Author: Skip Bayless
Publisher:
Published: 1990
Total Pages: 338
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →
Who is Tom Landry? The great football coach whose tireless efforts on behalf of Christian causes led Billy Graham to hail him as "like a John the Baptist to me"? Or the distant, befuddled figure who would send in goal-line plays at midfield, blame others whenever his team lost, and whose players called him "steely," "cold-blooded," and "a liar"? God's Coach is a scathing look at the football franchise that dared to all itself America's Team, and the coach whose Christian charity extended to strangers everywhere, but rarely spoke to the players who labored under him. Skip Bayless, the controversial columnist for the Dallas Times Herald, strips away the image created by the most powerful PR machine in sports and takes a sharp, clear-eyed look at the men behind it. Why was this coach and celebrated motivational speaker wholly unable to motivate his team? Why did a man so dedicated to spreading the word of God's love have to rule through fear? Skip Bayless deflates the myths and punctures the self-importance in which the Cowboys wrapped themselves for nearly thirty years. We see the team president who ruled like an owner despite controlling only 3 percent of the team; the Draftmaster who, according to his chief scout, did not study film and "never learned the details of the game"; the star quarterback who never said a word against his coach publicly, but who changed Landry's call on virtually every important play during his career. Bayless shares with us the words and views of insiders who are finally willing to break their silence, including former players, front-office personnel, assistant coaches, and the men who owned the team. He paints an unforgettable portrait of a man reveling in his image as God's chosen football coach, but also trapped by it--unwilling to confess error or share responsibility, unable to change or adapt to change, either in his team's personnel or in the game itself. He shows us the Landry who reserved his highest praise for those who played despite injuries, leading players to take dangerous painkillers before games; who seemed oblivious to the shady dealing and immoral and illegal escapades of those all around him; and who devoted large chunks of his time to speaking before Christian groups, but far less to coaching and planning than NFL coaches. And in the final, spectacular irony, Bayless shows how Jerry Jones's solution to what even Tex Schramm recognized as "the Landry problem" freed Landry to become his image--to be God's Coach without burden of actually coaching. As entertaining as it is revealing, as thoughtful as it is though provoking, God' Coach is compelling reading, a stunning experience for anyone who embraced the myths of The Man in the Hat.--From jacket flap.
