The headline of this post isn’t click bait. I swear. I hate click bait. I 100% mean what I’m saying in the title. The book, Lessons from Legends written by Scott Bedgood contains the most football coaching knowledge between two covers of any book I’ve ever read. Don’t believe me? Here are some numbers:
The 12 Hall of Fame coaches interviewed in Lessons have a combined 260 years of coaching experience, 2,100 wins, 95 conference titles and 13 National Championships. And the coaches themselves are icons: Steve Spurrier, Barry Switzer, Tom Osborne, Barry Alvarez, Terry Donahue, R.C. Slocum, Phillip Fulmer, Vince Dooley, Mike Belloti, Fisher DeBerry, Marino Casem and Frank Girardi.
You know who wrote the forward?
Oklahoma legend Bob Stoops.
You know who has endorsed the book?
Peyton Manning, Troy Aikman, Danny Wuerffel, Dat Nguyen, Trev Alberts, Chad Hennings and so many more.
Does it sound like I’m excited and proud and maybe a little pumped up about this book? Well, I am. Full disclosure: I helped Scott with the concept early on when it was just an idea on a white board and I edited a few early drafts. But the thing is, it’s easy to grab a marker and start outlining an idea… It’s easy to say, ‘what if we get as many hall of fame college football coaches as we can and interview them about different aspects of coaching for the greatest coaching book ever.’ And it’s easier to brainstorm the legendary names you’d like to contact and start a list with ‘Osborne, Spurrier, Switzer, Dooley, Slocum, etc…’ on a white board.
So now you have a great idea with a great elevator pitch for a project. Awesome. Anyone can do that. But what comes next is why I’m excited. This book is what happens when you take an excellent idea from a blank page and hustle your way to making it happen. That’s what Scott did.
He was a clean 12 for 12 when it came to interviewing the coaches he wanted for the book. In addition, he got another 12 College Football Hall of Famers to write endorsements for their coaches. That’s two-dozen legendary college football players in one book. That’s why I’m so proud of it. It was a tall order before a word was written and now here it is, a year later, complete.
The book itself, however, is even better than we had hoped. Osborne and Switzer give terrific advice from their days at Oklahoma and Nebraska about how to maintain a winning program and culture. RC Slocum discusses how coaches should treat players right and with respect to get the most out of them. Barry Alvarez goes for a deep dive on how to turn around a school and an entire team’s mindset. Terry Donahue and Vince Dooley expound on dealing with distractions, star players and how to keep teams focused. And Spurrier, well… Spurrier says, “there are two ways to be successful in life: one is to do it like everybody else and outwork them. The other is to do it differently. I chose to be different.”
Lessons from Legends is exactly what the title says: lessons from coaching legends…but the lessons aren’t just about life. They’re about leadership, character, motivation, teamwork, inspiration, integrity and how to leave a lasting legacy.
If you are a coach, know a coach or just enjoy reading about titans of college football and how they succeeded, you need this book.
Buy it here: http://amzn.to/2h7Djtb
If you’re excited about Lessons from Legends, you might enjoy my book with 4x Super Bowl Champion, NFL and College Football Hall of Famer “Mean” Joe Greene HERE… Or if you’re a basketball fan you’ll love Heart Over Height that I wrote with 3x NBA Slam Dunk Champion Nate Robinson HERE.