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God's Coach: The Hymns, Hype, and Hypocrisy of Tom Landry's Cowboys
First published in 1990, this unforgettable expose tears the metallic blue shine off the legendary star, revealing the truth about ‘America’s Team’ and its beloved head coach Tom Landry, whose much-regaled Christian charity extended to strangers everywhere, yet stopped short of the team who labored under him.
From the hangover that led Jerry Jones to buy the team, to the wild ride of the Staubach era, Bayless strips away the image of the team created by the most powerful PR machine in sports, revealed by insiders willing to break their silence.
Packed with unparalleled insight into one of the most storied franchises in the history of sports,GOD'S COACH is a compelling revelation about a corrupt football franchise that dared call itself America’s Team.
From the hangover that led Jerry Jones to buy the team, to the wild ride of the Staubach era, Bayless strips away the image of the team created by the most powerful PR machine in sports, revealed by insiders willing to break their silence.
Packed with unparalleled insight into one of the most storied franchises in the history of sports,GOD'S COACH is a compelling revelation about a corrupt football franchise that dared call itself America’s Team.
316 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1990
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 17, 2017
Hard to rate this one for a couple of reasons. Yes, I did rate it, because at the time I read it that was my reaction to it. I thought it was a great Cowboy book that lost a star for one reason. I loaned it to friends. This wasn't a popular book amongst hard core Cowboys fans of which I was one. It pierced the armour of St. Tom. But I didn't have a problem with that. Bayless didn't reveal anything that hasn't been confirmed in many ways, interviews, articles and such since. And he didn't uncover a nasty secret like drugs, women and rock & roll.
He just said that Landry didn't bring much/any of his fine, upstanding Chrisitanity into his business life, his coaching.
Them's fightin' words for the believers [Bible and Cowboys] who were Dallas fans.
First, let me say Bayless is a good writer and really does write about some fascinating Cowboys behind-the-scenes history that most people had never known--a lot of underbelly-of-the-old-NFL stuff, like [if I recall the correct player and I think I do] management lying to Efren Herrera and not telling him he had a hernia so he'd finish the season. This was the kind of thing that would happen and while Landry remained removed from it, he went along with it. I doubt if anything that was revealed was all that different than in any other team at the time and maybe still.
The point of course was that as a fine Christian man, Landry turned his back on a lot of evils. He drew a very bold, bullet-proof line between football and his personal and religious life. He did not know his players. He did not want to know his players. He wanted no emotional connection to his players. This was reportedly because he knew he couldn't make the important decisions--cutting players, etc -- if he had a more personal relationship with him. [This was one of the comments made in his last few years as coach--that he'd softened, and that he was holding onto players who ought to be cut. Maybe he knew himself?]
Players who were Christian spoke of being thrilled to join the team, to be under Landry's influence. Instead they found the cold, emotionless computer who didn't want to talk to them about anything, and certainly not religion. One anedote--Safety Dextor Clinscale told of speaking at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting where Landry was also on the program, several years after Clinscale had left football. He said that Landry was warm, personable, friendly. They shared a few stories. And that he finally met the Landry he wanted to meet when he was no longer on the team.
I mentioned my takeaway from this book, the one that cost it a star. And maybe I would read it today and not have the same feeling.
But my reaction to the book when I read it was that Skip Bayless had come to Dallas seeking his own religious answers with a hope and expectation of learning from Landry, and he brought some of his own bitterness to the book in which he skewered Landry for not being what Bayless wanted him to be.
On the other hand, he has always enjoyed the power of the outrageous, in your face, controversial opinions that rile up readers and now, viewers.
Maybe that part was just the framework he decided would play best to the cash register.
Forgot to say, here's a very brief but well-written view from when Landry was still in his prime that looks at the same issue in a more football- and less religion-oriented way.
https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles...
He just said that Landry didn't bring much/any of his fine, upstanding Chrisitanity into his business life, his coaching.
Them's fightin' words for the believers [Bible and Cowboys] who were Dallas fans.
First, let me say Bayless is a good writer and really does write about some fascinating Cowboys behind-the-scenes history that most people had never known--a lot of underbelly-of-the-old-NFL stuff, like [if I recall the correct player and I think I do] management lying to Efren Herrera and not telling him he had a hernia so he'd finish the season. This was the kind of thing that would happen and while Landry remained removed from it, he went along with it. I doubt if anything that was revealed was all that different than in any other team at the time and maybe still.
The point of course was that as a fine Christian man, Landry turned his back on a lot of evils. He drew a very bold, bullet-proof line between football and his personal and religious life. He did not know his players. He did not want to know his players. He wanted no emotional connection to his players. This was reportedly because he knew he couldn't make the important decisions--cutting players, etc -- if he had a more personal relationship with him. [This was one of the comments made in his last few years as coach--that he'd softened, and that he was holding onto players who ought to be cut. Maybe he knew himself?]
Players who were Christian spoke of being thrilled to join the team, to be under Landry's influence. Instead they found the cold, emotionless computer who didn't want to talk to them about anything, and certainly not religion. One anedote--Safety Dextor Clinscale told of speaking at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting where Landry was also on the program, several years after Clinscale had left football. He said that Landry was warm, personable, friendly. They shared a few stories. And that he finally met the Landry he wanted to meet when he was no longer on the team.
I mentioned my takeaway from this book, the one that cost it a star. And maybe I would read it today and not have the same feeling.
But my reaction to the book when I read it was that Skip Bayless had come to Dallas seeking his own religious answers with a hope and expectation of learning from Landry, and he brought some of his own bitterness to the book in which he skewered Landry for not being what Bayless wanted him to be.
On the other hand, he has always enjoyed the power of the outrageous, in your face, controversial opinions that rile up readers and now, viewers.
Maybe that part was just the framework he decided would play best to the cash register.
Forgot to say, here's a very brief but well-written view from when Landry was still in his prime that looks at the same issue in a more football- and less religion-oriented way.
https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles...
March 23, 2021
Very insightful for a person who always believed in the Landry aura. I can imagine had I read this at the time of publication it would've been devastating. Given time, it's just mildly disappointing to learn Landry wasn't the demigod we were always led to believe. Skip Bayless (not a fan of his television career) does a good job organizing a lot of information and interviews and keeps the pace quick. His writing style is certainly that of a columnist--lots of puns, cliches, and dad joke caliber humor. I would've liked a deeper dive into what made Landry the way he was--I didn't detect anything in his early life that presaged his adult behavior. Perhaps that only adds to the mystery. I'm not a Cowboys fan, but I found this to be an enjoyable, insightful book about one of the legends of pro football.
April 7, 2021
Bayless at his zenith. He seems to be searching for answers to his own spirituality. This is more than a sports book. There is a lot between the lines. Bayless figures out all is not what it appears on the surface. He discovers the gray area of life.
December 17, 2021
Fun read...Skip Bayless is excellent at what he does.
April 24, 2009
First, let me preface my review by stating that I strongly dislike Skip Bayless, author of this book. Rarely does Bayless have anything positive to say about anyone, and he was basically ran out of Dallas after suggesting Troy Aikman may be a homosexual, with no grounds for his statement. That being said, I was really looking forward to reading a book by someone I despised (sounds weird I know). Basically, Bayless presents many weak and fruitless reasons why Tom Landry is a hypocrite, senile, and not worth his merits. However, the real gems of the novel come in the form of little side stories about ex-Cowboys and how they came to be. If you are a real Dallas Cowboys fan, these stories will keep you grinning and serve for a brief and interesting history lesson for those of us who weren't around to watch them play in the Landry era.
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April 4, 2016I find this an interesting book on The Dallas Cowboys during the Tom Landry years. It is definitely colorful and entrtaining however ,the one thing is it disillusions me with the Cowboys and Coach Landry whom I grew up watching.
May 24, 2022
Powerful critique and thoughtful look at one of the greats
A very thoughtful and penetrating look into the team I grew up worshiping. Mr. Bayless does more justice by pulling Landry back down to earth than if he’d written the hagiography that most would
A very thoughtful and penetrating look into the team I grew up worshiping. Mr. Bayless does more justice by pulling Landry back down to earth than if he’d written the hagiography that most would
September 28, 2011
Disapointing. Timeline jumped all over the place. Didn't really focus on Football. Didn't like the whole religious angle.
August 4, 2013
I learned quite a bit about the days of the Cowboy's before I became in 91. It's a really good book with insight as to who Landry was and what was going on with America's team.
December 1, 2016
A horrible hit job on a great man. I was not impressed. He went to five Super Bowls it speaks for itself.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews