I found this to be a very fascinating story about a coach that I knew very little about. Really all I knew was that he was an assistant coach for Bob Stoops and then took over for him as the head coach. Here though you find out of course about his childhood and his time playing football and wanting to be a quarterback, trying out for a walk-on spot at Texas Tech but instead would end up coaching for him. Then moving later to East Carolina as their offensive coordinator and then later to Oklahoma as an assistant finally as their head coach. A book that is really well done and full of information about a man that climbed his way up to the top. Since I am late with this review he has now moved on to U.S.C. and if he can turn that program around he really will have made something. Overall a very good book.

Not many college football coaches can match the success that Lincoln Riley has had in his first three seasons as the head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners. In each season, Riley has led the Sooners to not only the Big 12 conference championship, but the Sooners have also been in the College Football Playoff each of those years as well. How Riley has reached this point is the subject of this excellent book by Brandon Sneed.
Riley grew up in the West Texas town of Muleshoe and like many other small towns in Texas, the town revolved around football. Lincoln, along with his brothers, played football for the high school team and he excelled on both offense and defense. An injury when attempting to tackle a linebacker who intercepted one of his passes turned out to be a life-changing moment for Riley. While he didn’t know that at the time, Sneed uses that moment frequently during the book, as well as another time when Riley’s seventh grade football coach drew blood on his own forehead by doing a head butt with a helmeted player.
The reason these, as well as advice from one of Riley’s coaching mentors, Donnie Duncan, were referenced frequently is that the steps along the path Riley took from high school quarterback to the Sooners’ head coach was fraught with lessons learned from these events. Sneed does a very good job of writing long passages about other aspects or people that are important in understanding Riley’s determination and knowledge of the game. One is his high school experience – fans of the book or movie “Friday Night Lights” will appreciate Sneed’s description of the importance of the sport in Texas.
It is also important for the reader to understand the head coach who gave Riley his first job in coaching, Mike Leach. At the time, Leach was the coach of Texas Tech when Riley was attempting to become the starting quarterback as a walk-on. While Leach didn’t think Riley would be able to play, he saw the smarts Riley had for the game and offered him a job as his football personal assistant. While Riley’s dream of being a quarterback were gone, he took the job, absorbed Leach’s unconventional offensive ideas and used the job to launch his coaching career which took him to East Carolina as an offensive coordinator, then the same job at Oklahoma under legendary coach Bob Stoops, then inheriting the job when Stoops retired in 2016. The reader will learn much about not only the life of a college football coach, but some of the non-traditional thinking of Leach, Stoops and Riley.
Not much about Riley’s personal life is written but enough to let the reader know that Riley isn’t all about the job, sleeping in the office and believing the only way to get out of a tough spot is to “work longer and harder.” This helps paint a complete picture of the man who has already had enormous success coaching a traditional college football powerhouse at a very young age. College football fans will enjoy this look at the latest coaching sensation.
I wish to thank Henry Holt and Co. for providing a copy of the book via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

In Oklahoma, football is a religion and Lincoln Riley is our charismatic leader who can do no wrong. This story fills in some of the gaps in our knowledge of how he became the great coach that he is and serves to reinforce his fans response to OU's winningest seasons. Most fall Saturdays find a legion of Riley fans in front of the TV, cheering our team on. He holds his team to high standards and himself to seemingly impossible ones, but his skill is undeniable.