The education of a coach
Issue: Volume 29 Number 1
The education of a coach
by David Halberstam
Publisher: Hyperion, 2005
RRP US $14.00
288 pages
The Education of a Coach is about one of the best American Football coaches of this or any era, Bill Belichick. In a competitive environment where all the rules are designed to create a more even competition, his team, the New England Patriots, won the US National Football League in 2001, 2003 and 2004.
The book is affectionately written by renowned American writer/sportswriter David Halberstam, and focuses not just on Belichick's successes, but also the upbringing he had with a father who was nearly as respected as he now is. Both carved out careers as highly organised coaches who ‘watched a lot of tape’. The fascinating point though, is the book shows that they did not just watch a lot of tape, but both had a gift for understanding what they saw, and, most importantly, being able to teach the athletes they coached how to use this information practically.
The most interesting thing about Belichick is that he seems be able to stick to his principles where so many other coaches end up seeking quick fixes. For example, he specifically does not recruit big name superstars who might become available; he prefers a team with depth and flexibility. Regarding motivating athletes, he does not believe in personally challenging/inspiring athletes as 'in the end you could only go to that emotional well so often, and then it went dry.' My favourite passage though, is a description of how he handles the media: 'There is no pretence, and he is utterly authentic in a world where, because of television, there is more and more which is inauthentic. What is troubling about all this is that a lot of people are more comfortable with the inauthentic, if it is reassuring, than they are with the truth, if it is not reassuring. He doesn’t play the role of the coach. Instead he is the coach.'
He is an example of a brilliant coach who was never able to play the game at a high level, but believes this limitation actually provided him with the skills to be able to coach at the highest level: '…he had mastered parts of the game (talented players) had never needed to master. The fact that they had superior physical abilities was no longer going to be enough, because in the pros everyone had superior physical abilities.'
Even if you have no understanding of American Football, this book will keep your attention. It is just as much a story about a boy growing up as it is about 'Xs and Os'. It is just as much a story about the principles and practical methods involved in being an outstanding coach, as it is a story of a successful Football team.
