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The Education of a Coach | 
 enlarge | Author: David Halberstam
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $4.49
You Save: $20.46 (82%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  55 reviews
Sales Rank: 208149
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.7 x 1
ASIN: B000JGWDY6
Publication Date: November 1, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: 1st edition 2005 hardcover. Tight & clean.
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Product Description
Now in paperback, Pulitzer Prize-winner David Halberstam's bestseller takes you inside the football genius of Bill Belichick for an insightful profile in leadership With a new afterword by the authorBill Belichick's thirty-one years in the NFL have been marked by amazing success -- most recently with the New England Patriots. In this groundbreaking new 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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 50 more reviews...
 Good book but a little boring August 29, 2008
I'm not sure what the book's intention was, but be prepared to read more about life events instead of football related events. I read this after the Tony Dungy book, and I would recommend that over this book.
 Great Insight into a Very Private Man August 4, 2008
I read this book several years ago, and reread it recently after reflecting on the "Spygate" drama of the past year. I found the book very insightful the second time around. David Halberstam was an incrediably gifted writer who was able to truly get into the mind of his subjects, and this book is a great example of that. He starts by offering insights into Belichick the boy, and how his formative years, watching his father working for Navy, helped mold the man who heads the New England Patriots today. It offers interesting insights into Belichick's mindset when he participates in his always vague press conferences, his secretive manner, and why he is both respect and hated by his players and his peers. Fascinating read.
Not Halberstam's Best July 29, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Halberstam set a very high standard for himself -- in his sports books as well as in his political books. The "Summer of 1949", for instance, was particularly well researched and written.
This book lacks the depth of "1949." There is little digging into player reactions. Instead of demonstrating character through anecdotes and understatement, Halberstam keeps hitting us over the head with his point about how great Belichick is about "breaking down film" & etc. What in the heck does that really mean? There is very little detail here.
Of course, Halberstam's worst effort would count as someone else's best work. Halberstam is at his best in describing the Parcells/Belichick relationship; the character of the great Giants' teams; any why Brady was the superior quarterback to Bledsoe. Belichick's coaching genius does come through in the description of his approach to all the super bowls. And Belechick's notion of team, building interchangeable parts, and working with the salary cap are explained quite well.
On the whole, though, we are continually told how great Belichick is without really giving much insight into his soul as a man or even as a coach.
 Halberstam's worst April 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I've read several of his books (although this was my first sports book of his) and I highly enjoyed them. Maybe it's because the subject is just not a very interesting person, but this book is just terrible. He tells us material that contributes nothing; who cares about about his grandparents and his wife family? He also gushes about the subject and his family. Is everything really so great? It's as if he chose an average person at random and wrote a biography about him. The average person doesn't lead a particularly fascinating life and the resulting biography would be dull. Just because he is a success as a coach doesn't necessarily make him a good candidate for a biography.
Puff Piece March 19, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I hate to pile on a fine author when the time has passed when he can redeem himself but I concur with all the negative reviews with one exception--I don't think the book's lack of appeal can be written off as due to the fact that Belichik is a boring oaf. He is that on the outside, but there's a lot more than that inside and the author just did not dig that out. The problem with the book is that there is minimal "inside" information - a little more detail about Tom Brady's development than maybe you know, and a good explanation of just how feared a player Marshall Faulk was, but that's about it. The title suggests that the subject matter is limited to the sort of background biographical stuff so maybe we should have seen this coming, but this is really little more than an expansion of the bio you might find on the Patriots website.
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