The Education of a Coach (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

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." (Nov.)
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From Booklist

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. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion (November 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401301541
• ISBN-13: 978-1401301545
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #260,446 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Homage To The Man And To The Game, November 10, 2005

By	prisrob "pris," (New EnglandUSA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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5+ stars

Joan Vennochi, a political writer who rarely writes about sports said this of Bill Belichick. "Belichick, she noted, wasn't 'glib or glitzy'. At press conferences he sometime 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 posture."

This is not just a book about a man, or just about a coach, or just about a game, or just about football. This is a book about a man, who is a coach, who happens to love football, and the manner in which this man leads his life. David Halberstam, who has written his twentieth book, the last fourteen of which have been best sellers; and the last six, based on sports, has written the coach's coach book in "The Education of a Coach". He has been able to dig deep inside of this man, Bill Belichick. The man who has come to be known as the best professional football coach of our era. And, the fact, that this man coaches the New England Patriots, is the icing on my cake.

Bill Belichick is the son of a man who is known as one of the best football scouts of his time. Steve Belichick has molded his son to not only follow in his footsteps, but to lead the way. Steve taught his son to break down a football film so acutely that he knows, understands, and can recite to memory every play made in that game or any game. Bill grew up loving the game of football. He went on to Andover where he met his best friend, Ernie Adams, who, to this day works with Belichick. Together, they have the bid on the history of and every play ever made in football. Why is this important? Because you can pick apart every mistake and every nuance of the opposing team. That is one method Belichick uses in his winning team. The Rams/Patriots game that won the Patriots their Super bowl, was according to ESPN's Ron Jarowski, the best coached game he has ever seen. "Belichick, he goes on to say, is the best in the game today, maybe the best ever".

Belichick is known as a quiet man, too quiet, not at all flamboyant. Dressing in gray, trying to be as private as he can be. Difficult, as the media first thought. Hard to draw out. A star who did not want to be a star. Unfortunately, 40 million people wanted to know all about him, and the team he coached. His life is football, and he dedicates most of his waking hours to that job. He has his best friends as his coaches. They are the `Best and The Brightest', as the author of this book would so eloquently say.

In 2005 Bill Belichick and his wife quietly separated after more than 20 years of marriage. They have three children whom Belichick loves and spends as much time with as possible. But somewhere, the game of football became too much for the family and now Bill is alone. Known as the best football coach in this time, compared to Lombardi and Landry, his name will go down in history.

David Halberstam has brought knowledge and the power of football to this book. He tells us how one man was able to build a team from practically nothing, to win a Super bowl in two short years, and then go on to win 2 more Super bowls to give us a glimpse of this genius. We learn how luck has played a part in this history. The luck of drafting Tom Brady. How Tom plays the game, and how Tom Brady has become one of the best quarterbacks of his era. How has this man built a dynasty, and the Patriots may be called a dynasty. How the old work ethic from the western, steel mills of Pennsylvania has played a large part in the growth of this man. His background, his culture and the "stuff" that helped to shape this man. A brilliant book, one every sport fan should read. Insight into the working mind of a man who is on his way to becoming a legend.

Steve Belichick died this fall. His son took one week to mourn, then back to football. Afterall, that is what life was about for both men.
Highly recommended. prisrob

35 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating, if incomplete, look at a great coach, November 14, 2005

By	Craig (Ohio) - See all my reviews

Considering the oustanding work Halberstam had done with The Teammates and Summer of '49, I was highly anticipating this release since first hearing of it months ago. And while it turned out be enjoyable, I just feel like there's so much more that could have been explored or explained.

The first part of the book dealing with Bill's dad, Steve, was the part that I found the most interesting. I knew that he's always been considered a superior scout, but it was great to see how he got to that point. Same goes for Bill's entry into the coaching ranks, and the preparation he did even before then to make himself into the great coach he would eventually become.

Where the book fails, in my opinion, is in its exploration of relationships. It talks somewhat of the Parcells-Belichick relationship, but there seems to be a lot left unspoken. Same with that of Parcells and Kraft, or Belichick and his current coaches, or even guys like Weis and Crennel who only recently left.

Halberstam has given what I believe is a look at only one slice of Belichick's life, and there still seems to be room for a more complete look at this great coach. I'd like to hear more first-person comments from other coaches, former coworkers, and current or former players.

I definitely recommend this book, both for the look at Belichick and because Halberstam is a pleasure to read. However, don't expect to learn much about the coach himself, as that will likely be left for another book.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What drives Bill Belichick, November 25, 2005

By	Len (North Easton, MA United States) - See all my reviews

Halberstam does a nice job explaining how Bill Belichick became a great coach and what drives him. In light of the passing Bill's father Steve, this book is a tribute to his father, a great coach and strategist and what Bill picked up from his father on how to win. Most people think of Bill Belichick as part of a Bill Parcells coaching tree. But this book explains that Belichick is the Paul Brown to Parcells' Lombardi and how Belichick built relationships and learned to build an organization on his way to becoming a coach that wins games by breaking down an opponent as opposed to imposing his will on the opposition.

I would have given the book another star had it gone more into Belichick's personality. But Halberstam told sportsradio WEEI hosts that Belichick did not want this book to be about an ego trip for him. It's too bad because Halberstam never caught Belichick with his guard down. You have to think that Belichick really doesn't want anyone in the public to know him too well. It's almost as if there is an ending waiting be written. You don't find out about Belichick's relationships with Charlie Weis, Tom Brady, Bob Kraft, et al.

Still, it's a great read. You do get enough to understand the contempt Belichick has for Art Modell and an understanding of why he left the Jets and Bill Parcells to go to New England. His decisions, his confidantes, his championships all make sense after you read this book.