Tom Landry And Bill Walsh

The shotgun formation. The West Coast Offense. The 4-3 defense. We expect to see these things when we watch football, but without Tom Landry and Bill Walsh, it's possible we wouldn't see any of that. This is the story of how two independent thinkers molded football in general -- and championship football in particular. And they didn't just change the sport's Xs and Os; they changed its style. The story of their combined influence is unusual because neither man's ideas seriously affected the other's. This story also is the tale of many football greats: Joe Montana, Roger Staubach, Jerry Rice, Tony Dorsett, Ronnie Lott, Bob Lilly, Roger Craig, Ed "Too Tall" Jones and numerous others. What's more, the story of these coaches is one of great opponents: Dan Marino, Fran Tarkenton, Don Shula, Chuck Noll, Mike Ditka and Lawrence Taylor, to name a few. Most of all, this is the story of two icons: Landry, the cerebral, stoic, impeccably-dressed engineer, and Walsh, the creative, professorial, somewhat sensitive artiste. Their greatest moments rank among football's seminal moments. Fittingly, each coach's most famous play was a pass. For Landry, it was the Hail Mary that beat the Vikings in the 1975 playoffs. And for Walsh, it was, of course, The Catch, which came at the expense of the Landry Cowboys. These stories and many others comprise the larger narrative of how these men shaped the game we see today. PRAISE FOR TOM LANDRY AND BILL WALSH FROM GADY EPSTEIN, STAFF WRITER, THE ECONOMIST... Lawson "knows more about those two coaches and their teams than any sane human being does (or should)...trust me when I say John is an entertaining writer...Buy the book!" PRAISE FOR TOM LANDRY AND BILL WALSH FROM CHARLES GAY, DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR, THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION..."TOM LANDRY AND BILL WALSH is a feast for serious NFL fans, tracing the game's dramatic evolution in a deeply intelligent and analytical style. Lawson layers his story with context and detail while never losing sight of the broader theme: innovation. The book manages to do all that while being a damned enjoyable read. If you love pro football, TOM LANDRY AND BILL WALSH is a must for your reading list."

The celebrated coach shares his philosophy of football, profiles players he has coached, and recounts key moments in his career

How many great catches have there been in the history of the NFL? Hundreds? Thousands? Mention "The Catch,"though, and fans will think of only one: Joe Montana to Dwight Clark, the NFC Championship game, the Dallas Cowboys vs. the San Francisco 49ers, January 10, 1982. It changed the game and The Game. This is the story of the pieces that fell into place to allow it to happen and what it meant to the players, to the fans, and to the future of professional football. Drama like this couldn't be scripted any better. Dallas was still reigning as America's team. San Francisco was hungry for a ticket to its first Super Bowl. With less than a minute left, the 49ers were one touchdown and extra point away from pulling it off, six yards from the end zone. Too Tall Jones and the Cowboys' celebrated defense were primed to stop Montana and the 49ers. The play came in from head coach Bill Walsh: Sprint Right Option. It almost never worked in practice. But this was game on. It had to work. Montana took the snap and rolled right. With 700 pounds of prime defensive talent bearing down on him, leaning backward, in his last moment of upright balance, Montana sent the ball to the back of the end zone. The primary receiver had slipped and was not in place. But the secondary receiver, Dwight Clark, was streaking toward the corner, leaping higher than he ever had or ever would again. With his arms reaching for the sky, his fingers splayed, he snatched the impossibly high pass, briefly lost control, regained it . . . touchdown! Franchises, careers, lives, and dynasties all changed in that moment. Sports journalist Gary Myers was there, and now with fresh revelations from key players, including Montana, Clark, Ronnie Lott, Randy Cross, Tony Dorsett, Drew Pearson, Charlie Waters, and others, he takes fans back to an iconic game and one of the NFL's most breathtaking plays. Myers presents new details on the rise of Montana and the 49ers and the fall of the '80s Cowboys. He reveals what Bill Walsh saw in an overlooked third-round draft pick named Joe Montana and how Walsh accidentally discovered Dwight Clark. He shows how legendary Dallas head coach Tom Landry, who as reputed did put winning first, was not above crying over players whose personal careers had to come second. He celebrates forgotten heroes like journeyman running back Lenvil Elliott, who picked that particular game–and that final drive down the field–to shine. It's all here, from the death threat that spooked Montana during the game to 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo's bad luck when his view of the historic play was literally blocked by a horse's ass. The Catch is both the ultimate replay of a sports moment for the ages and a penetrating look into the inner dynamics of the NFL.

An emotional memoir from Hall of Fame, Super Bowl winning former head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers and current CBS analyst, Bill Cowher.

A biography of the legendary professional football coach, known for his trademark fedora, who spent almost thirty years taking the Dallas Cowboys from punchline to NFL glory, ultimately delivering twenty consecutive winning seasons.

Describes the formative years of the renowned football coaches when they worked together as coordinators for the New York Giants in the mid-1950s, discussing how they each developed their unique coaching styles before they became famous.

How three football legends -- Bill Walsh, Joe Gibbs, and Bill Parcells -- won eight Super Bowls during the 1980s and changed football forever. Bill Walsh, Joe Gibbs and Bill Parcells dominated what may go down as the greatest decade in pro football history, leading their teams to a combined eight championships and developing some of the most gifted players of all time in the process. Walsh, Gibbs and Parcells developed such NFL stars as Joe Montana, Lawrence Taylor, Jerry Rice, Art Monk and Darrell Green. They resurrected the careers of players like John Riggins, Joe Theismann, Doug Williams, Everson Walls and Hacksaw Reynolds. They did so with a combination of guts and genius, built championship teams in their own likeness, and revolutionized pro football like few others. Their influence is still evident in today's game, with coaches who either worked directly for them or are part of their coaching trees now winning Super Bowls and using strategy the three men devised and perfected. In interviews with more than 150 players, coaches, family members and friends, GUTS AND GENIUS digs into the careers of three men who overcame their own insecurities and doubts to build Hall of Fame legacies that transformed their generation and continue to impact today's NFL.

The man who invented modern football.

In the NFL and corporate America, winning is the bottom line: like head coaches, executives must perform under intense pressure, motivate their team, and make crucial split-second decisions. Game Plans for Success takes the reader insider the mind of ten current and former NFL head coaches--including Mike Ditka, Chuck Noll, and Bill Walsh--to show how to apply the principles of effective coaching to the business world. Photos.