DO YOU LOVE FOOTBALL?!: Winning with Heart, Passion and Not Much Sleep

Gruden traces his transformation from pigskin letdown as a player to gridiron triumph as a Super Bowl–winning coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He avoids charges of nepotism (his father was a successful coach and trainer in his own right) simply by chronicling his own determination. He devotes a good deal of space to the importance of assembling highlight reels for the team to study—and captures all the wacky vocabulary of offensive and defensive plays, "Waggle Right Double Out Waggle Right Drag Hook" being just one of many. Gruden gleans wisdom from the colorful likes of Bobby Knight, Bill Walsh and other legendary coaches with whom he has worked. Players, too, are sketched vividly and personally—from Steve Young and Joe Montana to Randall Cunningham and Ricky Watters. It's not often that one reads about what it's like for a gifted QB like Young to have to just cheer on while another gifted QB like Montana leads a team to glory. But it's Gruden's own portrait that emerges most sharply: he's the scrappy private who almost imperceptibly becomes field commander. An insomniac who has the face of "Chucky," he's also funny and self-deprecating, telling such stories as George Seifert balling him out for sharpening the famed 49ers coach's playwriting pencils. The point of it all is that football isn't about winning, but about learning how to win. B&w photos. (Sept.)

Forecast:The timing with the beginning of the football season couldn't be better. How his team performs before and during the book's rollout may also have an impact.