The NFL is a copycat league, as are professional and collegiate sports leagues in general, and the surest evidence of this is the annual race to hire the assistants of successful head coaches. Bill Belechick is easily the most successful NFL head coach in modern times (or realistically any time), which means he’s endured annual poaching from his staff.
Where it gets interesting is that NFL fans have had to subsequently endure the generally poor teams coached by Belichick disciples. Think Matt Patricia, Romeo Crennel, Al Groh, Jim Schwartz, and Eric Mangini. While they witnessed greatness up close, they weren’t able to bring the greatness with them to other teams.
All of this came to mind while reading John Talty’s very excellent and very entertaining The Leadership Secrets of Nick Saban: How Alabama’s Coach Became the Greatest Ever. While Talty is very Saban-like in not promising readers the skills to be like Saban after reading his book, its title understandably implies the imparting of crucial knowledge. Obviously people will purchase this wildly informative book and try to implement insights gleaned in their own personal and professional lives.
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