Former players and coaches turned authors (1 Viewer)

[BigDave]

As an NFL football fan and a FF player for 12+ years, I enjoy the sport and the fantasy leagues tremendously.

As a fan, I'd like to know more about the sport from the players/coaches perspective. Getting a glimpse into the inner sanctum so to speak.

It's always suggested that such and such a team had a great game plan against their opponent. OR, they lost because they were "outcoached".

In particular, I'm interested in how coaches and players break down their performances, how they're graded and how they evaluate opponents, how are game plans devised, what you look for against certain teams, players etc. Is film shared among teams by the league etc.. Do they call other coaches or players for info?

Any good recent books by former players or coaches that go into this type of detail?

 

[BigDave]

Bump - I guess not

 

[Bri]

biography-dungy or BBs book

gameplan stuff I'd search for coach teaching books

I think you may enjoy BBs as a starting point

 

[Gottabesweet]

Marv Levy's book is pretty good.

 

[BigDave]

biography-dungy or BBs bookgameplan stuff I'd search for coach teaching booksI think you may enjoy BBs as a starting point

Thanks, I ordered both from Amazon used for $8 total. Nice to get a bargain after Christmas on something

 

[Andy Herron]

I'm not big on reading books, but I have and did read Jimmy Johnson's "Turning This Thing Around."

Being a Cowboys fan (I know you are too) helps, but it's still an excellent book. It's been years since I've read it, but I'm pretty sure it touches on some things you pointed out.

 

[BigDave]

I'm not big on reading books, but I have and did read Jimmy Johnson's "Turning This Thing Around."Being a Cowboys fan (I know you are too) helps, but it's still an excellent book. It's been years since I've read it, but I'm pretty sure it touches on some things you pointed out.

Thanks Andy. I was born and raised in Boston, but was always a Dallas fan from afar in the 70's. Moved here in 89 and never looked back. It is nice rooting for the Pats when they're not playing Dallas, which is not very often.

 

[Bri]

biography-dungy or BBs bookgameplan stuff I'd search for coach teaching booksI think you may enjoy BBs as a starting point

Thanks, I ordered both from Amazon used for $8 total. Nice to get a bargain after Christmas on something

I love their used books selection and prices. Let me know how it works out.FWIW I think I got the BB book because Chase recommended it

 

[boilerdave]

It's not recent but Jack Tatum's They Call Me Assassin is an excellent book.

 

[H.K.]

Tim Green is a true author. Not a bad fiction writer.

Dark Side of the Game may be what you are looking for, a little dated, but pretty interesting.

 

[The Hank]

Not a player but Dan Rooney's "My 75 Years with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the NFL" is a great book about the early days, and a MUST READ for Steelers fans.

 

[Nemesis]

Try Next Man Up by John Feinstein

Through 16 books in his genre-defining, year-in-the-life style, Feinstein avoided tackling pro football, feeling that the legendary lack of access granted the media by the NFL's powerful owners and general managers made his approach impossible. That changed when fortysomething Steve Bisciotti bought the Baltimore Ravens, and Feinstein was able to convince him, as well as Ravens coach Brian Billick and general manager Ossie Newsome, to do the unthinkable: allow a writer complete access to the team and its management throughout an entire season. The 2004 NFL season looked to be a good one for the Ravens, who had won the Super Bowl in 2001 and seemed primed to return to the top. It didn't turn out that way, which gives Feinstein's account an extra dimension of tension, on top of the fly-on-the-wall fascination of sitting in on coaches' strategy meetings and listening as decisions are made on who to start and who to cut. To most fans, who mainly see football players encased in helmets and pads, it's hard even to project the human side of their lives; Feinstein offers us this opportunity, showing the day-to-day rigors of the marginal player, hoping only to avoid being cut. The specter of injuries, an ominous inevitability in football, gets a human face, too, as the Ravens suffer debilitating blow after blow. Football has never seemed as personal as it does here, in one of Feinstein's most involving books.

NOTE: I don't read many books a year, but I do enjoy reading about behind the scenes regarding Sports like you mentioned. I did read this book and found it really interesting........especially all the info regarding who they cut and how do they tell them, stashing players on the practice squad, dealing with upper mgmt/ownership, the salary cap, how the players get paid, what happens to a player's salary when they get injured, etc......

 

[BigDave]

Try Next Man Up by John Feinstein

Through 16 books in his genre-defining, year-in-the-life style, Feinstein avoided tackling pro football, feeling that the legendary lack of access granted the media by the NFL's powerful owners and general managers made his approach impossible. That changed when fortysomething Steve Bisciotti bought the Baltimore Ravens, and Feinstein was able to convince him, as well as Ravens coach Brian Billick and general manager Ossie Newsome, to do the unthinkable: allow a writer complete access to the team and its management throughout an entire season. The 2004 NFL season looked to be a good one for the Ravens, who had won the Super Bowl in 2001 and seemed primed to return to the top. It didn't turn out that way, which gives Feinstein's account an extra dimension of tension, on top of the fly-on-the-wall fascination of sitting in on coaches' strategy meetings and listening as decisions are made on who to start and who to cut. To most fans, who mainly see football players encased in helmets and pads, it's hard even to project the human side of their lives; Feinstein offers us this opportunity, showing the day-to-day rigors of the marginal player, hoping only to avoid being cut. The specter of injuries, an ominous inevitability in football, gets a human face, too, as the Ravens suffer debilitating blow after blow. Football has never seemed as personal as it does here, in one of Feinstein's most involving books.

NOTE: I don't read many books a year, but I do enjoy reading about behind the scenes regarding Sports like you mentioned. I did read this book and found it really interesting........especially all the info regarding who they cut and how do they tell them, stashing players on the practice squad, dealing with upper mgmt/ownership, the salary cap, how the players get paid, what happens to a player's salary when they get injured, etc......

Thanks, sounds like what I've been looking for. I appreciate it!