Art Briles: Looking Up: My Journey from Tragedy to Triumph, by Nick Eatman

I have never met Art Briles, but I can't help but love the guy.  As any Baylor fan will tell you, Briles has returned Baylor to a place of respectability in college football, even beyond where the great Grant Teaff had taken Baylor in the 70s and 80s.  And Briles isn't finished yet; he just signed a 10 year contract extension that will keep him around for a few more seasons.

In Art Briles: Looking Up: My Journey from Tragedy to Triumph, Briles tells his story through sports writer Nick Eatman.  (I'm not comfortable with the double subtitle.  Too man colons.)  This is not a book by Art Briles with Nick Eatman; Eatman wrote it based on interviews with Briles and others, as well as Briles's narratives, dictated on tape.  Eatman does a great job of capturing Briles's voice while staying in the third person.

If you don't know Briles's story, or if you only know him as RG3's coach, take some time to learn about Briles.  Even if you're not a Baylor fan, you will be inspired and encouraged by his story.  The tragedy referred to in the (sub-)subtitle was during his college days.  Briles played football for the University of Houston.  When Houston had an away game in Dallas, his parents and aunt drove from their west Texas home in Rule to see him play.  Unfortunately, they never made it.  As Briles was coming off the field at the end of the game, his coach pulled him aside and gave him the bad news.

Briles's dad was also his football coach.  His parents' example as coach, educator, Christians, and loving parents provided a guiding light for him, and continues to do so.  He says a day doesn't go by in which he doesn't think about them, their legacy, and his desire to honor them in all aspects of his life.  He took that tragedy and made it into triumph.

Knowing that he's seen life at its worst, going through that suffering, he has taken on challenges that others might shy away from.  He went to Stephenville, a high school football program that hadn't been to the playoffs in years, and was constantly beaten down by the rivals in a nearby town.  Not only did he beat the rivals and make the playoffs, he led them to 4 state championships.  He went back to Houston as head coach, taking over a football program that was about to be eliminated from the school. There he took them to bowl games and coached future NFL players.  When he came to Baylor, the Bears had been cellar dwellers in the Big 12.  He took them to their first bowl game in ages, now 4 bowl games in a row, coached a Heisman trophy winner, has the Bears in the top ten in the country, and, until last weekend, in the conversation for the national championship game.

Anyone can appreciate the greatness of Briles's story.  Coaches especially should pick up Looking Up.  I enjoyed hearing about how Briles connects with and develops players.  He's not an in-your-face screaming coach, he's a positive, encouraging coach, dedicated to helping his players be the best they can be.  The connection with his family is impressive, as well.  His son and son-in-law are coaches on his staff, and his daughter works for the Dallas Cowboys.  By his accounting, they are very tight-knit.  Fathers could probably learn much from his example, which is truly impressive if you realize how many time demands are put on coaches, even at the high school level.

Unless you're a real football fan, or at least a fan of Texas high school football, you might get a little bogged down in the game-by-game, play-by-play descriptions of his time coaching high school.  There's plenty to like for the non-football fan and the non-Baylor fan, but those readers will enjoy Looking Up much more that other readers.  For Baylor fans, because of Briles, we can keep on looking up.  I have a feeling, as great as this season has been, the best is yet to come.

Football Revolution, by Bart Wright

Spend a Saturday afternoon watching college football, then spend some time watching games from the 1960s and 1970s on YouTube.  It doesn't take long to see the differences.  In the old games, linemen shoulder-to-shoulder at the line of scrimmage, lots of running, maybe an occasional pass.  Today, the linemen are often spaced apart from each other, multiple wide receivers will line up from sideline to sideline, and while a good running back is appreciated, the passing game is king.  Veteran sports journalist Bart Wright chronicles this transformation of the game in his new book Football Revolution: The Rise of the Spread Offense and How It Transformed College Football.

Drawing on lots of personal interviews and contemporary first-hand accounts, Wright recounts the coaching trees, team personnel changes, and key seasons and games that had a part in the gradual dominance of the spread offense.  As he writes, "The game has changed so much is barely comparable to college football of the 1960s, 1970s, and for most of the nation's teams, on into the 1980s." Teams that were slow to make this shift frequently ended up at a serious, unexpected disadvantage.  As a Baylor fan, I was particularly interested that he identifies Baylor's loss to San Jose State in 1980.

The 1980 Baylor Bears were perhaps the best Baylor team ever to take the field.  Walter Abercrombie was busy setting all of Baylor's rushing records, and linebacker Mike Singletary was putting the hurt on the oppositions' offensive efforts.  The Bears were 7-0, ranked 10th in the nation, and picked to beat visiting San Jose State by 20 1/2.  SJSU's head coach Jack Elway (John's father) and offensive coordinator Dennis Erickson were pioneers of the spread offense, which effectively took Singletary, who was used to defending the wishbone and option offenses in the Southwest Conference, out of the game.

Years later Singletary reflected, "I guess it's kind of cool to think back on it as the first time people realized what the spread could do.  I didn't think it was very cool at the time; it was just so weird. . . . It was just to different to play against that kind of football." Baylor coach Grant Teaff called their spread offense "extremely tough to stop." Elway called that Baylor win "the greatest win in my 28 years of coaching."

There had been passing in college football for years before Jack Neumeier, a high school football coach in Southern California, had an epiphany at a high school basketball game.  He began to think of spacing and timing in the passing game, beginning to think about football as basketball on grass.  His star quarterback was John Elway, whose father Jack took the spread to the college game.

Wright weaves this story together with lots of college football history, interesting personal stories about the coaches and programs, and brings the game right up to this season.  Naturally, the threads get pretty tangled at times, but Wright does a nice job of drawing along the narrative.  What is the spread offense, and why did it come to dominate the college game (and make some serious inroads in the NFL)?  Wright sets the story straight.  An interesting read for the football fan.

Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

RG3, by David Sheinin

There is no question that during his time at Baylor, Robert Griffin III brought Baylor football to a higher level than it had been for decades.  Not since the end of the Grant Teaff era had Baylor fans had much reason to celebrate.  Now, with three consecutive winning seasons, recruiting on the upswing, a new stadium being built, and better and deeper talent than ever, Baylor football looks like it's here to stay.

Could it have happened without RG3?  Maybe.  But probably not.  His talent on the football field was backed by his leadership of the team, his charisma on campus and in front of the camera, and his inspiring back story.  He was the right man at the right time to turn the Baylor program around.  Now Washington Redskins fans have put their hope in RG3 to turn their team around.

This is the story that David Sheinin tells in his new book, RG3: The Promise.  For Baylor fans, RG3's influence continues, but his work is done in Waco.  For Redskins fans, "the promise" describes their outlook for Griffin.  In his rookie season, he won rookie of the year honors while leading Washington to their first playoff berth in years.  But, as Sheinin reminds us with excruciating detail, RG3's knee hobbled their playoff run.  The question is, will the knee be the downfall of RG3 and the crux of a losing bet by the Redskins' leadership, who traded away future picks for the chance to draft Griffin?

RG3 is definitely a fan's book, bordering on hagiography.  Sheinin, a writer for the Washington Post, compiles press accounts and his own observations, as well as interview material from Griffin's friends and family (unfortunately not much from RG3 himself).  You won't find tell-alls and dirt in this book.  I'm not saying there is any dirt, but if there is, Sheinin didn't go looking for it and/or didn't see fit to write it.  The best parts of the book, for me as a Baylor fan, were the recaps of his key games during his Baylor career.  The most painful parts to read, of course, are the reminders that he is human after all, and that his knee is very vulnerable.

It's too early to say if RG3 is going to live up to his hype.  He certainly did at Baylor.  Sheinin points out that RG3 has won the hearts not only of Redskins fans and Baylor fans, but of football and nonfootball fans alike, all over the country.  For RG3 fans, RG3 is definitely worth a read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!