Insider books about the Patriots are few and far between so when one like Michael Holley’s War Room comes out I pounce on it and rip through it in a matter of days.
War Room takes an in depth at the genesis of Scott Pioli and Thomas Dimitoff’s football careers and how they were groomed by Bill Belichick. Now while I appreciate what Pioli and Dimitroff did for the Pats, and both seem like interesting branches on the Belichick tree, it was really the behind the scenes Patriots stuff that I yearned for.
Much of the early parts of the book have already been covered in depth in books like Education of a Coach by David Halberstam and Patriot Reign which was also written by Holley. I mostly skimmed those parts because there wasn’t anything we didn’t know.
While there were some interesting tidbits about the Patriots I was left wanting more of them. By the end of the book the focus shifted heavily toward Pioli and Dimitroff’s current situations with the Chiefs and Falcons respectively and away from Belichick and the Pats.
It seems pretty clear that Belichick wasn’t giving Holley the same kind of insight or access he did for Patriot Reign. The final chapter looked at the 2011 draft and other than revealing Belichick was ready to take Ras-I Dowling at 28 there wasn’t much we didn’t already know. Most of the Belichick quotes by the end are the kind of basic fluff we’ve come to expect when BB talks to the media.
The most interesting Patriots stuff revolved around the 2006 and 2007 seasons, where it seems that Josh McDaniels and other insiders had a big part in giving some inside info to Holley.
There was the already much publicized stuff about Belichick ignoring the advice of his scouts and drafting Laurence Maroney and Chad Jackson. This definitely was some unflattering evidence that supports some of the Pats recent draft struggles.
McDaniels revealed a great deal about the build up to the 2007 season. The disappointment after the 2006 AFC Championship Game, the early days with Randy Moss and just how they managed to put together the historic 2007 offense by taking advantage of their many dangerous weapons. Even McDaniels didn’t know what to expect when they took the field against the Jets in the opener.
It was tough re-living a lot of the Spygate stuff, but hearing about how it spun out of control even on Mangini was interesting. The motivation that the whole Spygate affair brought to the 2007 season was confirmed as well.
From a Patriots perspective War Room really documents the dissolution of the dynasty Patriots. The departures of players, coaches and executives are well documented, leaving us with an impression of the current Patriots with a Godfather-like Belichick still running the organization without any of the trusted confidants that built it with him.
I was surprised to see a complete lack of mention of Nick Caserio who seems like the next generation of Pioli and Dimitroff. The way that Belichick values developing young coaching and executive talent is well documented and one of his greatest contributions to the NFL.
Overall I’d say War Room was a good but not great book from a Patriots perspective. What Patriots fans want is a look behind the curtain, and those looks were truly limited in nature.
However the book does illustrate the effect Bill Belichick’s coaching and executive tree is having across the NFL, as well as the influence of his coaching and management styles.