Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 312
•
Trim: 6½ x 9½
978-1-5381-1223-6 • Hardback • August 2019 • $44.00 • (£35.00)
978-1-5381-1224-3 • eBook • August 2019 • $41.50 • (£35.00)
John Maxymuk is a reference librarian at Rutgers University, where he has worked for more than 25 years. He has written a dozen books on professional football history, including Pro Football Coaches: A Biographical Dictionary and The Quarterback Abstract. He has written for the New York Times football blog and has his own blog on Packer history called Packers Past Perfect. He has appeared in the NFL Films’ Top 10 series on the NFL Network and has written over 20 articles for Coffin Corner, the newsletter of the Professional Football Researchers Association (PFRA). In 2017, he was awarded the PFRA’s Ralph Hay Award for Lifetime Achievement in Football Research and Historiography.
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Emerging from the Shadow of College Football
1: Player-Coach: Guy Chamberlin Shows the Way
2: Taking Flight: Curly Lambeau and LeRoy Andrew Work the Passing Game
3: T Men: George Halas, Dutch Sternaman, and Ralph Jones Open Up the “Regular Formation”
4: Almost Famous: Potsy Clark Writes the Book on the Pro Game
5: Smash Mouth: Steve Owen Wins with Defense and the Kicking Game
6: Wing Man: Ray Flaherty Masters the Tried and True
7: Big Man Off Campus: Jock Sutherland Finds a New Challenge
8: T-Men II: Halas, Jones, and Clark Shaughnessy Go All In
9: Players’ Coach: Jimmy Conzelman’s Championship Charm
10: Counterpunch: Greasy Neale Defenses the T
Epilogue: Paul Brown: Modern Pro Football Coach
Afterword: Fritz Pollard’s Dream Deferred
Postscript: Equivalencies
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
As the NFL prepares to celebrate its 100th anniversary season in the fall, Maxymuk (longtime LJ reviewer; The Quarterback Abstract, among others) offers a well-researched overview of the league’s formative decades: the 1920s through the 1940s. His profiles of 13 head coaches from that era—some well known, others fallen into obscurity—show how these men formed the foundation of professional football as we know it today. Training techniques and game strategies pioneered by these coaches are described, many still in use. Maxymuk also includes an outline of African American football coaches of the past century and a biographical sketch of Paul Brown, who ushered in the modern era of coaching. Football fans will find this a treasure trove of historical anecdotes, play diagrams, and an informative approach to the game’s early years. Through their stories, Maxymuk illustrates how these men influenced the growth of the sport and redefined the role of coaches. VERDICT An important study of coaches who helped to change professional football into the thriving game that would eventually surpass all other American sports in popularity. Recommended for sports fans, historians, scholars, and all library collections
— Library Journal
With the NFL celebrating its 100th season, football historian John Maxymuk has written an enjoyable, informative, and well-researched book on the pioneer coaches of pro football. By describing each coach through profiles, stats, and film study, Maxymuk gives us a snapshot of the men who made the NFL tick on the football field during the league’s first three decades. A must-read for all football fans!
— Chris Willis, head of the Research Library at NFL Films and author of Red Grange: The Life and Legacy of the NFL’s First Superstar
John Maxymuk is one of the foremost historians of pro football. For many authors, it is John’s work to which they refer when needing data or authentication for their own work. In Pioneer Coaches of the NFL, John examines the NFL’s formative years and evaluates the coaches whose ideas and innovations shaped the sport and helped make pro football the most exciting game on Earth. There is no doubt that this book, like all of his others, will end up on the shelves of every credible football researcher.
— Jeffrey J. Miller, author of Pop Warner: A Life on the Gridiron and Rockin’ the Rockpile: The Buffalo Bills of the American Football League
Plowing through dusty archives and game film, John Maxymuk has stripped pro football to its foundations and rediscovered the innovators and prime movers most responsible for building the game. This fascinating book should be part of every NFL fan’s library.
— Hank Gola, NFL writer and author of City of Champions
An informative and interesting read that looks at some of the lesser known vies of coaching and their applications to those early coaching greats of NFL history. I recommend this book for your football library.
— Gridiron Greats