Doug Farrar "Genius of Desperation" book...anyone read it?

[Bryan]

I love books about NFL strategy through the years, so the topic looks interesting, but I'm not sure if this is just a topical rehash or if it actually digs into the details. I can't trust Amazon/internet reviews, as they invariably are all 5-stars. Has any PFRA person purchased Farrar's book and can either provide a short review or a quick yay/nay recommendation?

[JWL]

It is an overview of the strategic changes to the game through the years. It most reminds me of Tim Layden's "Blood, Sweat and Chalk". The Layden had more stories of why the changes occurred but the Farrar book better details how the changes were implemented. Neither book is super-detailed, though. One would have to go to a coaching clinic or buy one of those coaching manual books. I've yet to come across a coaching manual that wasn't dry. At least the Layden and Farrar books were interesting to read. To be fair, the Farrar hasn't given me anything new yet (I'm in the middle of reading it), but it is still a good book. It would be most ideal to a newer fan who does not know much about the history of the sport.

[NWebster]

I'd echo JWL, I'm half way through but haven't touched it for about a week and I'm not honestly sure I will. I really wish it went into more depth, just one opinion but I don't think PFRA members will learn too much from it, I need more than 2-3 pages on Bud Carson and the cover 2 in order to learn anything. Comparatively Blood, Sweat and Chalk covered fewer but went into more depth on what it did cover, though it skewed more recent than this book.

[Bryan]

It is an overview of the strategic changes to the game through the years. It most reminds me of Tim Layden's "Blood, Sweat and Chalk". The Layden had more stories of why the changes occurred but the Farrar book better details how the changes were implemented. Neither book is super-detailed, though. One would have to go to a coaching clinic or buy one of those coaching manual books. I've yet to come across a coaching manual that wasn't dry. At least the Layden and Farrar books were interesting to read. To be fair, the Farrar hasn't given me anything new yet (I'm in the middle of reading it), but it is still a good book. It would be most ideal to a newer fan who does not know much about the history of the sport.

I'd echo JWL, I'm half way through but haven't touched it for about a week and I'm not honestly sure I will. I really wish it went into more depth, just one opinion but I don't think PFRA members will learn too much from it, I need more than 2-3 pages on Bud Carson and the cover 2 in order to learn anything. Comparatively Blood, Sweat and Chalk covered fewer but went into more depth on what it did cover, though it skewed more recent than this book.

Thanks for the reviews. I love Layden's book...it has a couple flaws but I think football writers are loath to write about football strategy for some reason and Layden covers a lot of ground. I like how he includes all the college football stuff, because in some ways that ends up influencing the NFL stuff. I'm not really a fan of coaching manuals, a lot of 'over-jargony' crap to sift through and you don't really get any historical sense of "why". My 'football strategy book canon' includes:

Tom Bennett - The Pro Style
Tim Layden - Blood, Sweat, Chalk
Ron Jaworksi - Six Sundays
Chris Brown - Essential Smart Football
Chris Brown - Art of Smart Football

[JohnTurney]

Farrar's book is good, not earthshattering or anything. He gets it mostly right, but there are some key things that have become conventional wisdom that TJ's work has enlightened but it has not caught on. Farrar uses Sam Huff's book as the basis for the first MLB when TJ's book is more in depth and is backed up with film study. Farrar possibly didn't even know about TJ's book.

The same thing holds true for the advent of the 3-4 and things. Farrar talks about the 3-digit offense and how the routes go left to right, when it's actually weak to strong...

so, the Hirsch to flanker story is a repeat of the same stuff that TJ disputes...

but again, hard to criticize a guy who does a good job with the best info he can find. I don't think people ignore TJ's work, it just has not become mainstream. It does, though, open the chance for someone to go in an correct the record.

[JWL]

The book has won a PFRA award.

If I graded books on a scale of 1-10 with 1 meaning bad, then I would give this book a 7 at worst and an 8 at best. If I really graded books I would need to devise a ranking system. This particular book not having any photos and only a few drawings of play schematics does not help. In general, I do like photos or drawings in football books since it is such a visually-appealing sport.

The author's effort was great. I would grade the effort a 9 at worst and 10 at best.

My main quibble is, again, the book comes across more of an overview of NFL schematic history than a super-detailed look at anything. That said, this is fine, and the result is a book I will keep. This is notable because I usually give books to people (several PFRA members were given books from me) or Goodwill stores after I have read them.