War Room: The Legacy of Bill Belichick and the Art of Building the Perfect Team

by Michael Holley Narrated by Mirron Willis

Overview

Bill Belichick is one of the titans of today's game of football. Now, sports commentator and bestselling author Michael Holley follows three NFL teams-the New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, and Atlanta Falcons-from training camp 2010 through the Super Bowl and into the April draft, opening a new window into Belichick's influence on the game. This one-of-a-kind exploration takes football fans behind the scenes of the most popular sport in America, with unprecedented insider access to the head coaches, scouts, trainers, and players who make the game what it is-including new insights from Bill Parcells, Todd and Dick Haley, and Belichick himself. For true fans of the game, and for readers of Badasses, Patriot Reign, and Boys Will Be Boys, Holley's War Room is not to be missed.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Holley (Red Sox Rule: Terry Francona and Boston's Rise to Dominance) has written the ultimate book for pro football geeks. From the front office to the draft room, the author provides an intimate look at three NFL teams-the New England Patriots, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Atlanta Falcons-and the men who built them. Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, with protégés Thomas Dimitroff and Scott Pioli, created a dynasty in New England that won three Super Bowls in four years. With fly-on-the-wall immediacy, Holley chronicles their unorthodox approach, even as Pioli and Dimitroff became general managers of, respectively, the Chiefs and the Falcons. War Room begins in 1991 with Belichick head coach of the Cleveland Browns (at 39, the league's youngest) and concludes following the 2011 NFL draft and player lockout. Holley objectively captures on- and off-field episodes, including 2007's infamous "Spygate" videotape scandal, and humanizes his subjects with reports of job interviews, dinner conversations, private meetings, and personal traumas.
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From the Publisher

A deeply reported, thoroughly engaging look at what it takes to succeed in the NFL.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Crisply written, the story moves along like a two-minute drill. It also sparkles with interesting anecdotes and tidbits….WAR ROOM is a lively, fast-paced insider’s account that will please ardent and casual fans alike.” — Boston Globe

“WAR ROOM is going to take you into the inner world of pro football. I recommend it highly.” — Peter King, Sports Illustrated

“The ultimate book for pro football geeks.” — Publishers Weekly

“Fans will want to read how Belichick transformed the once-lackluster Patriots into the most successful franchise of the past decade, which Holley explains in an engaging chronological narrative.” — Booklist

Booklist

Fans will want to read how Belichick transformed the once-lackluster Patriots into the most successful franchise of the past decade, which Holley explains in an engaging chronological narrative.

Boston Globe

Crisply written, the story moves along like a two-minute drill. It also sparkles with interesting anecdotes and tidbits….WAR ROOM is a lively, fast-paced insider’s account that will please ardent and casual fans alike.

Peter King

WAR ROOM is going to take you into the inner world of pro football. I recommend it highly.

Booklist

Fans will want to read how Belichick transformed the once-lackluster Patriots into the most successful franchise of the past decade, which Holley explains in an engaging chronological narrative.

Kirkus Reviews

A longtime Patriots chronicler goes inside the brain trust of the NFL's most successful team. In the NFL, team building--drafting, trading and signing fee agents--is a multimillion-dollar business with many livelihoods and professional reputations at stake. The widely acknowledged virtuoso of this peculiar blend of art and science is Bill Belichick, GM and head coach of the New England Patriots. Holley (Red Sox Rule: Terry Francona and Boston's Rise to Dominance, 2008, etc.) traces the genesis of Belichick's "Big Idea" back 20 years when, as the new head coach of the Cleveland Browns, he began piecing together notions--particularly, the idea of a uniform player-evaluation system--about how best to construct a consistent winner. Working for him then were scouting assistant Scott Pioli and young groundskeeper Thomas Dimitroff, both of whom, after extended apprenticeships under Belichick in New England, would go on to helm NFL franchises elsewhere, spreading the gospel of The Patriot Way. With Belichick as the principal and Pioli and Dimitroff in supporting roles, Holley dives deep into the complexities of the draft and the subtleties of an appraisal system sufficiently exact to rely upon, flexible enough to allow for exceptions. There's plenty of inside-football, but the narrative soars when the author's in storytelling mode, drawing sharp portraits of the three very different franchise architects and other prominent NFL figures, supplying behind-the-scenes anecdotes about the Patriots' glorious run (three Super Bowl championships, one perfect regular season), the team's infrequent failures (e.g., the notorious Spygate episode), the contributions and departures of key assistants and pivotal players, the abiding brilliance of quarterback Tom Brady and the emerging efforts by Pioli in Kansas City and Dimitroff in Atlanta to reshape the football culture--to replicate, albeit with their personal stamps, Belichick's master plan. A deeply reported, thoroughly engaging look at what it takes to succeed in the NFL--and a perfect complement to the NFL Network's compelling miniseries Bill Belichick: A Football Life.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171246563
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	12/19/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged

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