Book Review: War Room - The Legacy of Bill Belichick/Art of Building Perfect Team

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by Chiefnj2

I skimmed it pretty quickly last night.

Some things that stood out in my mind:

1. When Pioli interviewed with KC he thought the entire organization was a huge mess. He didn't understand why people/management in KC thought the team was successful in the 90's when they hadn't won anything and had so few playoff victories.

2. Pioli and McDaniels really liked Cassel in New England. He took way too many sacks but (according to them) he was a really fast learner, wouldn't continue to make the same mistakes and they didn't have to tweak the system much once Brady went down.

3. First draft with Herm's leftovers - scouts were very relaxed and laid back. In scout meetings they would be answering emails, watching youtube, etc. Pioli couldn't believe their overall attitude. Only 2 scouts survived from that era.

4. Pioli tends to get hung up on what I would consider stupid things. Book mentioned how under Carl the team would make color copies of things and Pioli put an immediate end to it in order to save 1,000s of dollars in copying costs.

5. Baltimore v. KC playoffs. Felt the team started the game really well and was moving the ball well before the fumbles by Dex and Charles. Mentioned WRs not being able to get separation. And most important - THE CRITICAL 4th DOWN pitch back was Weis' call. Haley said he had major 2nd thoughts about it, almost called a timeout to go over the play, but Weis thought the Ravens would go all out inside and Charles could not only get the first down on the outside, but had a good chance to break it for a TD.

6. After the playoff loss to the Ravens, Pioli said the team had a long, long way to go before it could be good. He wasn't content.

7. In my quick skimming of the book, I didn't see much discussion about the interactions between Pioli and Haley.

Great stuff!