Whether you are a football coach, journalist, or fan, Pillars of the NFL: Coaches Who Have Won Three or More Championships (published 2014) a football lovers bible that offers brief biographies that examine the football lives of the greatest coaches in NFL history. These are the game's 10 greatest legends who outsmarted the field, time and time again. It is not a book of strategies and drills, it's a book about the greatest coaches and their players. It a priceless book for those closest to the game. Right now (7/11/17), Amazon has the book on sale for $21.99 per copy.
Pillars of the NFL: Coaches Who Have Won Three or More
Championships is published by Sporting Chance Press and written by Chicago
Bears Vice President Patrick McCaskey.
The Pillars themselves are the greatest coaches in NFL history--determined
strictly by the number of championships.
Ten coaches have won three or more championships: George Halas, Guy
Chamberlin, Curly Lambeau, Paul Brown, Weeb Ewbank, Vince Lombardi, Chuck Noll,
Bill Walsh, Joe Gibbs, and Bill Belichick.
10. Today's football fans
know Bill Belichick's mantra: "just do your job." And that goes for
everyone connected to the team. Players are better prepared, they are trained
in multiple positions, teammates and coaches are constantly reviewing their
performance, everyone is expected to "man-up" and accept criticism.
Players on the practice field get coached on their play under a myriad of game
situations. The Patriots are a proud organization and each year the rest of the
NFL can never take them for
1. George Halas was a great man and great coach, but every
once in a while he recharged his batteries and stepped back and watched others
coach. He was a master at so many things, but he never felt like he knew
everything and was always learning. He would bring college coaches into his
camp and would pay attention to their ideas. He was very competitive and made
it through some very tough times by tightening his belt.
2. Curly Lambeau was a fine judge of character and he was able
to recruit players to his club. His training and demands were tough. He
saw the passing game as something to be
developed even before the rules were created that would allow for much of it in
the league. He kept in touch with his former coach at Notre Dame, Knute Rockne,
and they shared ideas and discussed players.
3. Guy Chamberlin was a Nebraska farmer, but he knew the way
the game was played. He played both defense and offense. He saw football as great escape for a few
years from the farm and the dry spells that happened. He loved the game and he
would have expected his players to show the same passion.
4. Paul Brown father was a railroad man with a watch--he
learned to use his time wisely. Brown scripted his practices and made the most
of the time he spent on the field. His players were skilled and he had
classroom sessions and playbooks. He wanted smart players who were focused on
learning and bringing discipline to the game. The color of a man's skin was
irrelevant.
5. Weeb Ewbank was a small man who loved working with men. He
never let his ego get in the way of creating a winning environment. Whether
teaching players, handling salary relations, or negotiating a player's return,
he kept his wits and his sense of humor. He succeeded in different played with
different teams and he was at his best building a team.
6. Vince Lombardi has been hailed as a disciplinarian. His
methods were considered old fashioned and not workable for the modern player
until he made them work for championship after championship. He learned high
school and college coaching before the pro game. He was middle aged before he
led the Packers. He grilled his players on plays until they became perfect at
executing them. He came very close to
pushing them too hard and having a revolt, but he learned to back off at just
the right time. Once his methods were
successful on the football field his team was practically invincible.
7. Chuck Noll brought in critical players who would act as
change-makers on his Steelers. These players would not accept poor play from
their teammates. He started with Mean Joe Greene and was often working with
black schools recruiting players that most teams would have over looked. He created a mindset with
his team that only exceptional hard-nosed play would be present. They all
worked to win championships and to make their teammates Hall of Fame players.
8. Bill Walsh was primed to be a head coach, but didn't get
his chance until long after he thought it was due. And Walsh perhaps more than
any other of the greatest coaches, had times where he suffered from a personal
humiliation because of failure. Other times where he could walk out on a field
and the opposing coach would worry so much about what Walsh's moves were going
to be, he could not execute his own. Walsh seemed like he was a couple steps
away from the abyss and a short leap to glory. He was hard to please and spend
endless hour in preparation. While he
looked like a Physics teacher or a golf pro, he was a pugilist at heart--a
former boxer with a passion for social justice.
9. Joe Gibbs learned from every coach he worked with in
football. He had a tough life as a child and then achieved a level of financial
success that was almost unheard in both coaching and owning Joe Gibbs Racing.
Gibbs was also a coach who played his hand as it came. He had certain ambitions
when he started his NFL career, but he decided to create game plans to match
his personnel not his own wishes. He
relied on a core group of coaches who he retained and he was considered
especially brilliant at making half time adjustments. Like facing Bill Walsh,
opposing coaches knew they had to be at their best to win against Gibbs.
