More Insights, Less Repetition Needed To Boost Myers’s “Coaching Confidential”

I heard Gary Myers pitching his book “Coaching Confidential” on an early-morning radio show one weekend, and remembered him as the unbelievably-geeky-looking contributor to “Inside the NFL” from years ago. Backed by some 35 years of covering the league, his book sounded like it could offer some interesting behind-the-scenes insights.

I did find the book to contain a lot of those revealing nuggets (good band name), but the writing was very so-so, there was a good bit of repetition, some obvious storylines were ignored and there were some occasional errors. Myers spent a lot of time with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who was very frank in his interviews, which led to many instances that only reinforced the outright douchiness of Bill Parcells.

Myers did spend some time on the Dolphins’ mind-numbing decision to choose a trade for an injured Daunte Culpepper over a free-agent signing of injured Dree Brees, which the author rightly wrote “sent the franchise reeling.” He also offered a series of amazing details surrounding the landmark Herschel Walker trade, as well as more minor revelations such as Rex Ryan’s dyslexia.

Much of the early part of the book examined the Bountygate scandal of the New Orleans Saints, and the fallout for suspended Saints coach Sean Payton. Myers’s most impassioned writing seemed to come at the expense of Payton:

“After he won it all, he got carried away with his self-importance, and his sense of entitlement and his arrogance went off the charts ... There had been talk around the NFL that after he won the Super Bowl, Payton was so full of himself it was bordering on unbearable and now he didn’t appear credible when he denied knowledge of what was going on in the defensive meeting room.”

Myers did peel back the curtain somewhat on the life of a coach, who he said “work ridiculously long hours in a business with a high rate of divorce.” In a cutthroat business that seems to generate far too many ego-driven, morally questionable “leaders,” it was refreshing to be exposed to alternate viewpoints, such as one offered by Denver Broncos coach John Fox.

“Some have addictive personalities. I don’t think any of us are finding a cure for cancer. It’s not like we are doing something that is really hard.”

The strength of Myers’s book came in some of the out-of-school tales he shared, including one straight out of a George Costanza plotline from “Seinfeld.” He wrote of a coach who parked two cars at the team’s offices—one in the front with his nametag on it and one in the back with no nametag. Apparently the coach would occasionally bolt early out the back door in the nondescript ride, leaving the impression that he was still toiling away to all hours, with his name prominently visible on the remaining car in front of the building.

Unfortunately, the book had too few examples of such anecdotes to overcome some of the work’s above-mentioned issues. It was a good, easy read at right around three weeks, but “Coaching Confidential” wasn’t quite what I expected—it left me wishing to know even more about the fascinating, secretive creature that is the professional football coach.