The Education of a Coach | David Halberstam

The Education of a Coach | David Halberstam | The Education of a coach

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The Education of a...

	The Education of a Coach David Halberstam, 2005 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 57 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Outstanding

An excellent book that I'm grateful to have read. The beginning chapters on Belichick's father and his son's early development into a 'football geek' are esp. interesting. It's easy to see where his work ethic comes from, and how the greatest mind in football came to be. Halberstam, may he rest in peace, skillfully created a fascinating portrait. Recommended.

The Education of a coach

I know I bought this used so I did not expect the book to be perfect.

Cheater

I read this book. Decent book about football, BUT...

In September 2007, it was found out that the Patriots had been illegally videotaping the sidelines of opponents. This is illegal in the NFL, and Patriots coach Belichick knows it. It basically is not just a violation of the rules of the NFL, but also is a violation of trust. It violates the NFL and the team and all fans and players. The NFL should take back the three rings the Patriots supposedly "earned" in their Super Bowls. This team is just a bunch of criminals in my view. They have deceived us all. I personally think that this massive breach of trust (using the word "Breach" brings to mind another deceiver, traitor Hanssen, who sold out the U.S. and the FBI). I am not saying Belichick is on that level, but what he did was a massive breach of trust. If the NFL in 5 or 10 years has lost out on its status as a "clean" game, and "America's game", we know who to thank: Belichick and his Patriots. I hope he is in prison by then. Hopefully a federal supermax. From now on, I hate this team. I hope they lose every game. Go Colts (and whoever is playing the Patriots) ! [by the way, Patriot fans: last year, you guys cheated and you still couldn't beat the Colts - a team that is far superior to you guys, morally. Think about that one !].

BTW, I know the argument that "everyone does it". But it is not correct, because "everyone" didn't videotape it the way the Pats did. They took cheating to a new level.

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Decent but disappointing book

This is a solid book if you want to know the basic facts about the career of one of football's most brilliant but enigmatic coaches. That said, for the unique access to Belichick that Halberstam got, there's not much here that's particularly revelatory. We learn a lot - probably too much - about other coaches and football men who have influenced Belichick (most notably, his father) and there are a lot of digressive (and lengthy, for such a short book) mini-profiles of people who don't play a critical role in the story. Consequently, the book has a padded feel.

Football lovers are also probably not going to get much out of this book, since Halberstam doesn't really get into the nitty-gritty of Xs and Os or provide any in-depth looks at the big games in Belichick's career. That said, he does give you a good feel for what Belichick is like and how he learned from his mistakes to build a phenomenally successful football franchise with the Patriots. Halberstam also gives a pretty fair-minded portrait of Belichick's ill-fated tenure as head coach of the Cleveland Browns- showing how Belichick was thrust into a difficult position in an organization that was a bad fit for him, but unnecessarily aggravated the situation with his surly temperament. Still, many readers will want more - more insight into how he coaches, more analysis of his intricate defensive schemes, more probing into Belichick's conflicted and fascinating relationship with Bill Parcells.

A book worth picking up for those wanting a basic portrait; junkies should look elsewhere.

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