Overall rating: (5.0 Highest rating!)

Available through: www.amazon.com

What does it mean that the best books I've ever read on the subject of coaching football were written by guys named "Reed" ("Reade")?

Imagine taking a team from 0-9 to a sixty game winning streak at the high school level. Then imagine moving to a Division III college team that hasn't won a game in three years and taking them to a seventy-five game winning streak.

Now imagine writing a book that describes in detail how you did it.

Coach Reade's book may well be the most effective coaching tool I've ever seen. Written with the high school coach in mind, his concepts can be easily adapted to the youth level. His plays can be run by any team of ten year olds, but more than that, his reasons for coaching can make any dad-coach into a true football coach if you pay attention to them.

The book is divided into several sections. Part one details the coaching foundation. To Coach Reade, everything begins with a philosophy, a concentrated foundation that guides a coach through his day-to-day business of running a successful football team. For Coach Reade the simple three points are: Know yourself, Be yourself, and Be honest, with yourself and others (p.4). Honestly, I can't think of a better trinity of personal rules to follow on the football field.

My favorite part of this entire book is a brief anecdote on page 4. When I read this book for the first time in December of 1999 this one story opened my eyes to the realization that this book alone could teach me to be a better coach.

I don't think Coach Reade would mind if I shared this story with you now.

One of the happiest times I've had as a coach, and the most joyful I've ever seen a team, was not after a state or national championship, but rather in my first year as a head coach when my team won its first game after two winless seasons. The players on the team never dreamed of winning a game. We had only 16 players on the team, even including freshman and sophomores as part of the varsity. But let me tell you, there wasn't a dry eye on the bus after we won that game. To see players who acted like whipped dogs in our first practice-never really believing they could succeed-be so excited and joyful over what they had accomplished together was, and always will be, very special.

Speaking as a player who won just a single game out of thirty-eight tries, I identified immediately with the players on Coach Reade's team. Speaking as a coach who watched a group of eleven-year-olds carry a third string free safety from the field on their shoulders after he made the game-winning interception, I understand completely why that one moment remains lodged in Coach Reade's memory.

The book is more than philosophy and stories, though. Deeper in part one Coach Reade carefully discusses communication and its importance to a good coach. How many times have we tried to correct a player, only to choose the wrong words or approach and leave him with hurt feelings or confused? I know I've done it, even this year coaching at the high school level.

Coach Reade goes on to cover communication with parents, the media (Yes, even youth coaches talk to newspapers on occasion.), and even college recruiters. Odds are, you may never have to deal with that sort of thing, but I'm sure at least one youth coach reading this review will go on to coach at the high school level, and then you'll find Coach Reade's information and advice helpful.

Delving further, Coach Reade also talks about motivating players, possibly the most frustrating and most rewarding aspect of what we do. I've seen players hopelessly out-talented on the field make a game saving play on sheer heart because they were better motivated, and I've seen athletes so talented they should make a coach weep with joy give up halfway through a play through lack of motivation. Coach Reade's notes have helped me immeasurably to improve my ability to motivate my players.

Finally, to end part one, Coach Reade discusses the proper ways to build a football program. I can't say that I agree one hundred percent with everything he recommends here, because he seems to advocate forcing youth and junior high coaches to run his high school system, but I do agree with his belief that the upper levels of football, such as high school and junior college, absolutely must support the lower levels, such as junior high and youth.

Folks, that's just part one. Part two takes you step by step through all the plans you'll need for a season. From managing equipment, to scheduling your practices, Coach Reade gives you all the details you'll need.

Again, this information is mostly for the high school coach, but youth coaches need to be aware of many of the same things. To quote from page 49, "You cannot ask a young man to get on a football field and collide with another player at full speed unless you equip him properly." I believe that's one of the most important tasks for a football coach: making sure that each player is safely equipped to play the game.

Coach Reade also discusses the ideal coaching staff. Where you and I might think that the more coaches the better, Coach Reade simply states that you should strive to keep things equal with your opposition. If they have four coaches, then you should have four coaches. I like this thinking, because it demonstrates that the ideal coaching staff is a tightly knit group of teammates, and that having more coaches doesn't make a staff more effective at teaching the game or the system.

In part three Coach Reade takes you carefully through his offensive system, an adapted version of the Wing-T. Although I'm not really wild about the offense as he shows it, or the rather simple diagrams he provides, I completely agree with two of coach Reade's beliefs, one, that successful running means winning, and two, that simple is best.

My only complaint about this offensive system is that Coach Reade seems to assume that you already understand how to teach the triple option. I consider this to be the most complex and difficult to teach running attack in all of football, so I truly wish Coach Read had added some more details on making it successful.

Part four is devoted to the 5-2 Rover defense. Very similar to the 5-2 Monster detailed in the defensive section of this site, the 52 Rover can be an effective defense for the youth level. Again, Coach Reade's diagrams leave a few questions unanswered, such as the precise responsibility break down for run and pass, but with a little thought, I think almost any decent coach can fill in the blanks.

Part five is probably the most important section of the book, and the real reason I gave this book five stars. This section is devoted to preparing for games, and Coach Reade takes us step-by-step through everything we need to know, from managing our team's motivation to peak on game day, to effectively scouting the opposition, to knowing when to back off and let the players play, everything you really need to know about getting your players ready to hand out an ass-whacking is right here. Scouting forms, tendency breakdown sheets, and, most important to me: a player evaluation of your program are all contained in this section.

Let's face it. The measure of a football season's success doesn't come from a scoreboard. Everyone wants to win, and as a coach I promise you I'll bust my butt so my players have the best possible chance to do so, but even if we finish 0-9, the most important part of my team will always be the kids who trust me to guide them and teach them. If those kids aren't enjoying the time they've spent with me as their coach, or their experience in my program, then I want to know about it.

As I've mentioned a few times, this book doesn't answer every possible question. It's not even written for the youth coach. However, I feel that youth coaches, especially ones with just a smidge of knowledge, will benefit greatly from reading it. My firm belief in a "two-up/three-down" substitution rule comes straight from part one, where Coach Reade points out the stupidity of trying to "keep a score respectable" when you have subs on the sideline that could improve your team in the future if they got experience now. The youth coach that's going to get the most help from this book is the one with one or two years of experience. He's already got a good idea what concepts from the book will work with younger kids, and he's looking for ways to make himself a better coach, such as a strong philosophy, or a few tips on improving his team for the future.

This doesn't mean that the experienced coach won't get anything from this book, and it certainly doesn't mean that an absolute rookie shouldn't get it. Every coach needs a copy of this book.

I give the book the following scores:

Readability: 5

It took me less than three hours to read this book, including making notes and placing tabs in the pages for important items. Even the most rank beginner with little knowledge of football should be able to understand most of the concepts and ideas Coach Reade presents.

Usefulness: 5

Although this book is written mostly for high school coaches, the importance of such concepts as a philosophy of coaching, and clear and effective communications to a youth coach cannot be over-emphasized. Every coach should have an understanding of how to get a point across, whether you are speaking to the refs, an irate parent wondering why Johnny didn't start at linebacker, or just a kid who blew a pass coverage.

Practicality: 5

Overall, I think you'll find that the ideas and concepts expressed in this book are laid out well enough to make them supremely adaptable for every possible level of football. From taking a handoff correctly, to teaching the fundamentals of tackling, every skill Coach Reade discusses is necessary on the football field no matter what level at which you coach.

Overall score: 5

Get it. Here's why: until I coach a team that goes undefeated for six straight seasons, until I turn around a 0-9 team and make them a nationally ranked powerhouse, I will always consider myself more a student than a teacher. Other than the outstanding books written by Jack Reed, no other book has taught me as much about football and how to coach it as this one. I strongly, strongly encourage you to read it, too.