The Education of a Coach

BillBelichick’s31yearsintheNFLhavebeenmarkedbyamazingsuccess--firstwiththeGiants,thenwithCleveland,andmostrecently,histhreeoutofthelastfourSuperBowlwinswiththeNewEnglandPatriotshavemadehimsurpassVinceLombardiinhisrecordforplayoffvictoriesandachievethehighestpostseasonwinningpercentageinNFLhistory.Inthisgroundbreakingnewbook,DavidHalberstamexploresthenuancesofboththegameandthemanbehindit.HeuncoverswhatmakesBillBelichicktickbothonandoffthefield,asacoachandason."I’vebeenfascinatedbyBillBelichickformorethan20years,goingbacktothetimewhenhewasayoungcoachinhisearly30sworkingwiththelinebackersontheGiants."Halberstamwrites."Therewas,Ithought,acertainsignaturetoaBelichickgame--whateveritwastheotherteam’soffensewasdoinginthefirsthalf,theteamcoachedbyBelichicktendedtotakeitawayinthesecondhalf.Iwasfascinatedbythat,andbythefactthatheseemedsoun-coachlike,orperhapstheprototypeforaverydifferentkindofmoderncoachinwhatisanincreasinglycomplicatedgame.Hewasn’tinanywaycharismatic,andhemadenoattempttobecharismatic--ifanything,quitethereverse,buthealwaysseemedtobeonestepaheadofeveryoneelse.Ifanything,thatmadehimevenmoreinterestingtome--amanwhohadnointerestinthecelebrityculture,buthadbeenprojectedintotheepicenterofitbecauseofthenatureofhisjobandhissuccesswithit."SetapartbyhisWesleyaneducation,BelichickapproachescoachingdifferentlythananyoneelseintheNFL.Here,forthefirsttime,welearnwhyandhow.

David Halberstam is one of America's most distinguished journalists and historians. After graduating from Harvard in 1955, he covered the beginnings of the Civil Rights movement, then was sent overseas by the New York Times to report on the war in Vietnam. He won the Pulitzer Prize for his Vietnam reporting at the age of 30. His last fourteen books (which include The Best and the Brightest and Hyperion's Firehouse and Teammates) have all been New York Times bestsellers. He lives in New York City.