Handbook of Winning Football by Coach George Allen

Last night I finished reading Handbook of Winning Football by Hall of Fame Coach George Allen.  About 450 pages of football wisdom.  It was published in 1975 but once you read it, you will realize why Coach Allen is a Hall of Fame football coach.  Also if you are a Washington Redskins fan from that era you will love all the pictures.

For all new youth football coaches that think they may not be good football coaches because they lack football knowledge, "Organization is the foundation of all successful football coaching.  This is just as true in the handling of high school and college teams as it is in coaching play for pay professional squads.  Organization is the basis for the whole game."  Get your self organized find some good assistant coaches and have fun coaching youth football.

Play for Fun and Winning is Funner!

Bear Bryant Autobiography - Greatest College Football Coach

I just finished reading Bear: the Hard Life and Good Times of Alabama's Coach Bryant, the autobiography of one of the greatest college football coaches of all time.  I enjoyed the book.  Bear is pretty cocky but his southern charm come through.  He is definitely old school and from a different generation.

It was interesting to learn he coached Joe Namath at Alabama and actually suspended Namath. He also was one of the first coaches to embrace Darrell Royal's Wishbone.

Ok, I recommend Bear: the Hard Life and Good Times of Alabama's Coach Bryant if your wanting to read great coach's autobiographies otherwise I preferred Tom Landry's book. 

Tom Landry and Autobiography - Football Dallas Cowboys

I just finished Tom Landry: An Autobiography and it was excellent.  I must admit I have always been a Dallas Cowboys fan since growing up in Texas and from the Dallas / Fort Worth area as a young child.  I also coach youth football and I love this book.  I am definitely a Landry guy!

..."if you want a football team to improve, you need to identify the areas in which you aren't as good and practice those."  Tom Landry

After finishing the Paterno autobiography last week, this autobiography is a little different in that its less about coaching and more about Coach's life but a more enjoyable read, probably for a Cowboy fan. I highly recommend Tom Landry: An Autobiography.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Paterno by the Book by Joe Paterno & Bernard Asbell

Just finished Paterno: By The Book, Joe Paterno;s autobiography written in 1989.  I read a biography of Vince Lombardi last month which I enjoyed, The Official Vince Lombardi Playbook.  So I decided to read about a few more great football coaches.  After watching the Joe Paterno Linebacker video,Successful Coaching American Football: Linebackers, I ordered the Paterno Autobiography from Amazon used reseller.

The book is an easy read about Paterno's life and football career.  He has a ton of good information for coaches and fans.  I was interested in all the coaching information.  I especially liked ...the first source of football success is defense, the second is kicking, and the third is offense.  A great offense in my experience has to obey one principle above all others; Don't lose the ball in a turnover.  Hang onto the football!

I highly recommend this book by Coach Paterno, Paterno by the Book.