From Publishers Weekly
Gruden traces his transformation from pigskin letdown as a player to gridiron triumph as a Super Bowl-winning coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He avoids charges of nepotism (his father was a successful coach and trainer in his own right) simply by chronicling his own determination. He devotes a good deal of space to the importance of assembling highlight reels for the team to study-and captures all the wacky vocabulary of offensive and defensive plays, "Waggle Right Double Out Waggle Right Drag Hook" being just one of many. Gruden gleans wisdom from the colorful likes of Bobby Knight, Bill Walsh and other legendary coaches with whom he has worked. Players, too, are sketched vividly and personally-from Steve Young and Joe Montana to Randall Cunningham and Ricky Watters. It's not often that one reads about what it's like for a gifted QB like Young to have to just cheer on while another gifted QB like Montana leads a team to glory. But it's Gruden's own portrait that emerges most sharply: he's the scrappy private who almost imperceptibly becomes field commander. An insomniac who has the face of "Chucky," he's also funny and self-deprecating, telling such stories as George Seifert balling him out for sharpening the famed 49ers coach's playwriting pencils. The point of it all is that football isn't about winning, but about learning how to win. B&w photos.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Just another book by a football coach about winning and hard work? Hardly. Gruden's story is different for two reasons: First, at 39, he was the youngest head coach to ever win a Super Bowl. Second, prior to that triumphant year, he was traded--yes, traded--from Oakland to Tampa Bay in an unprecedented move worth four draft picks and millions of dollars. So there he was, in front of the Buccaneers, who barely had a chance to say good-bye to their beloved ex-coach Tony Dungy. Talk about expectations! Gruden met the challenge by winning the 2003 Super Bowl (Tampa Bay's opponent? Oakland, of course). Gruden, aka Chucky for his scowl, which brings to mind the horror-movie doll, takes us with him on a romp through his past, starting with how his dad, also a coach, instilled in him the love of football and extending through his playing days and rapid rise as a coach. Gruden has lived life like he coaches: there's no sense being there if you don't give it your all. Mary Frances Wilkens
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Book Description
"I'm not a scratch golfer. I don't know how to bowl. I can't read the stock market. Hell, I have a hard time remembering my wife's cell phone number. But I can call 'Flip Right Double X Jet 36 Counter Naked Waggle at 7 X Quarter' in my sleep."
Sleep? Well, Jon Gruden doesn't sleep much. Driven by a never-ending quest to learn and achieve, the NFL's hottest coach -- and youngest ever to win the Super Bowl -- gives readers field-level access to the heart, passion, and principles that have carried him on the wild ride to the top of his profession.
Winning is in Gruden's blood. The son of a football lifer, he followed his dad to various programs, including Indiana, where he was a ball boy to Bobby Knight's Hoosiers, and to Notre Dame, where he had an insider's view of Dan Devine's Fighting Irish. Watching them inspired him so that when he realized his hands were too small to be a pro football player, this Division III quarterback decided he'd coach. Insanely detail oriented, he practiced drawing circles, thousands of them, so that he could chart plays perfectly.
Still, Jon couldn't tell the difference between a three-technique and a five-technique. That drove him to work even harder, though, and he would pick up the fundamentals from top-notch college programs that would prepare him to work in the birthplace of the West Coast offense, San Francisco, for the start of what he viewed as the NFL version of a Harvard education.
It was there -- under the tutelage of Mike Holmgren, brilliant offensive-line guru Bobb McKittrick, and George Seifert -- that Jon's philosophy of composing a championship offense and a championship organization was forged. Working closely with a frustrated Steve Young, Gruden looked on as Montana and Rice exploded onto the scene. There, Gruden also met defensive coordinator Ray Rhodes. When Rhodes left for the Eagles to be head coach, he took Gruden with him as offensive coordinator. At thirty-one, he designed an offense that became one of the most prolific in the NFL.
After three seasons came Al Davis, the legendary owner of the Oakland Raiders. Finally, at thirty-four, Gruden was a head coach. There he turned a 4-12 franchise into a Super Bowl contender, turning journeyman Rich Gannon into a Pro Bowl quarterback and working with such legendary players as Jerry Rice and Tim Brown -- all while being the youngest coach in the NFL.
After four successful seasons with the Raiders, the unexpected happened: Gruden was "traded" to the Tampa Bay Bucs for four top-round draft picks and $8 million cash. Dealing with incredibly high expectations, Gruden guided a team that had always made it to the playoffs but didn't have the wherewithal to win the Super Bowl. How he accomplished this feat is yet another remarkable aspect to his incredible story.
If you want to know what it takes to win, if you want to know the difference between a veer and a loop scheme, if you want to know how a leading-edge coach prepares for a game and have insight into the millions of thoughts that stream through his mind on game day, if you want to know what it's like to be the NFL's hottest coach, if when someone asks, "Do you love football?" -- and the answer is yes, then this book is for you.
About the Author
Jon Gruden lives with his wife and three sons in Tampa, Florida.
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