CHICAGO–Football season has officially started (did you catch that late night Hawaii vs. California game from Australia?) And with it football team head coaches will be championed as either great leaders or as pilloried as failures. And as is also true with coaches in all professions, they are often seen as both champions and failures at different times in the careers.
In The Corner this week we highlight the former category with books by football coaches on leadership, life lessons, and more.
The line-up includes:
The Winners Manual, by Jim Tressel
According to Amazon, The Winners Manual: For the Game of Life shares former Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel's “Big Ten” fundamentals for success: Attitude, Discipline, Faith, Handling Adversity & Success, Excellence, Love, Toughness, Responsibility, Team, and Hope. Peppered with personal stories from Coach Tressel’s storied coaching career, this book shares the fundamental lessons that he has been imparting to his players and coaching staffs for the past 20 years.
Special note: Each chapter closes with a practical application section, where readers will be “coached” on how they can apply the lessons imparted throughout the book to their own lives, via the establishment of measurable goals.
Wins, Losses, and Lessons, by Lou Holtz
Amazon notes that few people in the history of college sports have been more influential or had a bigger impact than Lou Holtz. Winner of the three national Coach of the Year honors, the only coach ever to lead six different schools to season-ending bowl games, and the ninth-winningest coach in college football history, Holtz is still teaching and coaching, although he is no longer on the gridiron.
His is a storied career, and Holtz provides a frank and inside look at the challenges he overcame to turn around the programs at William and Mary, North Carolina State, Arkansas, and Minnesota. From growing up in East Liverpool, Ohio, to his early days as a graduate assistant at the University of Iowa, to his national championship runs at Notre Dame and his final seasons on the sidelines in South Carolina, Lou Holtz gives his best, a poignant, funny, and instructive look into a life well lived.
Win Forever, by Pete Carroll
Pete Carroll is one of the most successful coaches in football today. While head coach at USC he brought the Trojans back to national prominence, amassing a 97-19 record over nine seasons. In this book he shares the championship-winning philosophy that led USC to seven straight Pac-10 titles, and is now shaping his program with the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL.
According to Amazon, Carroll developed his unique coaching style by trial and error over his career. He reveals how his recruiting strategies, training routines, and game-day rituals preserve a team's culture year after year, during championship seasons and disappointing seasons alike.
Win Forever is about more than winning football games; it's about maximizing your potential in every aspect of your life. Carroll has taught business leaders facing tough challenges. He has helped troubled kids on the streets of Los Angeles through his foundation, A Better LA. His words are true in any situation: "If you want to win forever, always compete."
Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, and Priorities of a Winning Life, by Tony Dungy
According to Amazon, Tony Dungy's words and example have intrigued millions of people, particularly following his victory in Super Bowl XLI, the first for an African-American coach. How is it possible for a coach―especially a football coach who led both the Indianapolis Colts and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers―to win the respect of his players and lead them to the Super Bowl without the screaming histrionics, the profanities, and the demand that the sport come before anything else? How is it possible for anyone to be successful without compromising faith and family?
In this inspiring and reflective memoir, now updated with a new chapter, Coach Dungy tells the story of a life lived for God and family―and challenges us all to redefine our ideas of what it means to succeed.
What It Takes to Be #1 : Vince Lombardi on Leadership, by Vince Lombardi, Jr.
This book, which is actualy written by the son of the famous Green Bay Packers coach, notes that leadership continues to be one of the most trained-for skills in business today. And no figure so fully embodies the leadership qualities managers hope to cultivate in their professional and personal lives than Vince Lombardi, the greatest NFL coach of all time, according to Amazon.
In What It Takes to Be #1, author Vince Lombardi Jr., examines the leadership qualities that his father considered essential to success. He explores the leadership philosophy of Vince Lombardi, extracts powerful lessons about what it takes to be an effective leader, and shows how to apply those qualities to one's own life and career.
The Motivational Techniques of Urban Meyer: A Leadership Case Study of the Ohio State Buckeyes Football Head Coach
Head Coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes Urban Meyer was the 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship winning coach. With that victory, Meyer has now won three national championships in his career, and is considered to be one of the best coaches in football.
In this leadership case study, Amazon said the book analyzes the management style and leadership teachings of Urban Meyer. Covering the lessons learned from his recent championship winning season with the Ohio State Buckeyes, as well as with the University of Florida, The Motivational Techniques of Urban Meyer will teach you how to motivate your team and get them to be pursue their goals.
Strategy Concepts of Bill Belichick: A Leadership Case Study of the New England Patriots Head Coach
According to its Amazon review, in today’s NFL the high level of competition creates constant changes in players, coaches, and strategies. In order to remain competitive, teams must learn how to quickly adapt to new situations, find innovative ways to gain an advantage, and teach their players to execute the strategies on the field.
No other coach in professional sports who has been able to do that more than New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick, Amazon says. In Strategy Concepts of Bill Belichick, the book analyzes the methods, mindsets and strategies that helped Bill Belichick win four Super Bowls. This brief Leadership Case Study examines how Bill Belichick is able to constantly achieve success in a competitive industry.