40 Years with a Whistle: Life Lessons from the Field of Play

by Dan John, Chris Long (Foreword)

40 Years with a Whistle—40 years of coaching tips woven into a touching memoir of a coach's life Dan John has been performing as an athlete for six decades. His coaches—the mentors he describes in this book—steered him on the narrow path toward success in both sports and life. These coaches emphasized performance, yes...but they all also insisted on the balance of health, fitness and longevity. From Dan's introduction to 40 Years with a I’ve learned a lot over those decades and would like to share these lessons with you. I didn’t want a book filled with “Xs” and “Os” or sets and reps. I wanted to share the lessons that apply to life and living. I begin with what are clearly my 10 best lessons of coaching. Each of these works well for the teacher, student, parent and neighbor too. Following the advice of the 10th lesson, I explore the stories of the people who shaped my career and the gems of advice they shared with me. I finish with my vision of coaching—basically looking at training from the big picture and the toolkit to allow one to succeed. The lessons are simple. The application is difficult. The rewards are worth everything. The lessons learned on the fields and in the gyms will lead to a successful life. Hop on board. “As I read through this book, over and over I found myself mentally saying, 'Yup' and 'Absolutely.' If you’re a coach, an athletic administrator or the parent of a school-age athlete, you need to read this book. I know my coaching staff will be reading it.” ~ Chris Long, Athletic Director, Juan Diego Catholic High School

370 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 7, 2019

About the author

Dan John has coached for more than 30 years. He's helped hundreds of athletes pack on double-digit pounds of rock-solid muscle. As an athlete, John broke the American record in the Weight Pentathlon. He is the author of several books.

Reviews

[Dan Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid

Can John is solid. Period.
Not flashy, not over the top,nothing earth shattering. Just solid.
I have been following him for 20+ years, attended a couple of clubs where he presented and had the pleasure of a conversation with him in Columbus ,Ohio.
He is exactly as he presents himself to be.
Honest, blunt, simple with an incredible amount of knowledge and wisdom.
Like I said at the top, Solid.

[Dan Cleather · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Unputdownable” is a cliche in book reviews, however, I literally read this book from start to finish in one sitting. I have always been a huge fan of Dan’s writing and in “40 Years With a Whistle” I think he has surpassed himself. Like Dan’s previous work, the book is immensely readable and crammed with deep wisdom, training ideas and programmes, truisms, anecdotes and jokes. As always, the material presented transcends sport, and Dan offers a wealth of life lessons. I defy any coach to read the book and not re-evaluate some aspects of their practice. However, where the book really shines is in its emotional depth. Dan’s eulogies to his most important mentors and his family cannot help but move the reader, and I really felt like I was on Dan’s journey with him. I think that is where the book is exceptional – in demonstrating how the development of the coach is inseparable from the development of the man. And Dan is an outstanding coach...

[James Person · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, but...

I enjoy Dan's writing, but having read several of his books and many of his articles I could have written this one myself by cutting and pasting from the others.

[Concetta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life lessons from the field of play for the field of life.