Endzone: The Rise, Fall, and Return of Michigan Football

by John U. Bacon Narrated by Johnny Heller

Overview

Endzone tells the story of how college football's most successful and respected program nearly lost it all in less than a decade, and entirely of its own doing. It is a story of hubris, greed, and betrayal, a tale more suited to Wall Street than the world's top public university.


Author John U. Bacon takes you inside the offices, the board rooms, and the locker rooms of the University of Michigan to see what happened, and why, with countless eye-opening, head-shaking scenes of conflict and conquest. But Endzone is also an inspiring story of redemption and revival. When those who loved Michigan football the most recognized that it was being attacked from within, they rallied to reclaim the values that had made it great for over a century. The list of heroes includes players, students, lettermen, fans, and faculty-and the leaders who had the courage to listen to them. Their unprecedented uprising produced a new athletic director, and a new coach who vindicated the fans' faith when he turned down more money and fame to return to the place he loved most: Michigan.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

The New York Times Bestseller!

"This is an obvious must-read for University of Michigan fans but is also recommended to anyone interested in college sports, university administration, and organizational leadership." - Library Journal

"John Bacon is deservedly regarded as the poet laureate of Michigan Football, but his writing is essential to anyone who wants to understand how Big Time College Sports works and why it is stuck in hearts even when it makes us crazy." —Joe Drape, author of New York Times Bestseller Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains with the Smith Center Redmen

“No person is more qualified to tell the story of the milestones and missteps in Michigan's football programs than John Bacon, who has the sources, relationships and storytelling mastery to pull back the curtain at an institution where the curtain is thick. ENDZONE provides a fascinating view into a powerful and successful program that, for a while, lost its way.” —Joe Schad, ESPN College Football Insider

“John Bacon has fast become the preeminent documentarian of all things Michigan football and this is just the latest in a long line of must-read material.” —Rich Eisen, Lead Host, NFL Network, author, Total Access

“Jim Harbaugh always has been one of the most intriguing figures in all of football, the NFL or college.ENDZONE brings them together, helping to understand what motivated Harbaugh to leave the successful San Francisco 49ers for the struggling Michigan Wolverines, and why Michigan fans have received him as their savior.” —Adam Schefter, ESPN NFL Insider

“More than just the story of how Jim Harbaugh came home to Ann Arbor, Endzone takes readers deep inside one of college football's most storied programs at a critical moment of uncertainty and tumult. Bacon's incisive reporting reveals details even die-hard fans couldn't know about what went wrong with Michigan football and who emerged to fix it.” —Stephen Henderson, Detroit Free Press columnist and editorial page editor, Pulitzer winner for commentary, and U-M class of '92

“You should read it. If you are a Michigan fan, you should read it. If you are a rival fan, you should read it. If you are part of any organization that has customers and/or employees, you should read it. If you are a fan of a college football team you should read it, then try to get your athletic director to read it.

The lasting lesson of Endzone is that one man can't do anything, but many can. It teaches that loyalty out of love is greater than loyalty out of fear and that either is a weak substitute for morality. It teaches that candor is virtue, that authenticity is recognizable, and that a person or a program's aspirations are every bit as important as their accomplishments.” —Seth Fisher, MGoBlog

From the Publisher - AUDIO COMMENTARY

"John Bacon has fast become the preeminent documentarian of all things Michigan football and this is just the latest in a long line of must-read material." —Rich Eisen, author of Total Access

Library Journal

11/15/2015
Sportswriter and University of Michigan alum Bacon (Fourth and Long) chronicles the recent history of his alma mater's Wolverine athletics, focusing on former athletic director Dave Brandon's controversial four-year reign that ended with his sudden, and in many quarters celebrated, 2014 resignation. Bacon digs deep behind the headlines to reveal the details of how the onetime Domino's Pizza CEO alienated many students, alumni, and local community fans by ignoring traditions, making widespread policy and personnel changes, raising revenues but spending lavishly, and trying to bring a cutthroat corporate culture to campus. The author quotes liberally from a long list of insiders and adds his own pro-Michigan and mostly anti-Brandon perspective. Brandon himself, however, declined to be interviewed, leaving only a few supporters to feebly defend him. The story concludes with a detailed account of the school's successful recruitment of high-profile football coach and Michigan alum Jim Harbaugh, a well-publicized event that the author, and many other Michigan fans, hope will help get the Wolverine athletic program back on track. VERDICT This is an obvious must-read for University of Michigan sports fans but is also recommended to anyone interested in college sports, university administration, and organizational leadership.—Douglas King, Univ. of South Carolina Lib., Columbia

MAY 2016 - AudioFile

This is a wonderful pairing of a University of Michigan athletics scholar and an accomplished narrator. John Bacon’s reporting details a myriad of ups and downs over several years at the famed Midwestern university; Johnny Heller delivers these events in a slightly scratchy tone. Heller doesn’t imitate anyone, and it’s just as well with this cast of characters—some notable, some not so well known—who go on the record about the accomplishments and issues surrounding the athletics program. Much of it focuses on one athletic director, whose business approach immediately changed the culture for the worse. This is a must-listen for any Michigan graduate, but it’s also an interesting piece of reporting for those who follow college football, especially those who want to know how to avoid pitfalls in dealing with students, alumni, and the media. M.B. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171153939
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	12/09/2015
Edition description:	Unabridged

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