Reddit mentions: The best football books

> I know that on offense the QB can either pass it to the receivers downfield (is this the position that Gronk plays?)

Yes and no. Gronk is a Tight End. This is a special position, which typically lines up at the end of the offensive Line. From that spot he can either help block or release downfield for an reception. Or both.
Its different in the sense, that typical receivers, so called Wide Receivers, ar lining up more towards the sideline. They are usually less bulky than TEs, they are mostly faster and more agile. But this really depends what type of routes the team wants them to run.

> or run the ball while the linebackers keep the pocket open

no, linebackers are on the defensive side.
You probably think of the offensive line which consists of 2 tackles, 2 guards and a center...like that:

Left Tackle - Left Guard - Center - Right Guard - Right Tackle

This line's duty is to block any/all rushers the defense sends towards the Quarterback, who receives the snap from the center and then either hands the ball off or steps back behind them and looks for a throw downfield. The line tries to push aways any rushers that want to come around through the ends or up the middle, which should creat an area of 1-4 yards, a bubble of safe space for the QB, thats the pocket.

> but on the defensive end I'm really not sure about the positions and roles. I guess the linebackers are the ones trying to sack (am I using this word right? Haha) the opponent QB while the backs are chasing the receivers (so this is what Hightower does right?).

Think of it as 3 layers.

1st layer: there is the defensive line. Defensive tackles in the middle and defensive ends on both sides. like that:

DE - DT - DT - DE or DE - DT - DE

we call that a 3 man front or a 4 man front, which is just depending on the system or the players a team has. DT are more beefy and DEs are usually a little less beefy but more agile/speedy.
DTs directly collide with the Center and Guards and try to eat up as much space as possible by binding blockers or just penetrate the pocket by beating the matchup - means they try for a sack but pushing the pocket often results into it collpasing, which also means its harder for the QB to escape and/or make a clean throw.
Same applys to DEs with the difference being, they try to get by Tackles on the outside of the line and just flat out trying to sack the QB.

2nd layer: the linebackers
those can have multiple jobs, depending on skillsets. mostly they cover the middle of the field, help closing running lanes or - as you said - are sometimes an additional rusher. Hightower does this very well, as you can put him anywhere behind or outside the defensive line. If the opponent doesnt account for him he has a free rushing line towards the QB for example.

depending on how many Receivers are on the field and how many Players are on the Defensive line there are 2 to 4 LBs on the field. Thats just a scheme thing and, as I said, influenced by what formation the opponent runs.

finally there is the 3rd layer: the defensive backfield
its a little more complex but these are usually 2-4 Cornerbacks and 1-3 Safeties.
The cornerbacks are usually directly assigned to the opponents Wide Receivers, while the safeties usually stay a little more behind and go whereever its needed, clean up lanes and help the Corners by doubleteaming good receivers.

------
This is just a VERY basic overview. Roles shift and alter all the time and so do their duties.

If you are really interested into this I recommend the book "Take your eye off the ball" by Pat Kirwan. Its great for learnign the basics, easy to understand and fairly cheap in most regions.

there is a 2.0 version of it out for a year: link
I cant speak for the differences to version 1.0: link
Just a note though, v1.0 has a spiralbound version with a DVD. I dont know exactly what it contains, but I guess it supports with visualization by showing plays. Might be worth a look.

> Apart from that, player positions like Safety and the part about
> >
> > Belichick purposefully taking a safety because he knew his defense would big-dick the other team's offense are still unclear to me.

dont mix that up, the term Safety has two meanings. Its a player position on the field and also a playevent. When the offense starts on its own 1 yard line and the ballcarrier after the snap gets tackled in the own endzone, thats called a 'Safety' aswell. It results in 2 points für the opponent and you have to kick away the ball next play, aka changes possession.

The intentional safety mentioned above was a tactical genius from Bill Belichick that day.
Trailing the Bronocs 23-24 with around 3 minutes to go in the 4th quarter, Patriots couldnt move the ball out of their own Redzone, 4th down & 10 at the own 1 yard line.
Belichick decided to take an intenional safety, which made the game 23-26 for the Broncos. He gambled that the D would stop the Broncos, resulting in a 3 and out and likely in a better field position for Brady and not much time wasted. The D delivered and Brady had the Ball back with ~2 minutes remaining, driving down the field for a TD, Pats win 30-26.

> Lastly about the part about having to deal with hate...ummmm kind of sorry to break it to you as a Pats fan who has to deal with that, but I live in Southeast Asia where the other Football is super popular, and where the NFL has 0 presence. The worst case scenario would be people judging me for following American Football instead of "real" Football, but even that's really unlikely. So I'm all safe and cushy from sports hatred all the way on the other side of the world haha. The worst thing that could happen to me as a fan would be having to watch games at 3am in the morning over here? And losing another Superbowl of course.

Yeah pretty much the same here in Germany, although the sport gathers some steam and with streaming services growing, access is that much easier. I dont mind the hate though. Nearly everyone here is even less educated on deflategate/spygate so in 99% of the cases I can shut them up within a few minutes or I realize the hate for the sake of it and there is just no point argueing.

Websites (Most are not active):

• Inside the Pylon - Videos may not load embedded, but you can copy the url. Pretty good look at base plays, position responsibilities, and other terms you run into.
  
• Breakdown Sports another place for looking at the above, less available though covered deeply. See article on Cover 1 for example.
  
• Football Study Hall More on the statistics side of football (old stomping ground of Bill Connelly), a bit more all over the place.
  
• Dan Casey's Twitter If you want to see clips of fun and interesting plays past and present, he's a good'un.
  
• Playbooks - Historic coaches' playbooks. You can get a pretty good understanding of things like read progression and play goals from these, as well as what the purpose of each player on the field for each play by reading through some of these.
  
  ---
  Books: These are the books most people recommend starting from.
  
  

1. David Seigerman's Take Your Eye Off the Ball This is a really good book for understanding the game holistically. From positions to managing a season to how you can pay attention to a play, a drive, and a game.
   
2. Chris B. Brown's The Essential Smart Football and The Art of Smart Football (read in order of printing) Fantastic book set for anyone ready to dive a deeper into how the game has and could develop. Seeing everyone raving about the wildcat is always a chuckle though.
   

• Tim Layden's Blood, Sweat & Chalk. Definitely worth the the purchase. Would recommend the above first, but this is a great go for the stories behind the plays. How they came to be and why.

I posted this in the past to the same question:

Well there's a massive picture book type thing called A Photographic History of English Football which should be recommended more often than it is. It's one of those Guinness Book of Records sized books that might have trouble fitting on a shelf but it covers every aspect of the history of the English game (and thus the history of football itself). The pictures are extremely good too, especially the ones from the 1900s.

For a more in-depth study of football across the world, Simon Kuper's Football Against the Enemy is definitely one of my favourites though it's a little outdated now. However, Kuper travels round Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas interviewing key personnel in some of the bigger Clubs in the area and tells their history. His chapter on Dynamo Kiev and their Cold War era function as a funnel between East and West is worth the price of the book alone in my opinion.

In terms of autobiographies, I have always recommended Sir Bobby Robson's Farewell but not Goodbye as he tells the story of his journey from working in a coal mine in North East England to playing for his country and eventually nurturing the talents of some of the most important people in football now on and off the pitch. Most of all his personality shines through and the man is a hero to me and many others.

If you want a more technical autobiography then Rinus Michel's Teambuilding is the go to standard. Not strictly an autobiography and more a technical book but he intersperses it with his own experiences and you really get the feeling of how the greatest coach in the history of the game came to believe the things that he did.

If you like quirky but thought provoking books then Football and Chess might pique your interest. I'm a great believer in the vast similarities between chess and football on a tactical level and the author shared the same sentiment. Not the best written book in the world but it's gets your noggin ticking over and makes you reassess your ideas on the game which is always the best thing a book can really do for you.
Also as a fan of Italian football and culture, Gianluca Vialli/Marcotti's book The Italian Job is one of my favourite football books ever and extremely thought provoking on the differences in the football cultures in England and Italy and how both can learn from each other.

On the psychological side, I've recently read Inside the Mind of a Manager which was interesting. I can't say that I agreed with all of the conclusions and think the quotes were a little cherry picked but it's a good read for people who want to know more about what the modern manager actually does for a living and the people interviewed for the book are some of the best maangers alive today.

Lastly, if you really want to look at the business side of the game and how it is changing then I would recommend Ferran Soriano's book GOAL! The Ball doesn't go in by chance. Soriano is Man City's current CEO and former Barca CEO so he's certainly been there and done it on the business front and many of his ideas ion that book are beginning to be realised now. He recently did a lecture about it which skimmed over the ideas but the book delves into it deeper and tells stories from his time at Barca.
If you want more of a narrative and less of a business lecture then former Crystal Palace Chairman Simon Jordan's book, Be Careful What You Wish For is an excellent read. Be aware that Jordan is obviously bitter about his time at Palace and tries to settle some old scores here but outside of that it's a semi interesting look at his time at the Club and the problems he faced in implementing his business strategies.

First of all, there's nothing that can replace watching games. Watch football! I recommend NFL GameRewind so you can watch the games with no commercials, get the All-22 tape, and get basic access to DVR features. GamePass is expensive and unnecessary at first, and I watched my local team for years with no cable -- plain old over-the-air TV plus a local affiliate that broadcasts every Ravens game was enough. So watch football! I also recommend these sources:

=Books=

I watched two or three seasons of football before I read the following books, and I really wish I'd had the foresight to begin reading as soon as I became a fan. I recommend reading Take Your Eye Off the Ball by Pat Kirwan first, because it teaches you how to watch the games you'll be seeing this season, especially how to "read" a defense like a QB would. You'll begin to be able to see when a defense is "showing blitz" or an offense is "showing run". You might also want to get a fast-forward introduction to the history of the game so you understand where the current traditions come from. Scores of books and blogs dig into the history of the game but I think Jaworski et al's Seven Games that Changed the Game and Chris Brown's The Essential Smart Football are both great reads. The latter you can effectively preview by reading his work at www.SmartFootball.com .

=Blogs=

Nobody writes about football as well as the guys at Grantland; the article I've linked there is one of my favorites. It goes into the history of the game and helps you place the current game in context. Brian Burke's Advanced NFL Stats is a more analytics-focused look at the game; his greatest contribution to the game (in my opinion) is his evidence-based chart for 4th down decisions. A lot of other sites focus on Fantasy Football because that's where you can make a ton of money -- hundreds of thousands of hungry gamers every Sunday and Monday. Honestly, Fantasy Football scores have almost no relevance to the strategy of the real game, and I'll say no more about that hobby.

=Other References=

If you're trying to figure out whether a particular performance was mediocre, good, great, or execrable, you want to look it up at Pro Football Reference. If you're trying to understand a piece of football jargon, check out Wikipedia's American Football Strategy, which is a good read on its own and contains sub-articles on the differences between a 4-3 and 3-4. Pro Football Focus had a great piece on defensive personnel prototypes that will help you sort out what people mean by things like "He's a great 0-technique NT for a team that does hybrid 3-4." Ordinarily I'd say you want to know the rules before any of that, but honestly I watched the game for years before I ever needed to consult the rulebook.

Full thread, excerpt from Football Hackers book detailing #AFC's transfer strategy in 2018 & the role played by Sven Mislintat. The full book can be purchased here:

In the first 2 transfer periods, Mislintat pushed through the signings of 3 players he knew from his BVB days. Goal-scorer Aubameyang was an immediate success and became #AFC's best goalscorer straightaway.

Sokratis, a solid Greek defender, too, established him self in the 1st XI, while Miki arrived from MUFC in a swap-deal for Alexis. The swap reduced #AFC's wage bill & replaced 1 player who was past his best with a reliable performer.

Those were all safe transfers in the sense that they held little risk. The same was true of buying German keeper Bernd Leno, who took over from Petr Cech in goal before too long.

Mislintat was aiming higher, though. He wanted to take the club back to its player-developing roots and discover talents with the potential to grow in the #AFC shirt. Midfielder Lucas Torreira from Uruguay exemplifies this strategy. Mislintat found him thanks to a feature in his software called 'Similar Players'. It follows the logic of Amazon's algorithm: 'Clubs who like this player might also be interested in those ones.' Eager to add more resilience to #AFC's midfield, Mislintat checked players with a similar data profile to N'Golo Kante. The system proposed Sampdoria's Torreira.

'I knew him, and I had also noticed him doing well before,' Mislintat said. But without looking at the stats, he might not have thought of the South American.

The club's fans also took an instant liking to French Matteo Guendouzi, a signing from second division Lorient. For once, the energetic young CM's arrival had nothing to do with data analysis but instead courtesy of some old-fashioned scouting, similar to Julian Weigl [at BVB]. Mislintat saw in the 19-year-old qualities that cannot easily be measured in numbers: courage, strength of nerve, enthusiasm & leadership. In his 14 months at #AFC, Mislintat proved that his way of doing things worked in the PL.

#AFC's newly appointed DoF Raul Sanllehi, however, decided to put more trust in his network of agents as far as recruitment was concerned. Mislintat saw this startling development as a signal. His contract was terminated by mutual consent.

There's stuff about buying StatDNA in secrecy in late 2012. Apparently, it identified Manolas before his move to Roma but scouts weren't convinced. Implies Wenger was convinced to buy Chamakh & Park Chu-young after data from StatDNA suggested they'd be poor signings.

I started playing because I discovered the joy of football and wanted to get into it, and I figured fantasy would be a great way to learn about the sport/players/teams. It is. I've only been watching football for real for 3 full seasons, and I already know a lot about the sport. Obviously not compared to most or /r/nfl, but more than most people. So I'd say just jump right in.

One thing that was helpful during my first season was watching games with my roommate who knows a ton about football. We actually had free NFL Sunday Ticket at our place (for some reason, our landlord could add a second house onto his subscription? no idea but we didn't press the issue), so we'd sit there all Sunday and he'd explain things to me.

I've heard this book is great for learning more but I haven't gotten around to it.

Oh, also, when I first got into football (end of 2011 season), my friend played Madden with me and would explain things. That helped a ton. Before that I didn't really understand football. I knew about downs and stuff but nothing about the strategy, so playing Madden was really what made it click and that's when I fell in love with football. Actually, I just decided I'm going to pick up an Xbox so I can start playing Madden for real to get deeper into knowledge of routes and strategy, I feel like I've hit a wall based on what I learn watching games and reading about the game. I'm a girl so I never played football growing up except for just fucking around.

3 years later, I "have a football problem" according to my friends. And it's kind of crazy how much I've picked up in a short amount of time, but mostly that is because of fantasy.

First, look on YouTube for basic info. You can find videos about positions and plays and even schemes like the spread pretty easily.

Second, I recommend looking up some film breakdowns. Bill Belichick does them weekly (I think it's weekly) on a local Boston channel, but you can find some of them on YouTube by searching for Belichick Breakdown.

Third, try to find some guides for how to watch football and how to breakdown a game. Articles like this can provide you with a greater understanding of what everyone is doing during a play.

Fourth, do some reading.

I highly recommend Take Your Eye Off the Ball: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look to help you while watching the game, but be sure to get the paperback version so you get all the diagrams. It will teach you the progression of the reads, the route running, the blocking and everything that happens on defense as well.

To help you cut through some of the jargon announcers use, I recomment Blood, Sweat and Chalk: The Ultimate Football Playbook.

If you want to learn more about strategies, try The Essential Smart Football.

To learn more about evaluating players, Football Scouting Methods is a must read. It will take you to the football of another era, but with the foundation from all the other info I've provided you will be able to start putting the pyramid together and learn how the game became what it was today.

Welcome to the best fanbase in football!

1. I really enjoyed the book Take Your Eye Off the Ball, sounds like what you're looking for.
   
2. This subreddit and Buffalo Rumblings are my go-tos. I also like to listen to WGR 550 (Buffalo's sports talk station) when I get the chance.
   
3. Need a little more clarification here - what do you mean by "keep an eye on"? Probably the biggest question a lot of fans have right now is what we're going to do at quarterback this offseason - will Tyrod start next year? Will we draft someone and/or sign a free agent QB, and if so, who? Etc.
   
4. For getting a feel for the team, watch the "Four Falls of Buffalo" documentary produced by ESPN. It's about Buffalo's famous four consecutive trips to the Super Bowl in the early 90's. As for specific games, The Comeback is one very famous example; others will have more suggestions I'm sure.
   
   Go Bills!

The best way in my opinion is to join a fantasy league. Research who to pick, learn about the best players in the league, and then try to win.

The reason fantasy is such a good idea is that you'll start to follow your players and you'll want to watch a lot of different games to see how your players are doing. The rules are constantly explained during TV so by the end of the season you'll know pretty much as much as any casual fan.

If you want a crash course on in-depth football details (types of defense/offence and what each player's role is) there's a great book by Pat Kirwan that you should think about picking up: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004322EYQ/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title

[The System: The Glory and Scandal of Big-Time College Football] (http://www.amazon.com/System-Scandal-Big-Time-College-Football-ebook/dp/B00C0AM2XG/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1419270371&sr=1-1&keywords=the+system) was a really interesting read.

Bruce Feldman's books, [Meat Market] (http://www.amazon.com/Meat-Market-Smash-Mouth-Football-Recruiting-ebook/dp/B00P6KC4GM/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1419270508&sr=1-1&keywords=meat+market+inside+the+smash-mouth+world+of+college+football+recruiting) and [The QB] (http://www.amazon.com/QB-Making-Modern-Quarterbacks/dp/0553418459/ref=asap_B00NI03SCG?ie=UTF8) were both easy and fun reads.

[Rammer Jammer, Yellow Hammer] (http://www.amazon.com/Rammer-Jammer-Yellow-Hammer-Journey-ebook/dp/B000FC1W5K/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1419270677&sr=1-3&keywords=Dixieland+Delight) I enjoyed as well.

The Missing Ring was already mentioned, that is a good one too.

[The Last Coach: A Life of Paul "Bear" Bryant] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Coach-Life-Bryant/dp/039332897X) is another excellent read on a legend.

1. Did you find it as confusing as I did when Mike Sam played the WILL linebacker?
   
   
2. Football seems to lend itself to ad hoc theorizing, in which we try to fit an intuitive line to a bunch of noisy data. But we've got the tools now to test these fan explanations fairly rigorously. I'm curious about your logical process when you're writing an article - how would go about proving or disproving something like, "For the past four seasons, Baylor's offensive is consistently excellent, and they win or lose the game based entirely on a wildly inconsistent defense"? Feel free to pick a different example.
   
   
3. Setting aside the obvious GIGO issues -- injuries to key personnel and insufficient/poor data from early games -- what is the factor that gives you the biggest pause about advanced stats? Is there an intangible physical, psychological, or strategic quality that you think can't or can't yet be captured?
   
   
4. I believe it was Andy Staples on Stewie Mandel's podcast who was lamenting that there weren't any geeks on the Playoff Committee, and mentioned you by name as the obvious omission. Would you have any interest if your name was floated? If not you, whom would you nominate?
   
   
5. I really enjoyed Study Hall. I was surprised at the wide variety of answers from coaches on how they use stats, from motivation to quality control to strategic guidance to not at all. Do you think we're approaching a Billy Beane moment, where an on-paper inferior team pulls a number of upsets and publicly credits it to statistical analysis over subjective traditions?

I've read a lot of nonfiction sports books. When a decent writer covers a fascinating sports topic they can be pretty hard to beat. Some of my absolute favorites:

Play Their Hearts Out by George Dohrmann Phenomenal story that shows the insanity of elite high school basketball and the recruiting machine.

Bringing the Heat by Mark Bowden Fly on the wall account of the Philadelphia Eagles' 1992. Some great insights into players like Jerome Brown, Randall Cunningham, and Reggie White and Bowden (who also wrote Black Hawk Down) describes on and off-field action very well.

Soccernomics by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski A mix between Freakonomics and Moneyball as it relates to international soccer. If you have any interest in soccer or international sports/business its definitely worth a read.

Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby Reflections on intense fandom from a novelist. Soccer-related (and unfortunately this book is the reason why I am now stuck supporting Arsenal) but Hornby's musings definitely apply across sports.

Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer Journalist returns to his Alabama roots to follow the Tide's football season in an RV amongst die hard fans. Great book about fandom and a chronicle of a season.

Pacific Rims by Rafe Bartholomew Just finished this one. Filipinos are obsessed with basketball and this book describes the depths of the national obsession as well as covering the 2007 season of the Alaska Aces in the Philippines Basketball Association. Asian professional basketball is a bit different than its NBA cousin and I found the book to be incredibly interesting.

https://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1536188603&sr=8-2&keywords=take+your+eye+off+the+ball&dpID=51ObJ6UtyzL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch

I haven't found any channels that do a good job of starting with the basics, but this book does a great job. It's an easy read, starts with the basics and goes into great detail

As I Canadian who moved to Austin for grad school and learned to love football, I sympathize with the need to find something that covers the basics!

Here's a site I linked to below that covers some basics:
http://footballoutsiders.com/strategy-minicamps?page=2
... but even that might be too advanced.

If you're looking for complete basics, you might be better off with a book.
Take Your Eye Off the Ball is quite helpful for this, as it covers the basics of all the different positions and it gets into formations and a bit of strategy.:
http://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320168296&sr=8-1

Football for Dummies is even more basic, but it can be a good guide for the beginner:
http://www.amazon.com/Football-Dummies-USA-Sports-Hobbies/dp/1118012615/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320168316&sr=8-1

This book was pretty helpful. It isn’t too long and it’s not a bad read. It breaks down the basics of formations and play types. It helps you understand and figure out a teams game plan while you’re watching the game. I haven’t read it in a while so I don’t remember everything it gets into but you see the game differently after you read it. Definitely doesn’t get into everything but it’s a pretty good start.

https://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910/ref=nodl_

Stop watching the ball. But seriously though, I have some pretty successful sports writer friends who have a deeper knowledge of football than I ever will and that's the biggest piece of advice they give me. That book is pretty good, but to be honest, I still slip back into watching the ball and wonder why we don't call the "throw a touchdown play" more often.

Also, welcome to the journalism brotherhood. I cover politics, not sports, so hit me up should you need any advice on understanding the farm bill.

Edited for a typo that drove me crazy.

If you don't mind spending a tenner, buy this book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Football-For-Dummies-Lifestyles-Paperback/dp/1118012615/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1344784338&sr=8-2

It's only a dummies guide but it's brilliant, really helped me understand the more advanced aspects of the game. It explains some of the most basic plays and some of the more interesting ones, it explains what the point of the different defensive formations are, what every individual player's role is and how they're used, etc.

If you're looking to spend some money you can buy this book, but if you hang out around here long enough most of it will be covered at some point; it does organize everything though.

Like Wham said, it takes time/studying, but a lot of it is just terminology; "Cover" formations is, for the most part, just the number of safeties providing help over the top of the CBs to protect against the deep ball.

Even after you know what to look for, it can be baffling in real time.

You're probably right that those sports won't be around for long, now that we know about the injuries caused by them. However, if you think that's the end of those sports, you're probably off.

I want to use football as the example here. Before the 1900s, Football was a lot like rugby (which Americans see now as "football, but super violent because they don't use pads"). Obviously, safety gear was less effective and less common, but also the sport had a history then of violence based on common tactics used by teams at the time (turns out, large masses of people bashing into each other like a mosh pit at a concert isn't healthy in any context). In 1905, the body count of the sport hit an all-time high of 19 deaths that year from playing football. And as this sport was played by young men in college, some were worried about the risks to the health of their children and loved ones who played the game. President Theodore Roosevelt actually threatened to shut down football as an organized sport if changes couldn't be made to make the game safer (note that while Roosevelt definitely called for changes to be made, historians dispute that he threatened to close the whole thing down. But I digress). Several fundamental changes to the game were made at that time, including banning "mass formation plays", banning interlocked arms and legs as a way to stop oncoming players, and introducing the forward pass as a legal play. The result was a game that was, in many ways, different from football at the time, but was much safer as it widened the field of play and prevented the massive concentrations of bodies that led to the worst injuries in the game.

Now, let's get back to the point here. What I'm saying is that yes, if the sports you mention are going to continue, they'll have to change drastically in common-sense ways to prevent injuries for the players. But at the same time, that doesn't have to mean that the sport is "doomed". We've made changes to the games in the past, and there's no reason we couldn't do it again and still call the game football (or boxing, or MMA).

EDIT: There's actually a published work that talks about those football reforms, for those who are interested.

buy Pat kirwans book - it will help you understand the sport better:
http://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910

It is possible to play the game, sure, but you will need to understand how offenses and defenses operate to really enjoy it, unless you play it on easy.

> I have read every book ever about Arsenal

Really?

I'm a bit of a book junkie, I can recommend a few you might not have come across:

The End: 80 Years of Life on the Terraces: 80 Years of Life on Arsenal's North Bank

We All Live in a Perry Groves World

True Storey: My Life and Crimes as a Football Hatchet Man

Fallen Idle

Bob Wilson: My Autobiography - Behind the Network

Addicted

Battle of London: Arsenal Versus Tottenham Hotspur

The Real Arsenal: From Chapman to Wenger - the unofficial story

Rebels for the Cause: The Alternative History of Arsenal Football Club

Bob Wall - Arsenal From The Heart

Bernard Joy - Forward, Arsenal!

Steaming In

The Last Game: Love, Death and Football

... and for some proper old-school type stuff, have a look here where a very dedicated person has scanned full books that are out of print:

> Tom Whittaker's Arsenal Story
>
> Bernard Joy - Forward, Arsenal!
> One of the first books covering Arsenal's history. Published in 1952.
>
> George Allison - The Inside Story Of Football
>
> Arsenal Players' Souvenir Brochure for the 1947-48 Season
>
> Herbert Chapman On Football
> During the early 1930s Herbert Chapman contributed articles to The Sunday Express. This compendium of his articles was published shortly after his death.
>
> Joe Mercer - The Great Ones
>
> Jon Sammels - Double Champions-Playing The Arsenal Way

Very interesting. Their approach seem to fall very much in line with methods outlined in ["Football Hackers" by Biermann] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Football-Hackers-Science-Data-Revolution/dp/1788702050). Especially when they discuss the types of chances they create, and identifying a striker that is particularly good at those. Very interesting to see them benefit from it.

A great comedy nonetheless-


One Step from Glory: Tottenham's 2018/19 Champions League https://www.amazon.in/dp/1785315986/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_v6oIDbJYMED4Y

1. Yes.

2. As a new fan you're going to want to get to know the stars of the team. On offense, Aaron Rodgers (Quarterback), Jordy Nelson (Wide-Reciever), Randall Cobb (Wide-Reciever). On defense, Clay Matthews (Outside Linebacker), Julius Peppers (Outside Linebacker), "HaHa" Clinton-Dix (Safety) Mike Daniels (Defensive-End)

3. For tactics as a fresh beginner I'd recommend the book "Take Your Eye Off the Ball" by Pat Kirwan with forewords by Bill Cowher (Former Head-Coach of the Steelers) and Pete Carroll (Current Head-Coach of the Seahawks). It's currently $3 on Amazon used and it provides the perfect foundation of understanding what goes on behind the curtain, sort of speak. Amazon

4. Check out fantasy football. That will really hook you into getting to know these players. Although the season is over you can do mock drafts with actual people over at Fantasy Football Calculator

I'll be releasing a torrent of the Packers entire season sometime this week. Download it and see if football is something you'd like to get more into.

If you like reading, this is a great book for people like you and still good for any NFL fan. I enjoyed it even though I read it at 30 years old and I've been watching football since I was 3.

https://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910

Here's a good book called "Keep Your Eye Off The Ball." It's always raved about here on /r/nfl, and it pretty much teaches you how to watch football properly.

It's definitely not for beginners. I've given up on the book in several parts as I'm still a relatively new fan, but what I have got from it is great.

I'm that weird person who's more of a reader than a gamer, and I, too, am trying to get more into the game. I've found the current edition of Football for Dummies to be a surprisingly good resource. Enjoy the journey! Love this sport.

Since this stat is total adjusted yards, the multipliers convert every non-yardage value into yards. So touchdowns = 20 yards, interceptions = -45 yards, fumbles = -50 yards, etc.

All those values have been around since The Hidden Game of Football in 1988. Pretty much every advanced stat today utilizes those same multiplier values.

I mean nobody likes losing... but yeah we have some bad apples... as does any fanbase. Our program and our fans are used to winning thanks to success throughout the 2000s. As a team, we've come close but haven't tasted a championship and as fans, we feel that our program has not gained the respect we believe we deserve. If you look at West Virginia as a state (I only went to WVU - wasn't born there) it is often stereotyped and ridiculed by people who have never even been there. There's a book that sums up the history of the program pretty well. One of the reasons fans are so down is because we saw this loss coming and know what the rest of the season could end up being.

This book, although old, is full of awesome anecdotes, strategy and technique analysis. Can't recommend it enough.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0671602764
I would honestly shy away from madden unless you know literally nothing. While you learn what plays are and that kind of thing it really doesn't teach you strategy. It's just nice to know when you play.

best football book of all time written by this guy: "The Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football".

I had to find an old beaten up copy second hand years ago, I don't know if it's easier to find now.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thinking-Mans-Guide-Professional-Football/dp/0671602764 Looks pretty expensive on here

Two easy recommendations: The Essential Smart Football from Chris Brown and Study Hall from Bill Connelly. The former is the easier read but both go in-depth without being too confusing. When I was done reading them I felt smarter, for whatever that's worth.

The more you watch the more you'll be able to see things out of your peripheral vision. Like when playing a video game you're shooting at someone while also looking at the radar at the same time.

Also if you're interested this book is really good: http://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910/

It’s hard to quantify, yes, but we are getting better and better at advanced metrics across professional sports, and soccer is no exception.

This book is in my Amazon queue for that reason.

You're confusing Pace and Acceleration. Bergkamp was one of the faster (top 5) players in the squad over 60 Metres. That's how he was involved in many counter-attacking build up plays. This is a fact said by Arsene Wenger from time to time.

Watch a couple of highlight reels during his playing years. He catches up to everyone but Thierry Henry or Ashley Cole during a counter.

People don't magically reach their top speed instantly... He should have 80s pace, maybe 70s acceleration is baked into the engine. This is why I don't take video game stats seriously.

EDIT: If you'd like a source, feel free to buy a copy of The Italian Job. He was third in the club's 60 metre race during the Invincibles season (2003/2004). At 33 years of age.

American football is a complicated game. My wife learned the game by reading Football for Dummies. In my experience it is the best way to get a good understanding of the game and it starts from scratch.
Baseball or basketball would be much easier to learn. Even young children pick up on basebally quite fast.

Study Hall: College Football, Its Stats and Stories by Bill Connelly this book is incredible. It is a great blend of pure college football stories and raw advanced statistics. He has interviews with coaches, former players, and top college football writers. He has personal stories, he discusses pay for play, concussions and other hot topics, and explains his advanced saber metric-esc statistics. You can read the first chapter here

Nice. My secret santa got me this book. It seems really interesting. Secret santa is awesome

Buy some football books, start reading websites that cover strategy like Smart Football and what has helped me is that I have games from last year recorded and I'll just watch one position or maybe a few and see what they do on every play (helps with patterns and technique, therefore possible plays). Also what you can do is document football plays as you watch, as explained in Take Your Eye Off the Ball and you start noticing patterns and plays better. That is a start.

I read the Blind Side too which was a strong read but my personal favorite was the one that Pat Kirwin (you can listen to him on Sirius NFL radio) put out last year. It's called Take Your Eye Off the Ball . It doesn't have as much history as it does strategies and coach/GM speak. A very good read though.

Some good suggestions in here.

To add: Check out this book, Take Your Eye Off the Ball by Pat Kirwan. It's got a great breakdown for how to watch/analyze football when you're ready to go beyond just watching the QB, RB, and WRs.

Not exactly what you asked for, but I got Keep Your Eyes Off the Ball off Amazon for just a few bucks a couple years ago, and it really helped me a lot with this very thing. The spiral bound "playbook edition" comes with a three hour DVD as well. The spiral version isn't dinky/flimsy so don't be scared.

Before that book, I never knew where I was supposed to be looking and missed out on a lot. Problem solved.

Edit to Add: There is an updated/newer version now, but Amazon reviewers are unclear about whether it has a DVD, if that matters to you--I think the book is pretty clear on its own.

This is typical of people who don't look at the body of work. You're likely the same person who thinks Baker is good.

After putting up 200yards on the ground I could throw the ball for the 49ers now. It's 2nd half, the Niners have run all game. They are up multiple scores, the throws are free now.

Read this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004322EYQ

You're welcome.

It's a bit dated (1997), but Feinstein's Army/Navy book is pretty good.

Piggybacking to provide Amazon links:

• The Essential Smart Football by Chris B. Brown
  
  
• Take Your Eye Off the Ball: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look by Pat Kirwan
  
  
• Football Scouting Methods by Steve Belichick
  
  
• The Games That Changed the Game: The Evolution of the NFL in Seven Sundays by Ron Jaworski
  
  ...and also to add a couple of homer suggestions of my own:
  
  
• Brady vs Manning: The Untold Story of the Rivalry That Transformed the NFL by Gary Myers
  
  
• Belichick: The Making of the Greatest Football Coach of All Time by Ian O'Connor

The Big Scrum is my go to recommendation for a history style text. You have a players flair so I am not sure The Essential Smart Footbal will be meaningful for you to read, but its a great book nonetheless.

So has everyone seen the amazing new book, One Step from Glory:Tottenham Hotspur's Champions League Campaign 2018/19?

The author.

Available on amazon. It's #1854 on the amazon bestsellers list. Pop on over to read the reviews. There's only a couple so far.

The Big Scrum: How Teddy Roosevelt Saved Football is a good, easy read.

A good intro to understanding the game of football is Pat Kirwan's book, Take Your Eye Off The Ball.

Take his notes on the origins of zone blocking with a grain of salt, though.

NFL Game Rewind is also a fantastic resource, giving fans the ability to watch the same kind of film coaches do.

Sounds like you may enjoy the Hidden Game of Football and it may help you with your formula.

http://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Game-Football-Bob-Carroll/dp/0446514144

I picked up this book myself and found it super interesting:

Take Your Eye Off the Ball: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look

Definitely helped me understand not just the game on the field but also things around it, like drafts and contracts.

Along similar lines, Gus Malzahn wrote a book about his offense. It's similar to what you describe but a slight variant of that.

Also, While not a new trend, or even as popular as the ones you described, the air raid offense is one of my favorite trends. It flourished mostly in the 80s under Lavell Edwards at BYU but itis still used today, notably by Mike Leach at Washington State.

I have...there are just still so many difference that could be had outside of that. Recruiting wise inaddition to Academic, social, political(scheduling). A great read from the wv sideline:
http://www.amazon.com/Waiting-Fall-Virginia-University-Football/dp/0985200901

Okay, I like the sound of this. What else do you read to inform you understanding?

I'm a relatively old and new again soccer/football fan. I spent my youth watching the NFL, I played American Football in high school and some college. So I got fairly educated on the NFL tactics (3-4 vs 4-3, the changing role of the linebacker in the NFL)

I've found that analysis of soccer tactics in this vein are not as mainstream. So how does one get the same sort of information in regard to soccer/football as they would from NFL football from this book (mind you it's quite old, not necessarily outdated)

Get this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910

It is maybe 2-3 years out of date with the player names, but it will give you a good primer on what teams are looking to do, how they plan on doing it, and the back and forth between each coach as they try to decipher each others tendencies and play calls.

Most of these are analytical:

Take your eyes of the ball by Pat Kirwan.


The Games That Changed the Game: The Evolution of the NFL in Seven Sundays by Ron Jaworski

War Room: The Legacy of Bill Belichick and the Art of Building the Perfect Team by Michael Holley


The Art of Smart Football by Chris B. Brown

Football Coaching Strategies will probably fit with what you want. It may be a little more offense-based that what you're looking for, though. I had it when I coached middle school football and found it to be a great resource.

Offensive Football Strategies and Defensive Football Strategies are more in depth. I would say they are your next step after digesting the information in the first book.

For how to appreciate the game more, Take Your Eye Off The Ball.

For a great narrative from a player's perspective, Slow Getting Up.

Just got home for the weekend to visit the family (mostly the dogs). Class and my first time living alone has been going for 3 weeks now, I'm having a good time. Eagerly waiting for the fall. Not just for that though, for Everton as well.

My personal life is still a shambles though and will probably continue to be for a while. Girlfriend 3 of the year went like the first two, not well at all. I should just chill at this point.

Not OP but here's a great resource if you're looking for a deeper understanding.

http://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910

It's dated now, but still one of the great books about NFL football: The Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football by Paul Zimmerman

> Good no huddle coaches make good no huddle teams.

Yep. That's why I'm glad we got the guy who literally wrote the book.

Chris Brown's Smart Football blog is pretty good. I also got a lot of mileage out of Take Your Eye Off The Ball and Blood, Sweat, and Chalk.

Pat Kirwan's "Take Your Eye Off the Ball: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look" helped me out a ton. It's NFL-focused, and not defense-specific, but the concepts translate. I adored this book. It's absolutely worth every cent.

Take your Eye Off the Ball is an excellent read that can help explain some of the more subtle things about football.

Hey, I really recommend Pat Kirwan's book if you want to really get a good primer on how to watch and understand football.

​

https://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910

If you like the writing style of Michael Lewis, you need to check out this book. Lewis wrote a fantastic book on a way to look at baseball that no fan had ever seen before. He based his hugely successful baseball book on The Hidden Game of Football, now out of print but available used.

For pure storytelling, you have to read "When Pride Still Mattered". This biography of Vince Lombardi is nothing short of a masterpiece, and it's no surprise. It's written by a Pulitzer Prize-winning author in a style very different from most bio works.

The New Thinking Man's Guide to Professional Football. While this is an out of print book from 1985, it's brilliant, still relevant, and very well written.

Read 'Take Your Eye off the Ball' by Pat Kirwan. Its AWESOME!

http://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406482909&sr=1-1&keywords=take+your+eye+off+the+ball

Teaches you a lot.

Good meme friend

https://www.amazon.com/Hurry-Up-No-Huddle-Offensive-Philosophy/dp/1585186546

This is pretty good and written by Howie Long:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Football-For-Dummies-4E-Howie-Long/dp/1118012615

First, there is a lot more to football than what is happening after the ball is snapped. Take your eye off the ball.

Also, the replays are not superfluous. So much is happening on the field at once that it is almost impossible to see everything. OK, the RB just ran for 20 yards. Why did that happen. On the replay you can see how the defense was in man coverage and was pulled away from the run by the receivers, and how the guards pulled to deliver great blocks - or whatever the case may be.

Commercials are annoying, but I am rarely bored while the play clock is rolling.

Surprised I haven't seen this one yet...

Rebels for the Cause

Great book about the history of Arsenal, from the very beginning.

Take Your Eye Off the Ball by Pat Kirwin is one of the best football books money can buy

Used copy on Amazon can be had for a few bucks

Here is an excellent book to learn all the basics and some advanced stuff about football.

Take Your Eye Off the Ball

A book called 'take your eye off the ball' is suppose to be good for learning the x's and o's. It's suppose to help get a grasp of formations and the chess match of the game.
Edit: link to Amazon and words.

Football Against the Enemy

Not a book on tactics but a great book on the origin of football rivalries. It was written in the mid-90s so it's a bit out of date but so well written that you don't really care.

If you really want to laugh at Spurs this isn't going anywhere.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/One-Step-Glory-Tottenhams-Champions/dp/1785315986

I try to usually watch the defense on any given play, usually the linebackers since you can't see much of the secondary (on TV). I recommend the following book:

http://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2N5XD87VH8WX4&coliid=I3DLWTK0HRQ6BQ

Take Your Eye Off The Ball is a great place to start!

looks like someone's read Pat Kirwan's book-- totally recommend it to everyone who's into the game.

This book is a great resource. The dude knows the game.

This is a great one

a great book by Pat Kirwin: ["Keep Your Eye off the Ball"]
(http://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347921117&sr=8-1&keywords=keep+your+eye+off)

I'm reading Meat Market right now. Very interesting read. If you haven't read it, it's about Orgeron's revitalization of the program. Written well.

Take your eye of the ball Quick read. Good explanation of everything related to the NFL that the common fan probably doesn't know.

Education of a Coach a Biography of Bill Belichick. Really good but a little out of date now. Still it's current up till 2004 or so and most of BB's life took place before that.

Check out Matt Bowen's Football 101 stuff from when he was with Bleacher Report:

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2007958-nfl-101-the-basics-of-the-3-4-defensive-front

He's really good at explaining everything.

There are also some books that have been recommended quite a few times on this sub, like this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910

Came here to recommend Take Your Eye Off The Ball which is ridiculously thorough.

This version even includes a DVD.

It's $10. Definitely worth it.

Start by reading this blog:

http://smartfootball.com/

Next, read these two books:

http://www.amazon.com/Offensive-Football-Strategies-American-Association/dp/0736001395

http://www.amazon.com/Defensive-Football-Strategies-American-Association/dp/0736001425

Note that both of these books target high school coaching strategies, so they're relatively basic and don't go into a lot of detail.

Finally, go through this list of resources:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d82a6d39d/article/summer-reading-our-favorite-football-books

If you're still itching for material on strategy, look at books about the great coaches. There is a good one about Bill Walsh, but I don't recall the name of it.

Rebels for the Cause.. alternative history - great football author too

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rebels-Cause-Alternative-Football-Mainstream/dp/1840189002

One of the reasons that NFL games are so difficult to watch is that TV coverage does a horrible job of covering what goes on between plays. Rather than listening to Buck & Aikman fellate Aaron Rogers yet again, they should cover more personnel changes and other between-play activities on the field. There's a lot going on, but they don't really talk about it much.

This is a good read, too:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004322EYQ/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

I recommend reading this if you really want to understand the game. It puts perspective on a whole 'nother level.

Paul Zimmerman's Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football is a must read for serious fans. He does a step by step breakdown of the adjustments defenses and offenses have made from the start of the game to the 80s. It's a great basic starting point.

This is an entertaining must-read primer on the Tide: https://www.amazon.com/Rammer-Jammer-Yellow-Hammer-Journey-ebook/dp/B000FC1W5K?ie=UTF8&btkr=1&ref_=dp-kindle-redirect

Can't adapt his offense to fit his personnel? I suppose that's how he managed to make fucking Chris Todd look half decent, by running his offense the exact same way he would with Cam Newton? His offenses have finished in the top 30 nearly every year he's been a head coach or OC at the FBS level... But he misses on one QB recruit in JJ and has to force guys who aren't ready into action as a result and suddenly he's a bum who can't coach. Gotta love how short people's memories can be.

Also he literally wrote the book on one of the biggest football innovations of the last 30 years, so yeah, he is innovative.

There's also a book on it, if you're a reader:


The Big Scrum: How Teddy Roosevelt Saved Football

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Italian-Job-Gabriele-Marcotti/dp/0553817876 will be an interesting read.

Meat Market I found interesting.

> You will benefit from this post.
>
> https://www.reddit.com/r/WhereAllTheGoodMenAre/comments/awomug/the_maturity_myth/

This always makes me think of one of the most eye opening books on coaching football I have ever read: The Hidden Game of Football. The authors analyzed the statistics of more than four thousand professional football games and discovered some harsh truths. For example, going for it on 4th and 3 or less is worth 2.4 points statistically per game. Punting in the same situation is only worth 1.6 points. Therefore it makes sense to always go for it in that situation as the cost of not getting a first down is outweighed by the reward for doing so successfully.

Along with that, one statistic they presented was that coaches who bring newly drafted quarterbacks along slowly lose games and those quarterbacks are almost never worth the time and energy put into their development. New quarterbacks who will become franchise players (Brady, Montana, Marino, Elway, etc) Are generally on grass within five games of their entry to the league. If they are not capable of leading the team after that, they should be traded for draft picks.

To translate: maturity is a myth in professional football. Either a player can play from the outset or they can’t. Statistically speaking, if they can’t, cut them after five games and move on.

Same with women. If she can’t hit the seam and read the zone blitz by game five, cut her ass for draft picks.

May I recommend this?

http://www.amazon.com/Football-Dummies-Howie-Long/dp/1118012615

Only the British...

If you're interested in the service academies, or just want to gain insight into the American psyche, I strongly recommend A Civil War: The Army-Navy Game by John Feinstein. Amazon sells it, including a digital copy. No football knowledge required; the book is about the insular, rarely-seen culture of the two schools, and about the incredible young people who put themselves through four years of hell for the privilege of serving their country and leading their fellow servicemembers.

This book will lay it all out for you quite well

Meat Market

And

The System

Are cool reads on the subject

Football is really really complicated, you're never going to learn the technique related stuff (how to release from press as a WR, how to chain moves together as a pass rusher) without playing yourself

Learning general knowledge stuff like formations and pre-snap reads for an offense/defense read "Take your eyes off the ball"

Una amiga viaja a NY y me va a traer estas dos bellezas:
Take Your Eye Off the Ball y The Essential Smart Football así que voy a tener para hacerme una panzada!.

Por otro lado, mañana PARTIDASO de la NBA, Boston vs. Golden State, no puede fallar.

Finalmente, este fin de semana hay PPV de lucha libre y no puedo estar más hypeado, hace tiempo que no venía tan manija y encima cierra todo con un lunes feriado, fiesta loca. Ah y WARGAMEEEEEEEES BAYBEH.

Perdonen que vengo atrasado con el post, pero estoy con tanto laburo que se me re pasó, mil gracias /u/blackfinwe !

Belichick the football master whatever test they give to players are top notch! I read on Take Your Eye off the Ball

The absolute best resource for getting started with a no huddle offense is Gus Malzahn’s book Hurry Up, No Huddle Offense. here’s the book

As far as practice plans and drills to get your kids able to execute that type of offense you can’t beat the Tony Franklin System. This is great stuff here

"Take Your Eye Off the Ball"

Worth the price.

there was also an interesting book about it, the big scrum. read it recently. it jumps around a lot, but tells the whole story.

Not sure - can't really find the author's name. Heres a link to it on Amazon though.

Defensive Football Strategies (American Football Coaches Association) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0736001425/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_bCGnDb7C9CZNY

Teddy was an important figure because he was under a lot of pressure from institutional heads to reform the game. There was a book I read a few years ago called The Big Scrum the spoke about his involvement in this in length. Teddy may have helped bring about the talks that lead to the creation of the forward pass, but it was Harvard in the end that sealed the deal (pretty much all due to the fact that their brand new stadium was made of reinforced concrete).

Playing MAdden is okay, but I find it hard to believe nobody has suggested actually reading a book other than the rule book.
Check these out:
Take your Eye off the Ball

Blood, Sweat, and Chalk

there's a great book on that team. A Civil War by John Feinstein. link below

\https://www.amazon.com/Civil-War-College-Footballs-Rivalry/dp/0316278246

Take Your Eye off the Ball by Pat Kirwan

http://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/B0078XOX3C

I see this one recommended often in these threads. I have yet to pick it up myself, though.

http://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_c

They're always one step from glory

Great book that explains this (and a lot more) in detail for the layperson. Go to the "Look Inside" deal and see page 31, he breaks down/diagrams out a call and shows how the pattern works.

LOL

Take Your Eye Off the Ball: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1600783910/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_Ese5Cb4H8GXDW

This is covered quit a bit in Gianluca Vialli and Gabriele Marcotti's book.

Take your eye off the ball

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.amazon.ca/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910&ved=0ahUKEwjv-NjDrYzVAhUU12MKHdsHBWYQFghkMAo&usg=AFQjCNHaxkn39qoocGE1lxW3XHIpPF5k6Q

Take Your Eye off the ball: How to watch football by knowing where to look

take you're eye off the ball by pat kirwin

https://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2WF70MTV1EPJN&keywords=take+your+eye+off+the+ball&qid=1571011683&sprefix=take+your+eye+of%2Caps%2C208&sr=8-2

https://www.amazon.ca/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910

Pat Kirwan's "Take Your Eye Off the Ball"

I am gonna pick this up.

http://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910

[Take your eye off the ball] (http://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910) by Pat Kirwan is exactly what you're looking for

This book helped me a lot

American Football Coaches Association has a series of books that are very instructional:

• Football Strategies
  
• Offensive Strategies
  
• Defensive Strategies

http://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910

This book.

Get a book by Pat Kirwan called take your eyes off the ball:

http://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910

Take Your Eye Off the Ball: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look

the book

I think there's one called "Get your eye off the ball". Not sure if it's the right title.

Edit: http://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910

A Civil War: Army Vs Navy is one of my favorites

>the famous 4th Down study that introduced the idea of expected points

Not sure which study that is, but Expected Points were introduced no later than 1988, when The Hidden Game of Football was published.

Gus Malzahn wrote a book about his offensive philosophy when he was still coaching high school.

https://www.amazon.com/Hurry-Up-No-Huddle-Offensive-Philosophy/dp/1585186546

So...saying that two specific play calls you meantioned were good means that I approve of the playcalls?

You're a dumbass.

Seriously, you seem to lack a very basic understand of football. We lost because of poor special teams play, and penalties that consistently put the offense behind the chains.

https://www.amazon.com/Football-Dummies-Howie-Long/dp/1118012615

Click the link, buy the book, and learn something.