With the start of another NFL season, it is only appropriate to review a pro football book. This one can be considered a sequel to an earlier book, but unlike most movie sequels, this one about the ranking of pro football coaches is just as good as its predecessor ranking college football coaches. Here is my review of "Lords of the Gridiron II"
Title/Author:
“Lords of the Gridiron II: Pro Football's Greatest Coaches” by Matthew DiBiase
Rating:
5 of 5 stars (outstanding)
Review:
While conversations about the greatest in professional football usually revolve around quarterbacks, an equally lively conversation can take place about the greatest pro football coaches. Author Matthew DiBiase answered this question about college football coaches in 2019 with his book on the 50 greatest coaches in college football history and he has followed it up with an equally great book to answer that for the professional ranks.
The formulas DiBiase used for his college football book are similar to those used in this book. The biggest differences, as one would imagine, is in postseason success where playoffs are where a coach builds his record for championship success or failure instead of the bowl games in college football. The formula also takes into consideration the many changes in pro football and also other leagues such as the AAFC and AFL. DiBiase developed an intricate formula to account for a coach's successes and failures such as conference and national championships, bowl records and overall season records. It is important to note that his rating systems, of which there are several, takes several different factors into consideration so that coaches from all eras of the sport get a fair shot.
As for the actual rankings, like with his previous books (in addition to football coaches, he has published similar books ranking hockey coaches and general managers), DiBiase starts at #1 and works his way through the top 50. All top 50 coaches have their accomplishments listed at the top of their chapters, followed by an excellent short biography or memoir, based off not only extensive research but from interviews with players, colleagues, family members or the coaches themselves. It doesn't matter how the information was gathered or which coach is being portrayed, each chapter is full of good information and entertaining stories.
Coaches from all eras are honored as one of the top 50 and it doesn't matter when the coach did his trade, DiBiase gives each one of them about the same amount of writing and that is especially noteworthy since, of course, it would be more difficult to capture some of this information on coaches from the earlier decades of college football. The chapters on some of these coaches such as Potsy Clark, Jimmy Conzelman and Earle “Greasy” Neale were just as enjoyable to read as were those about current coaches such as Bill Belichick and Andy Reid. This reviewer, a Minnesota Vikings fan, was especially grateful to be able to read quite a bit about Bud Grant and Dennis Green.
One last note about the book is that the system DiBiase uses to rank these coaches will produce surprises – most of these surprises will be that some of the most legendary names in the history of the game will rank lower than many will expect. Whether a coach is ranked #1, #50 or somewhere in between, the author will give a through and detailed explanation why before sharing the stories about that coach and that information is very useful.
Pro football fans of all ages, team loyalties and level of interest will want to read this book. While it can be used as a reference book and also is one that can be read in small doses at a time, it can also be a page turner that will be hard to put down, as was the case for this reviewer. After reading this book and his book on college football coaches of equally high quality, a reader should be eagerly anticipating the next book from this author.
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