposed to do, the specifics of the game at hand鈥�259
-Before Super Bowl, had players eat in locker room before game because of extended game (four instead of three). 260
-Cover Two in prevent situations: give some yards, but not too much too quickly 261
-鈥he pinnacle was the most dangerous of places, and the reigning champion the most endangered of species鈥�.You got to the pinnacle because you were very good, but also because you were lucky. 263
-鈥e had been preparing for more than two years (for departure of Romeo Crennel and Charlie Weis), moving other good people into the slots right beneath them. 268
-attack the opposing team鈥檚 QB 269
-At press conferences he sometimes seems a little goofy and is often way too grim. But he is a leader without the swagger, selfishness, and pomposity that so many men in business, politics, and sports embrace as an entitlement of their gender and position. 270
-(Football) demanded, in the end, a totality of knowledge and experience, and the ability to assess human behavior, including your own. It also demanded a staggering amount of discipline. 271
-PB: The Paul Brown Story, The Future is Now, Parcells, Where Else Would You Rather Be?
April 1, 2018
It is a very rare gift to turn your hand from being a defining voice on foreign policy to writing truly great sports books. Possibly as difficult as winning 5 Super Bowls. In terms of achieving their own personal greatness, Halberstam and Belichick make a perfect match.
Written in 2005, The Education of a Coach is not a simple biography of Belichick. It is first and foremost a Halberstam book 鈥� it jumps around in time and place, it digs deep into his family history and contains chapters that would stand alone as superb and insightful magazine profile pieces.
The title is apt 鈥� Halberstam primarily seeks to understand how Belichick was formed as a coach. Its a focus on a him as a person and coach with less discussion on the impact that Belichick had on the game of football than you might expect.
What emerges is a portrait of a singular man who wants to be the best coach he can be. He emerges very much as his father鈥檚 son, having begun his education at a young age at his father鈥檚 side. Steve Belichick was a legendary scout and coach who proved the perfect role-model for his son. As Halberstam himself notes, it is a book about two journeys; the Belichick family鈥檚 journey into the centre of American life after their arrival from Croatia and Belichick鈥檚 own journey to the top in the world of professional football.
Other key influences on Belichick were his friendships with fellow football obsessives, in particular his long time assistant coach Ernie Adams. Halberstam captures something that Belichick learned from each of the coaches he worked with. In particular, his complex relationship with Bill Parcells is analysed with the senior Bill emerging in my less favorable light. The book only begins to look at his success at the Patriots in the final 2/3rd鈥檚 鈥� as by then Belichick had learned the lessons that would help him achieve such great things.
It is a relatively short book 鈥� less ambitious in scope and length as Halberstam鈥檚 basketball masterpieces. As with all of Halberstam鈥檚 books, it is superbly well written, incredibly easy to read and thoroughly enjoyable. It leaves with a real sense of a man obsessed with his sport and destined to be successful. Halberstam clearly likes his subject, but the book feels like a fair and honest telling of how Belichick became Belichick.
It is hard to overstate the level of Belichick鈥檚 achievement. Its rare the coach (or person) that merits a significant biography who then continues to achieve great things for more than 13 years after that biography was published. In terms of seminal achievements, only Sir Alex Ferguson springs to mind.
There is another great book to be written capturing the greatness of what Belichick has ultimately achieved at the Patriots. The Education of a Coach was published in 2005 after Belichick and the Patriots had won 3 Super Bowls in 4 years. In an era where the sport was designed to prevent dynasties, the odds on the Patriots remaining at the top of their game post 2005 must have seemed low. Yet, as we all know, Belichick would go on to reach 5 more Super Bowls (so far), winning 2 of them. The Education of a Coach is a highly recommend starting point for anyone seeking to understand Belichick and the Patriots.
Any recommendations on later books on Belichick would be greatly appreciated. And if you enjoy this, do seek out all of Halberstram鈥檚 other great books.
You can read all of my sports book reviews at
Written in 2005, The Education of a Coach is not a simple biography of Belichick. It is first and foremost a Halberstam book 鈥� it jumps around in time and place, it digs deep into his family history and contains chapters that would stand alone as superb and insightful magazine profile pieces.
The title is apt 鈥� Halberstam primarily seeks to understand how Belichick was formed as a coach. Its a focus on a him as a person and coach with less discussion on the impact that Belichick had on the game of football than you might expect.
What emerges is a portrait of a singular man who wants to be the best coach he can be. He emerges very much as his father鈥檚 son, having begun his education at a young age at his father鈥檚 side. Steve Belichick was a legendary scout and coach who proved the perfect role-model for his son. As Halberstam himself notes, it is a book about two journeys; the Belichick family鈥檚 journey into the centre of American life after their arrival from Croatia and Belichick鈥檚 own journey to the top in the world of professional football.
Other key influences on Belichick were his friendships with fellow football obsessives, in particular his long time assistant coach Ernie Adams. Halberstam captures something that Belichick learned from each of the coaches he worked with. In particular, his complex relationship with Bill Parcells is analysed with the senior Bill emerging in my less favorable light. The book only begins to look at his success at the Patriots in the final 2/3rd鈥檚 鈥� as by then Belichick had learned the lessons that would help him achieve such great things.
It is a relatively short book 鈥� less ambitious in scope and length as Halberstam鈥檚 basketball masterpieces. As with all of Halberstam鈥檚 books, it is superbly well written, incredibly easy to read and thoroughly enjoyable. It leaves with a real sense of a man obsessed with his sport and destined to be successful. Halberstam clearly likes his subject, but the book feels like a fair and honest telling of how Belichick became Belichick.
It is hard to overstate the level of Belichick鈥檚 achievement. Its rare the coach (or person) that merits a significant biography who then continues to achieve great things for more than 13 years after that biography was published. In terms of seminal achievements, only Sir Alex Ferguson springs to mind.
There is another great book to be written capturing the greatness of what Belichick has ultimately achieved at the Patriots. The Education of a Coach was published in 2005 after Belichick and the Patriots had won 3 Super Bowls in 4 years. In an era where the sport was designed to prevent dynasties, the odds on the Patriots remaining at the top of their game post 2005 must have seemed low. Yet, as we all know, Belichick would go on to reach 5 more Super Bowls (so far), winning 2 of them. The Education of a Coach is a highly recommend starting point for anyone seeking to understand Belichick and the Patriots.
Any recommendations on later books on Belichick would be greatly appreciated. And if you enjoy this, do seek out all of Halberstram鈥檚 other great books.
You can read all of my sports book reviews at
June 13, 2017
EDUCATION OF A COACH
This was a difficult book to rate. I've read an enjoyed David Halberstam's books in the past and appreciated his writing. The literary world is not as full when one considers the books he might have written in the past ten years since his tragic death.
However, the subject of this book, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, is not one of my favorite sports personalities. Indeed, he is near the bottom of the list.
That being said, I have gained a bit more than a modicum of respect for Belichick. There is no question that he is a football genius and a great coach. He learned vital lessons from a myriad of sources. I particularly enjoyed the profiles of these friends, mentors, coaches, and his father. Halberstam focuses on people, not plays. In this book, that is a plus.
A couple of minuses:
The chapter on Belichick's tenure in Cleveland begins with some misinformation and a paragraph that does not give enough factual material. H... states that the Browns had not won a championship since the days of Paul Brown, over 30 years before B... In truth, they had won, under coach Blanton Collier, the 1964 NFL Championship, which was the last before the Super Bowl began. They reached the championship game the following year, losing to Green Bay, and in 1968 when the Baltimore Colts beat them 34-0.
As of this writing, June 2017, the Browns and the Detroit Lions are the only teams that existed before the Super Bowl era to have never played in it.
There was much furor when the Browns left for Baltimore before the 1996 season, contrasting Cleveland's support of the team against poor attendance at Colts games before their move to Indianapolis in March 1984. However, if Halberstam is correct, the fan base in Cleveland was a bit of smoke and mirrors. He wrote that season ticket sales were about 50% of stadium capacity. In the Colts heyday, theirs was close to 90%.
Halberstam twice demonstrates Belichick's analytical skills in a way which might throw negative light on the coach. After a victory over St. Louis in one Super Bowl and prior to their beating Carolina in another, Belichick commented about the shortcomings of his team. In my opinion, that is a backhanded way of denigrating the opposition.
The close of Chapter One sparks some dissent, twelve years after the publication of the book:
"The Patriots are not necessarily America's Team, as Dallas had so optimistically nicknamed itself in an earlier era, but they are an easy team for ordinary football fans to like in the new era of football."
It is hard to forget SPYGATE, which took place about half a year after Halberstam's death, or DEFLATEGATE, for which Tom Brady was suspended for four games. I wonder what Halberstam would think of Bill Belichick today.
Five stars slightly waning.
This was a difficult book to rate. I've read an enjoyed David Halberstam's books in the past and appreciated his writing. The literary world is not as full when one considers the books he might have written in the past ten years since his tragic death.
However, the subject of this book, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, is not one of my favorite sports personalities. Indeed, he is near the bottom of the list.
That being said, I have gained a bit more than a modicum of respect for Belichick. There is no question that he is a football genius and a great coach. He learned vital lessons from a myriad of sources. I particularly enjoyed the profiles of these friends, mentors, coaches, and his father. Halberstam focuses on people, not plays. In this book, that is a plus.
A couple of minuses:
The chapter on Belichick's tenure in Cleveland begins with some misinformation and a paragraph that does not give enough factual material. H... states that the Browns had not won a championship since the days of Paul Brown, over 30 years before B... In truth, they had won, under coach Blanton Collier, the 1964 NFL Championship, which was the last before the Super Bowl began. They reached the championship game the following year, losing to Green Bay, and in 1968 when the Baltimore Colts beat them 34-0.
As of this writing, June 2017, the Browns and the Detroit Lions are the only teams that existed before the Super Bowl era to have never played in it.
There was much furor when the Browns left for Baltimore before the 1996 season, contrasting Cleveland's support of the team against poor attendance at Colts games before their move to Indianapolis in March 1984. However, if Halberstam is correct, the fan base in Cleveland was a bit of smoke and mirrors. He wrote that season ticket sales were about 50% of stadium capacity. In the Colts heyday, theirs was close to 90%.
Halberstam twice demonstrates Belichick's analytical skills in a way which might throw negative light on the coach. After a victory over St. Louis in one Super Bowl and prior to their beating Carolina in another, Belichick commented about the shortcomings of his team. In my opinion, that is a backhanded way of denigrating the opposition.
The close of Chapter One sparks some dissent, twelve years after the publication of the book:
"The Patriots are not necessarily America's Team, as Dallas had so optimistically nicknamed itself in an earlier era, but they are an easy team for ordinary football fans to like in the new era of football."
It is hard to forget SPYGATE, which took place about half a year after Halberstam's death, or DEFLATEGATE, for which Tom Brady was suspended for four games. I wonder what Halberstam would think of Bill Belichick today.
Five stars slightly waning.
May 7, 2017
Read this book to get some insights into how Belichick's coaching/leadership philosophy. The went into too much depth into side characters and needless background for my taste. But a few takeaways:
1) Being prepared - Belichick does extremely thorough homework about his opponents, in fact he's known for his film study even when he became head coach. He also applies the same rigorous analysis to his own players, taking care to know their strengths and weaknesses so he can value them correctly and use them in the right situations.
2) No one is above the team - during his first HC gig in Cleveland, Belichick made the mistake of appeasing some of his star players and letting them skirt the rules. This, among other things, lost him respect and contributes to his failure there. There can be no special treatment for stars. Also, Belichick found that it's much better to have a team of good players (spread the wealth around) rather than over-invest in a few stars. Personally I think football is a weak-link sport (your weakest player can drag you down) except for your QB, so Belichick is right.
3) Invest in people - Belichick would is really cheap in keeping the salary of his assistants low, but invested heavily in their learning. This weeded out everyone other than the passionate, and also developed his network. Today, so many coaches in the college and pro ranks are from his coaching tree, which gives him a ton of insights in players through all levels.
4) Public relations is important - Belichick's tenure in Cleveland was disastrous partly because he antagonized the media and fanbase early on. Even though he was "doing the right thing for the team", he wasn't able to persuade others of this. Appearance and narrative is important.
5) Choose your boss - Another lesson from Cleveland, the owner there just didn't fit Belichick's style and didn't share his philosophy. When the NE opportunity came up, Belichick made sure that he and Craft have shared philosophies and developed mutual trust early on.
1) Being prepared - Belichick does extremely thorough homework about his opponents, in fact he's known for his film study even when he became head coach. He also applies the same rigorous analysis to his own players, taking care to know their strengths and weaknesses so he can value them correctly and use them in the right situations.
2) No one is above the team - during his first HC gig in Cleveland, Belichick made the mistake of appeasing some of his star players and letting them skirt the rules. This, among other things, lost him respect and contributes to his failure there. There can be no special treatment for stars. Also, Belichick found that it's much better to have a team of good players (spread the wealth around) rather than over-invest in a few stars. Personally I think football is a weak-link sport (your weakest player can drag you down) except for your QB, so Belichick is right.
3) Invest in people - Belichick would is really cheap in keeping the salary of his assistants low, but invested heavily in their learning. This weeded out everyone other than the passionate, and also developed his network. Today, so many coaches in the college and pro ranks are from his coaching tree, which gives him a ton of insights in players through all levels.
4) Public relations is important - Belichick's tenure in Cleveland was disastrous partly because he antagonized the media and fanbase early on. Even though he was "doing the right thing for the team", he wasn't able to persuade others of this. Appearance and narrative is important.
5) Choose your boss - Another lesson from Cleveland, the owner there just didn't fit Belichick's style and didn't share his philosophy. When the NE opportunity came up, Belichick made sure that he and Craft have shared philosophies and developed mutual trust early on.
July 23, 2020
As a big fan of NFL football and author David Halberstam, I decided to finally read this book primarily to see if I could mine any leadership secrets from Bill Belicheck, one of the most winning coaches in the League. What I found was the typical advice we get from successful coaches: work hard, work harder than the next guy, and focus your life exclusively on the game. I鈥檓 not sure that it is a secret or a recipe that we all want to follow.
Halberstam admits he is a fan of the Bills and Belichick, and Belichick is a fan of Halberstam. Both lived on a small island near Cape Cod. That鈥檚 how the book came together and probably why the author glosses over recent controversies, including an incident in which a Patriots assistant was caught taping defensive signals from the sidelines. Breaking that rule cost Belichick $500,000 in fines. It鈥檚 not mentioned in the book.
Despite this, we learn of the struggles the coach had to face to get to his current position. He works hard. He studies other teams and learns their weaknesses. 鈥淭hey were much more likely to force the other team into mistakes than to make mistakes themselves.鈥� We learn about his legendary discipline and the infamous scowl on the sidelines.
Halberstam summarizes Belichick this way, 鈥淲hat a curious, complicated, contradictory man, a hard man to reach and to understand completely. He was completely dedicated to fighting off the virus caused by too much ego, all too aware of what it could do to his dominating purpose鈥攑laying championship-level team football. But a man like that, who was so driven to win, and who excelled again and again at such a high level, was hardly without ego. Instead, he had learned how to make his ego work for him, and to keep it from being a negative force. What he had excelled at was taking his ambition and talent and fusing it into something larger than himself. 鈥�
Bills fans and hardcore football fans will enjoy this book. Just don鈥檛 expect to find any unique leadership secrets.
Halberstam admits he is a fan of the Bills and Belichick, and Belichick is a fan of Halberstam. Both lived on a small island near Cape Cod. That鈥檚 how the book came together and probably why the author glosses over recent controversies, including an incident in which a Patriots assistant was caught taping defensive signals from the sidelines. Breaking that rule cost Belichick $500,000 in fines. It鈥檚 not mentioned in the book.
Despite this, we learn of the struggles the coach had to face to get to his current position. He works hard. He studies other teams and learns their weaknesses. 鈥淭hey were much more likely to force the other team into mistakes than to make mistakes themselves.鈥� We learn about his legendary discipline and the infamous scowl on the sidelines.
Halberstam summarizes Belichick this way, 鈥淲hat a curious, complicated, contradictory man, a hard man to reach and to understand completely. He was completely dedicated to fighting off the virus caused by too much ego, all too aware of what it could do to his dominating purpose鈥攑laying championship-level team football. But a man like that, who was so driven to win, and who excelled again and again at such a high level, was hardly without ego. Instead, he had learned how to make his ego work for him, and to keep it from being a negative force. What he had excelled at was taking his ambition and talent and fusing it into something larger than himself. 鈥�
Bills fans and hardcore football fans will enjoy this book. Just don鈥檛 expect to find any unique leadership secrets.
March 23, 2020
This is more than a book about the multiple Superbowl-winning coach of the New England Patriots, Bill Belichick. The lessons it contains can be applied to life in general and just about every field of endeavor.
As he always did, Halberstam digs deep into his subject matter while still framing it with important big-picture insights. He begins the story with Coach Bill Belichick's father because Steve Belichick was such an outstanding college scout (back when scouting was in its infancy) and because of the influence he had on Bill Belichick growing up. The origins of Belichick's success are easily traced to the years he spent helping his father, first breaking down tape of opposing teams to determine their strengths and weaknesses, and later assisting him as a coach on the practice field.
The themes of the book echo the lessons that Bill Belichick has taught generations of coaches and players. Know your job inside and out. Work harder than anyone else. The more you can do, the more you can do. It also follows Belichick through his career as he learned those lessons, and it's unsparing when it comes to Belichick's failures. Not surprisingly, Belichick himself is likewise unsparing when describing those times and places when things didn't work out.
The book was written soon after the Patriots won their third Superbowl, so their future championships under Belichick were still in the future. It's fascinating to read the names of the players from that era and note just how many of them have gone on to become coaches themselves and even to defeat Belichick's Patriots from time to time.
This is a book about the pursuit of excellence, and I highly strongly recommend it.
As he always did, Halberstam digs deep into his subject matter while still framing it with important big-picture insights. He begins the story with Coach Bill Belichick's father because Steve Belichick was such an outstanding college scout (back when scouting was in its infancy) and because of the influence he had on Bill Belichick growing up. The origins of Belichick's success are easily traced to the years he spent helping his father, first breaking down tape of opposing teams to determine their strengths and weaknesses, and later assisting him as a coach on the practice field.
The themes of the book echo the lessons that Bill Belichick has taught generations of coaches and players. Know your job inside and out. Work harder than anyone else. The more you can do, the more you can do. It also follows Belichick through his career as he learned those lessons, and it's unsparing when it comes to Belichick's failures. Not surprisingly, Belichick himself is likewise unsparing when describing those times and places when things didn't work out.
The book was written soon after the Patriots won their third Superbowl, so their future championships under Belichick were still in the future. It's fascinating to read the names of the players from that era and note just how many of them have gone on to become coaches themselves and even to defeat Belichick's Patriots from time to time.
This is a book about the pursuit of excellence, and I highly strongly recommend it.
January 26, 2023
This is one of David Halberstam's last books. It was published in 2005 and he died in a car crash in 2007. I picked it up for two reasons: (1) I enjoyed other works from Halberstam, including "The Fifties" and "The Teammates," a book about friendships made by members of the Boston Red Sox teams of the 1940s. (2) I hoped to get inside Bill Belichick's head. He is, after all, one of the top American coaches in any sport in the past 40 or 50 years.
Halberstam traces Belichick's lineage back to his paternal grandparents who immigrated from Croatia. There is a bit too much ancestry for my liking. However, I enjoyed learning about Bill Belichick's father, Steve. Steve was a long-time assistant coach at various colleges, including 30+ years at Navy. It's no surprise a young Bill Belichick fell in love with the game of football.
I did not realize the role Bill Belichick played in helping the New York Giants win Super Bowl XXI and XXV. His defenses were stout, led by Lawrence Taylor. The relationship between "The Bills," Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick, also made for intriguing reading.
The book ends with the creation of the Patriots' dynasty, including the luck of landing Tom Brady as a sixth-round pick. Unfortunately, it feels like the book ends prematurely because the Patriots have won three Super Bowls (and lost three) since the book was published. So, I guess, my biggest critique is that I want more. How does Belichick maintain such a high-caliber team? How does he do it year after year, even when his assistants leave for greener pastures?
Finally, Halberstam does a tremendous job at dissecting Bill Belichick's personality. Oddly, I found myself really liking Belichick. This is surprising because he is portrayed as grumpy and reclusive in the media.
Halberstam traces Belichick's lineage back to his paternal grandparents who immigrated from Croatia. There is a bit too much ancestry for my liking. However, I enjoyed learning about Bill Belichick's father, Steve. Steve was a long-time assistant coach at various colleges, including 30+ years at Navy. It's no surprise a young Bill Belichick fell in love with the game of football.
I did not realize the role Bill Belichick played in helping the New York Giants win Super Bowl XXI and XXV. His defenses were stout, led by Lawrence Taylor. The relationship between "The Bills," Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick, also made for intriguing reading.
The book ends with the creation of the Patriots' dynasty, including the luck of landing Tom Brady as a sixth-round pick. Unfortunately, it feels like the book ends prematurely because the Patriots have won three Super Bowls (and lost three) since the book was published. So, I guess, my biggest critique is that I want more. How does Belichick maintain such a high-caliber team? How does he do it year after year, even when his assistants leave for greener pastures?
Finally, Halberstam does a tremendous job at dissecting Bill Belichick's personality. Oddly, I found myself really liking Belichick. This is surprising because he is portrayed as grumpy and reclusive in the media.
May 15, 2018
Bill Belichick is the best NFL coach of all time; and Halberstam shows you why. It's a trip through his pedigree, starting with his father Steve, a legendary scout and coach. It follows Belichick through his journey as a young coach, highlighting the lessons learned along the way to the pinnacle of the NFL.
The lessons are simple and apply far beyond football.
1. Preparation. Hours and hours of film study made Belichick more prepared than his opponents. Careful, focused study allowed him to know what was going to happen before it did.
2. Do your job. While he is exceptionally prepared, B also was masterful in keeping his players focused on the simple, concrete task in front of them. Don't try to do too much. You can't win the whole game on one play. A team with each man doing his job and no more is unstoppable.
3. Fit beats talent. Sometimes the player with the proper attitude and mindset can succeed where a more talented but mentally weaker player will fail.
4. Take away their strength. Most coaches and scouts will find what is weak on their opponent and attack that. Belichick finds it far more useful to figure out their strength and then take that away. It throws off their rhythm and timing. Bush did the same thing to Kerry in 2004. His veteran/hero status was his primary strength until the swift boat ads. Without the central pillar to stand on, collapse is inevitable.
The lessons are simple and apply far beyond football.
1. Preparation. Hours and hours of film study made Belichick more prepared than his opponents. Careful, focused study allowed him to know what was going to happen before it did.
2. Do your job. While he is exceptionally prepared, B also was masterful in keeping his players focused on the simple, concrete task in front of them. Don't try to do too much. You can't win the whole game on one play. A team with each man doing his job and no more is unstoppable.
3. Fit beats talent. Sometimes the player with the proper attitude and mindset can succeed where a more talented but mentally weaker player will fail.
4. Take away their strength. Most coaches and scouts will find what is weak on their opponent and attack that. Belichick finds it far more useful to figure out their strength and then take that away. It throws off their rhythm and timing. Bush did the same thing to Kerry in 2004. His veteran/hero status was his primary strength until the swift boat ads. Without the central pillar to stand on, collapse is inevitable.
September 17, 2022
*Listened on Audible*
This book was pretty good. I鈥檝e read similar books about Belichick including Ian O鈥機onnor鈥檚 book, Belichick, and Michael Holley鈥檚 book, War Room. I would recommend War Room first because of its deeper dive into the Belichick coaching tree and philosophies. O鈥機onnor鈥檚 book and Halberstam鈥檚 books are quite similar and with slight nods going to one book over the other. O鈥機onnor goes into more of Belichick鈥檚 personal life including his divorce, family, and friends, while Halberstam hardly touches on it. Halberstam goes into more detail regarding Steve Belichick and his influences on Bill Belichick which was also interesting. Altogether, I鈥檓 probably biased in my review because I learned information from O鈥機onnor鈥檚 book, which then repeated itself in Halberstam鈥檚 work.
Now, if I REALLY had to narrow down a recommendation of one over the other, this would be my short list:
Why you should read 鈥淏elichick鈥�
You鈥檙e interested in learning more about how an all-time great coaching career effected Bill鈥檚 personal life.
Why you should read 鈥淭he Education of a Coach鈥�:
You鈥檙e interested in learning about Bill鈥檚 early influences in coaching and their impacts in his early years.
I would recommend both books for someone curious about the life of a GOAT coach, but TEoaC will be more succinct for anyone more lightly interested or someone without much interest in football.
This book was pretty good. I鈥檝e read similar books about Belichick including Ian O鈥機onnor鈥檚 book, Belichick, and Michael Holley鈥檚 book, War Room. I would recommend War Room first because of its deeper dive into the Belichick coaching tree and philosophies. O鈥機onnor鈥檚 book and Halberstam鈥檚 books are quite similar and with slight nods going to one book over the other. O鈥機onnor goes into more of Belichick鈥檚 personal life including his divorce, family, and friends, while Halberstam hardly touches on it. Halberstam goes into more detail regarding Steve Belichick and his influences on Bill Belichick which was also interesting. Altogether, I鈥檓 probably biased in my review because I learned information from O鈥機onnor鈥檚 book, which then repeated itself in Halberstam鈥檚 work.
Now, if I REALLY had to narrow down a recommendation of one over the other, this would be my short list:
Why you should read 鈥淏elichick鈥�
You鈥檙e interested in learning more about how an all-time great coaching career effected Bill鈥檚 personal life.
Why you should read 鈥淭he Education of a Coach鈥�:
You鈥檙e interested in learning about Bill鈥檚 early influences in coaching and their impacts in his early years.
I would recommend both books for someone curious about the life of a GOAT coach, but TEoaC will be more succinct for anyone more lightly interested or someone without much interest in football.
February 5, 2024
A book that only a Patriot fan (or a diehard football junkie) could love. Published in 2005, this had been on my 鈥渢o read鈥� shelf for literal decades, and with the Belichick era officially over in New England, it was now or never for me and this bio. Pros: it was fun to learn about parts of BB鈥檚 life I didn鈥檛 know that well, including his dad and a shocking amount of info about Ernie Adams, and BB鈥檚 experience with the Giants, Browns, and Bill Parcells. It was also great to relive the early years of the Patriots dynasty. Cons: it鈥檚 common knowledge that BB had a heavy hand in this book, which is clear from beginning to end, and it feels self serving in many places. You could also see some clues of what was to come for BB and the Pats, such as the tight and insular coaching circles Bill operated within. I was also struck, towards the end of the book, by how it almost downplayed Tom Brady. Of course Brady was still near the beginning of his career at that point, but most of the credit for the first three Patriots super bowls is given to Bill鈥檚 ingenious defensive plans and his management of the roster, with comparatively little focus on Brady鈥檚 countless big time performances. It鈥檚 a telling example of BB鈥檚 mindset and relationship with players, even the stars. You could probably write a whole other book just about the 19 years since this one was released. Still this was an enjoyable read and I鈥檓 glad I finally got around to it!
March 8, 2019
Many reasons I enjoyed this book:
* David Halberstam writes brilliantly and masterfully crafts facts into a story. I love his thought process and connections that he makes.
* I have had an appetite for the science and history behind team football. I absolutely loved this year's past super bowl where ironically, the Pats played a hard, old school style to beat the Rams (2019). I am fascinated by the idea of Belickick creating a team first dynasty in a sports era surrounding individual performances, egos, and money.
* The parallel connections between Steve Belichick and his son Bill showed the connection and history that I thought was interesting. It reminded me of the way The Godfather story is told between Don Vito Corleone and Michael Corleone. (Not that I'm saying Bill Belicheck is Michael Corleone, but the Halberstam outlined the story in a very engaging way.
* Being a Browns fan (I know, it's rough!), the chapter on Bill's interaction with Art Modell gave me a better understanding of the history cursing poor Browns fans.
I admire Bill Belicheck's determination and hard working spirit. The old school style of play is something that I love. The David Halberstam style read is read.
* David Halberstam writes brilliantly and masterfully crafts facts into a story. I love his thought process and connections that he makes.
* I have had an appetite for the science and history behind team football. I absolutely loved this year's past super bowl where ironically, the Pats played a hard, old school style to beat the Rams (2019). I am fascinated by the idea of Belickick creating a team first dynasty in a sports era surrounding individual performances, egos, and money.
* The parallel connections between Steve Belichick and his son Bill showed the connection and history that I thought was interesting. It reminded me of the way The Godfather story is told between Don Vito Corleone and Michael Corleone. (Not that I'm saying Bill Belicheck is Michael Corleone, but the Halberstam outlined the story in a very engaging way.
* Being a Browns fan (I know, it's rough!), the chapter on Bill's interaction with Art Modell gave me a better understanding of the history cursing poor Browns fans.
I admire Bill Belicheck's determination and hard working spirit. The old school style of play is something that I love. The David Halberstam style read is read.
October 2, 2021
The thing to consider if you happen to read this 'review,' is not why only two stars, but why did this 'reviewer' ever read a book about football in the first place? I actively dislike the sport of football! I do, however, like and respect Halberstam as a writer and I live in eastern Massachusetts where Belichick, Brady (until recently) and the Patriots are hard (not impossible) to avoid. When I found this audio book on the 'free' cart at my local library, I picked it up as insurance against the day on which I had nothing else to listen to in my car. And that day came.
My rating stems from the unnecessarily repetitive, overly long telling; I doubt even a football junkie would find it worth the long haul. Work hard, work harder, work even harder. That about sums up Coach Belichick. I did come away with an increased appreciation for the coach if for no reason other than because he is (was) held in such high regard by so many in the sport .
The most probable reason this was on the 'free' cart is that it was written in 2005 and is now, especially now, feeling very dated.
My rating stems from the unnecessarily repetitive, overly long telling; I doubt even a football junkie would find it worth the long haul. Work hard, work harder, work even harder. That about sums up Coach Belichick. I did come away with an increased appreciation for the coach if for no reason other than because he is (was) held in such high regard by so many in the sport .
The most probable reason this was on the 'free' cart is that it was written in 2005 and is now, especially now, feeling very dated.
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