I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of Michael Lombardi’s new book coming in September, Gridiron Genius. If you’re a fan of the kind of stuff I write… i.e. pretend Pats football GM, coach, team builder… this is the book for you!
Around 2014 I found a group of concrete articles I wanted to write every week. Mondays are Posits, just general thoughts about the team. Tuesdays are film review, Wednesdays are scouting reports and then Fridays are the big one, my favorite, the gameplan. Well, Lombardi pretty much gives you the real version of all these things and I couldn’t put it down.
First, I will obviously focus much on Bill Belichick in this review and he is a huge part of the book, but there are tons of great stories about Bill Walsh and Al Davis as well in here. As a fan of the game, anything about Bill Walsh instantly perks my attention and Lombardi spent plenty of times getting to know him. And of course, there’s Davis, who became somewhat of a cartoon by the end, but we forget what a passionate football mind he was and one-of-a-kind. He had his preferences and it’s interesting to see how the game changed on him.
That aside, the Patriots stuff, oh the Patriots stuff.
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We can begin with Belichick’s managerial style, which was classically painted by David Halberstam in one of my favorite books of all-time, Education of a Coach. Lombardi’s observations reinforce how transparent Belichick is, and how competitive he is down the most minor details. Belichick’s fondness of special teams, how prepared he is on every level, how everyone is terrified of his pop quizzes, and how he just seems to have a knack for knowing how games will unfold and what will be most critical to winning them.
Lombardi is our Han Solo… “It’s true… all of it.”
My absolute favorite part of it? That Lombardi does a day-by-day breakdown to the leadup to the Ravens 2014 AFC Divisional game. While Halberstam gave a great overview of Belichick’s style and the Belichick Football Life episode revealed it behind the scenes, both were piecemeal of the full Belichick picture. Finally, we have a full week of prep for a game, which I imagine all weeks are pretty much like. It’s great to see behind the scenes of such a dramatic and legendary contest. It’s a perfect snapshot of what makes the Belichick Patriots the Belichick Patriots.
The Edelman-Amendola pass, the tackle-eligible plays… they’re all broken down in detail. Belichick had such foresight in preparation, it’s incredible, and it wasn’t just in this game. Super Bowl 49 and 51 are also broken down in detail. If you’re a fan of football and want to know what championship preparation looks like, here it is.
There’s too many other fascinating nuggets to relay. I can’t recommend this book enough, especially if you’re a reader of this blog. It’s essential reading! Click to pre-order!
