Patriot Reign: Bill Belichick, the Coaches, and the Players Who Built a Champion (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "Bill Belichick has moments that few people see or imagine, moments when he is no longer the premier strategist of his profession..." (more)
Key Phrases: football operations, quarterbacks coach, defensive coordinator, New England, Super Bowl, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Enlightening...An X-and-O guy's dream...the best thing I've read on football in recent years...Superb." -- --Peter King, Sports Illustrated

"Enlightening...An X-and-O guy’s dream…the best thing I’ve read on football in recent years...Superb." -- Peter King, Sports Illustrated

Review

"Enlightening...An X-and-O guy's dream.the best thing I've read on football in recent years...Superb." (Peter King, Sports Illustrated )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; illustrated edition edition (September 21, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060757949
• ISBN-13: 978-0060757946
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #232,190 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Enlightening Look into the World of Pro Football, September 27, 2004

By	J. Redding "mean dean" (Georgia, United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am neither a Patriots fan nor a Bill Belichick fan. But, because of this book, I have an immense amount of respect for the organization and the man. My favorite parts of the book are when Michael Holley, the author, goes into detail about game plan and scouting strategy. Here's one example.

When the Patriots played the Rams in the 2002 SuperBowl, they were expected to get steam-rolled, especially since the Rams had blown them out earlier in the season. As Holley explains, Belichick's strategy in the first game had been to do everything possible to pressure the Rams QB, Kurt Warner. It didn't work, and Warner picked the Patriots defense apart rather easily. Before the SuperBowl, Belichick began thinking that maybe the real key to containing the "greatest show on turf" was to disrupt Faulk, not Warner. So, instead of having his d-linemen and linebackers go all out after Warner, Belichick instructed them (over and over again) to first hit Faulk (if he was in the vicinity) in the backfield and then rush. Also, Belichick and his staff told them never to assume that Faulk was staying home to block--it was always a decoy. The Patriots were also taught that the Rams never run the same play out of the same formation. Even if it looks like the same play they saw 15 minutes ago, it's not. The strategy worked, and Belichick's defensive genius trumped the offensive genius of Mike Martz as the Pats won their first SuperBowl.

Holley also does a good job of describing Belichick's desire and tendency to challenge commonly held (but not well though-out) football assumptions. During the 2002 post-Championship season, the Patriots were right around .500 and playing poorly. At one point, one of the Patriot players told a reporter that the team's problem was that they had lost their swagger. When Belichick read about this, he went berserk. In an intense, profanity-filled speech (common with Belichick) given during a team meeting, he let them know that the reason they won so much last season was not because of any swagger, but because they played smart, disciplined football, and did not deviate from the assignments they had been given. Belichick challenges the goofy cliches that you hear from the ESPN, Fox and CBS pre-game guys.

One word of warning to unsuspecting dads or moms: I wouldn't let my kids read this because it is filled with profanity. It is difficult for Belichick (and many of his coaches and players) to get through a sentence without using the f-word, and Holley doesn't edit their words.

With regard to the substance of the book, my only complaint is that I wish Holley had devoted even more time to specific plays, coverages, schemes, etc. But that's a minor gripe. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I suspect that anyone who is football fan will also find it to be an enlightening and entertaining read.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, should've have been better, October 1, 2004

By	D. Santos (Norton, MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I liked the book, I thought Michael Holley did a decent job, but it should've been better. He said on a couple of occasions that No one from the Patriots interfered with the book, So I expected him to go deeper. For instance, The combine section, the stuff he wrote about was great (about Brandon Lloyd and the overall process)but giving us examples from the interview of players that the Pats actually did draft and the things they liked about them would've been a logical and more meaningful addition to the section. I felt that the sections of the book that dealt with the 2002 and 2003 seasons were filled with generalities. Other than in 2002 they were old and not focused and in 2003 they were more prepared, I didn't get that much out of it. Instead of just telling us a quick blurb on the scouting of Brady, and how much they loved him, maybe enlight us as to why they didn't draft him sooner. It may sound like I'm nitpicking, but as I was reading I was expecting to read some of these things as natural extensions of what I was already reading and time and time again it didn't happen. There are other examples of this, but it might unfaily portray this as a bad book which it absolutley isn't. Belicheck's issue with Tom Jackson, his relationship with Parcells, Pioli, His coaches, Lessons he learned, his playeer evaluation process the stuff on the 2001 Super Bowl, Belichecks relationship with the media in general, all great stuff, but it just should've been better.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Perspective, October 29, 2004

By	FranxM (Peachtree City, GA) - See all my reviews

This was a fun book to read if you are intrigued with the inner workings of professional football. It was gratifying to see how everyone from ownership to coaches and players learned and corrected past mistakes. This book also brought to light some common misassumptions the average fan has for pro football. For example, it was funny to read Belichick's perspective of half time adjustments and how the organization looks at the combine and prepares for the draft. If you really like pro football, you'll really like this book.