Staff Picks Book Review - Fearless by Doug Pederson

Tuesday, January 17, 2023
Author: 

Fearless by Doug Pederson"When you are a great listener and a great communicator—and you combine that with being smart, focused, and unselfish—you can go very far." - Jeffrey Lurie, owner of the Philadelphia Eagles (from foreword to Fearless)

Pederson lays out his journey from quarterback to head coach in a comfortable narrative, highlighting key moments in his career and generously giving credit to the players, coaches, and family who made his success possible. Fearless opens with Pederson's memories of the 2018 Super Bowl victory of the Philadelphia Eagles. Pederson credits this success to being willing to take risks on the field, going for it on the 4th down. Ironically, he recalls the AFC championship game between Jacksonville and New England as being one the Jaguars lost because of cautious plays.

An interesting story is the detailed account of his hiring as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, a choice mocked by figures such as Mike Lombardi. We are then given the story of how he built up the staff that would eventually help him take the organization to Super Bowl LII, Pederson emphasizing with personal stories how important team chemistry and emotional intelligence are in his coaching toolkit. 

Fearless balances out the stories of his successes and his role as coach, Pederson dedicates chapters to his own mentors, his wife and family, and what happens to someone after they achieve success. Doug Pederson comes through the pages as a gracious winner, a dedicated professional, and a leader who challenges all members of the organization to not let fear of losing get in the way of winning.

The Quarterback Whisperer: How to Build an Elite NFL Quarterback by Bruce Arians

What is an elite NFL QB and what separates that player from the others? One answer is the coach they share. In the recent history of the biggest game on earth, one man is the common thread that connects several of the very best in the sport: Peyton Manning; Ben Roethlisberger; Andrew Luck; and the resurgent Carson Palmer. That coach is Bruce Arians.

The Education of a Coach by David Halberstam

Bill Belichick's 31 years in the NFL have been marked by amazing success--most recently, his Super Bowl wins with the New England Patriots have made him surpass Vince Lombardi. In this book, journalist Halberstam explores the nuances of both the game and the man behind it. Halberstam writes. "There was, I thought, a certain signature to a Belichick game... I was fascinated ... by the fact that he seemed so un-coachlike, or perhaps the prototype for a very different kind of modern coach in what is an increasingly complicated game. He wasn't in any way charismatic, and he made no attempt to be charismatic--if anything, quite the reverse, but he always seemed to be one step ahead of everyone else." Set apart by his Wesleyan education, Belichick approaches coaching differently than anyone else in the NFL. Here, we learn why and how.--From publisher description.

Overtime by John U. Bacon

For the past year, John U. Bacon has received unprecedented access to Jim Harbaugh's University of Michigan football team: coaches, players, and staffers, in closed-door meetings, locker rooms, meals, and classes. Overtime captures this storied program at the crossroads, as the sport's winningest team battles to reclaim its former glory. But what if the price of success today comes at the cost of your soul? Do you pay it, or compete without compromising?

Overtime delivers a riveting and revealing insider's account of the Harbaugh era, a deeply reported human portrait of a big-time college football program.

In the spirit of HBO's Hardknocks, Overtime follows the Wolverine coaches, players, and staffers through the 2018 season, including Harbaugh, offensive stars Shea Patterson and Karan Higdon, NFL-ready defensive standouts Rashan Gary, Devin Bush Jr., and Chase Winovich, second-stringers striving to find their place on the team, and their parents' reactions to it all. Bacon met with them every week during a season that saw the Wolverines ride a ten-game winning streak to #4 in the nation, then take a beating at the hands of arch-rival Ohio State, led by controversial coach Urban Meyer, Harbaugh's foil. Overtime also previews the crucial 2019 campaign ahead.

Above all, this is a human story. In Overtime we not only discover what these public figures are like behind the scenes, we learn what the experience means to them as they go through it - the trials, the triumphs, and the unexpected answers to a central question: Is it worth it?

From the "poet laureate of Michigan football" (according to New York Times's Joe Drape), and one of the keenest observers of college football, Overtime offers a window into a legendary program and the sport itself that only John U. Bacon could deliver.

The Blueprint: How the New England Patriots Beat the System to Create the Last Great NFL Superpower by Christopher Price

For years, the New England Patriots were a certifiable joke of a franchise. They were run on the cheap and were once the very example of how not to manage a team. They hired inept coaches---one of whom (Clive Rush) was nearly electrocuted when he grabbed a microphone at his introductory press conference. In 1968 their scouting director, Ed McKeever, suggested they draft a wide receiver . . . before someone in the organization realized the player had been dead for six months. They plucked ex-players out of the stands minutes before kickoff---Bob Gladieux was enjoying a beer at the game when he heard his name called over the P.A. (The Patriots had cut a player earlier that morning and found themselves short. Gladieux, who would go on to spend four years in the league as a running back, made the tackle on the opening kickoff.) And they played in a run-down stadium that was one of the worst venues in professional sports. There were brief moments of success, but on each occasion, front-office infighting would invariably cause the franchise to slide back down to the basement again.

 But in the first four months of 2000, everything changed. The hiring of head coach Bill Belichick and Vice President of Player Personnel Scott Pioli and the drafting of quarterback Tom Brady turned the fortunes of the franchise around. And their nontraditional approach to acquiring personnel---remembering that it's not about collecting talent, it's about assembling a team---quickly led to three Super Bowl titles in four seasons. It's a feat that, in the salary cap era, with free agency, planned parity and balanced scheduling, is in many ways even more impressive than anything achieved by the past dynasties of Green Bay, Pittsburgh, Dallas, and San Francisco.

Parcells: A Football Life by Bill Parcells

"Bill Parcells may be the most iconic football coach of our time. During his decades-long tenure as an NFL coach, he turned failing franchises into contenders. He led the ailing New York Giants to two Super Bowl victories, turned the New England Patriots into an NFL powerhouse, reinvigorated the New York Jets, brought the Dallas Cowboys back to life, and was most recently enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Taking readers behind the scenes with one of the most influential and fascinating coaches the NFL has ever known, PARCELLS will take a look back at this coach's long, storied and influential career, offer a nuanced portrayal of the complex man behind the coach, and examine the inner workings of the NFL"-- Provided by publisher.

That First Season: How Vince Lombardi Took the Worst Team in The NFL and Set It on The Path to Glory by John Eisenberg

The once-vaunted Green Bay Packers were a laughing stock by the late 1950s. They hadn't fielded a winning team in more than a decade and were close to losing their franchise to another city. They were in desperate need of a savior, and he arrived in a wood-paneled station wagon in the dead of winter from New York City. In a single year, Vince Lombardi--the grizzled coach who took no bull--transformed a team of underachievers into winners and resurrected a city known for its passion for sport.

Reader Mail

Get a Library Card

Jacksonville Public Library card

Want the book hook up?

Image representing the Book Hook Up newsletter sign up at the Jacksonville Public Library

Sign up to get the hottest titles in your favorite genres sent right to your inbox each month