This is an in-depth, and meticulously detailed book about the behind the scenes world of professional football. The author became that proverbial fly on the wall and spent the 2011 football season with the New York Jets and head coach Rex Ryan. It was a long and arduous book to get through at times because of the overload of information, but as a sports fan I thought it was worth the effort.
It's not a book for everyone, and not even for every pro football fan, but if you've ever been curious about what it takes to field, coach and compete as a team in the NFL than you will like this book.
I have a new respect for the hours and hours it takes the team to prepare in meetings as well as on the field. I learned a great deal and I appreciate those players more than I did before.

It would be interested if the author could spend a year with a different team as a comparison. Great book! ( )

An excellent in depth look at the behind-the-scenes operations of the New York Jets during the 2011 season, with a concluding section that takes readers through the Tebow fiasco in the subsequent season. This was a little heavy on the Rex Ryan worship but seems balanced in the rest of its coverage.
What I found striking is how Ryan as head coach had so little to do with the actual game preparations and game management. He serves as more carnival barker than hands-on director. The commentary and excerpts give an unflattering view of the juvenile Mark Sanchez and thin-skinned Antonio Cromartie; neither of whom are with the team now.
It confirms other negative portraits of players such as Santonio Holmes, who is part of the "me first" self-absorbed diva trend among NFL wide receivers. He and others made for a very dysfunctional Jets organization where players pretty much march to their own beat and management and coaches are at their mercy. Ryan plays the sympathetic father figure who tolerated it because of the " boys will be boys" attitude.
One of the major defects of this otherwise impressive account is the annoying habitual use of initials for people rather than using their real names. Nevertheless, it is a very good detailed narrative of the intricacies of the preparation for the NFL draft and week-to-week game planning. ( )