cover image Hard Knox: The Life of an NFL Coach

Hard Knox: The Life of an NFL Coach

Chuck Knox. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt P, $17.95 (274pp) ISBN 978-0-15-133450-6

Seemingly nothing in life except a happy marriage has come easily for Knox and in this autobiography, written with freelancer Plaschke, he tells of the vicissitudes that have enabled him to become strong and to be a coach who has consistently been able to take over a losing franchise and make it a winner. A drunken brute of a father (although Knox doesn't actually label him that), who regularly beat both of his sons, made the boy tough. He barely stayed in college, fighting the fear that it was not for a poor kid from the slums of Sewickley, Pa., and then put in 19 years as an assistant coach before landing the top spot with the Los Angeles Rams, moving to the Buffalo Bills and then to the Seattle Seahawks. Knox sees himself primarily as a teacher and a motivator who exudes faith in his players. (October)