Syndetics cover image
Image from Syndetics

The perfect pass : American genius and the reinvention of football / S. C. Gwynne.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York, NY : Scribner, [2016]Edition: First Scribner hardcover edition September 2016Description: x, 292 pages : illustrations ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781501116193 (hardback)
  • 1501116193 (hardback)
Subject(s):
Contents:
The mad pirate's revenge -- A job you wouldn't want -- A brief history of men throwing balls -- Secrets of the air -- Ballad of the lonesome polecat -- Of Mouse and Mormons -- Maybe the worst team in America -- The future does not exist -- A convocation of rejects -- Hal's theory of relativity -- The air show comes to town -- The one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic pass -- No good deed unpunished -- Bumps in the road -- Pilgrimage to Margaritaville -- Rise of a great American offense -- The street value of an aerial circus -- Air raid -- High, wide, and handsome -- Stars in their courses -- Epilogue: The game changes.
Summary: "New York Times bestselling, award-winning historian S.C. Gwynne tells the incredible story of how Hal Mumme and Mike Leach--two unknown coaches who revolutionized American football in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s--changed the way the game is played at every level, from high school to the NFL"-- Provided by publisher.
Fiction notes: Click to open in new window
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 796.332 G995 Available 33111008465748
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Year

In the tradition of Michael Lewis's Moneyball , award-winning historian S.C. Gwynne tells the incredible story of how two unknown coaches revolutionized American football at every level, from high school to the NFL.

Hal Mumme is one of a handful of authentic offensive geniuses in the history of American football. The Perfect Pass is the story of how he irreverently destroyed and re-created the game.

Mumme spent fourteen mostly losing seasons coaching football before inventing a potent passing offense that would soon shock players, delight fans, and terrify opposing coaches. The revolution he fomented began at a tiny, overlooked college called Iowa Wesleyan, where Mumme was head coach and Mike Leach, a lawyer who had never played college football, was hired as his offensive line coach. In the cornfields of Iowa, while scribbling plays on paper napkins, these two mad inventors, drawn together by a shared disregard for conventionalism and a love for Jimmy Buffett, began to engineer the purest, most extreme passing game in the 145-year history of football. Implementing their "Air Raid" offense, their teams--at Iowa Wesleyan and later at Valdosta State and the University of Kentucky--played blazingly fast--faster than any team ever had before, and they routinely beat teams with far more talented athletes. And Mumme and Leach did it all without even a playbook. Their quarterback once completed sixty-one of eighty-six passes, both collegiate records.

In The Perfect Pass , S.C. Gwynne explores Mumme's leading role in changing football from a run-dominated sport to a pass-dominated one, the game that tens of millions of Americans now watch every fall weekend. Whether you're a casual or ravenous football fan, this is a truly compelling story of American ingenuity and how a set of revolutionary ideas made their way from the margins into the hot center of the game we celebrate today.

"New York Times bestselling, award-winning historian S.C. Gwynne tells the incredible story of how Hal Mumme and Mike Leach--two unknown coaches who revolutionized American football in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s--changed the way the game is played at every level, from high school to the NFL"-- Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The mad pirate's revenge -- A job you wouldn't want -- A brief history of men throwing balls -- Secrets of the air -- Ballad of the lonesome polecat -- Of Mouse and Mormons -- Maybe the worst team in America -- The future does not exist -- A convocation of rejects -- Hal's theory of relativity -- The air show comes to town -- The one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic pass -- No good deed unpunished -- Bumps in the road -- Pilgrimage to Margaritaville -- Rise of a great American offense -- The street value of an aerial circus -- Air raid -- High, wide, and handsome -- Stars in their courses -- Epilogue: The game changes.

Powered by Koha