Football Done Right: Setting the Record Straight on the Coaches, Players, and History of the NFL

by Michael Lombardi

Former NFL general manager and three-time Super Bowl winner Michael Lombardi takes readers on the ultimate journey through the NFL's history to present his calls on the greatest players and coaches the sport has ever seen. 

From Monday Night Football to Super Bowl Sunday, the NFL is a dominating force in the lives of millions of fans who tune in and passionately cheer for their favorite teams. And when the games are over, the conversation is just getting started. Who's the greatest player of all time? Which coaches truly shaped the game we known and love today? What was the most unforgettable game? Why is professional football such an undeniable part of our culture? 

Three-time Super Bowl winner Michael Lombardi has done it all—from scout to executive to coach—and now he sets the record straight on these questions and more. With Football Done Right , Lombardi tackles all aspects of the sport, discussing the best of the best. He channels his 35+ years of experience with the NFL into an all-encompassing celebration of the game. More than just ranking the giants of the league, Lombardi shows how and why each affected the game. Mixing first-person, in-the-locker-room experience with little known history and hard stats, Lombardi makes a definitive case for the most influential coaches and the best players, and also offers an insider look to how drafts and trades operate behind the scenes and honoring the sportscasters who played an essential role in popularizing the sport. Both a full history of the sport and a comprehensive re-imagining of the Football Hall of Fame to honor every deserving athlete and coach, Football Done Right will change the way you watch, discuss, and debate the gridiron.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction, Football, Audiobook

304 pages, Hardcover

Published September 5, 2023

Reviews

[Glenn D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting Book

I liked the anecdotes about the top players and the coach rankings. Not many football books I've read rank coaches.

The main thing I didn't like was the lack of editing in some places. There were extra articles ('the', 'a') that made some sentences confusing to read. There was one contradictory sentence.

Overall it was a good read. I could tell that Mike Lombardi truly loves football.

[Bart · Rating 3 out of 5]

This kind of writing: "Most often, the coach being asked always answers that the current player is better, without fail."

"Most often ... always ... without fail" - not entirely certain but entirely certain.

[Michael Reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lombardi had a long, distinguished career as an NFL scout and executive. He worked closely with the great coaches and executives, Belichick, Walsh and Al Davis. He does TV and podcast work now. I enjoyed his first book, "Gridiron Genius".

The bulk of this book is his list of the 100 best players in the history of the NFL. Each player gets two or three pages of commentary. He starts with some stats. Then he explains their significance to the development of the game, evaluates their play and frequently discusses how he thinks they would do in today's game.

It is a fun walk down memory lane. Lombardi is very good on tracing, for examle, the development of the tight end or the changing role of the safety position.

He adds a section on the coaches who changed the game like Paul Brown, Bill Walsh, Sid Gilliam. He calls them the White Oaks. Then he gives us his top ten best coaches and his criteria for judging coaches. His list makes sense to me, and I agree with his number one pick. He also gives us his list of most influential announcers, starting, as you should, with Cosell.

I had some complaints about the top 100 players list. It would be helpful to begin the stats with the years and teams each one played for. I will confess I had a hard time placing Jack Christiansen or Joe Schmidt, two great 1950s players, with no help. It would also help to have an index or list of the top 100 so you can easily find someone on the list and to help think about who is above or below who.

The entries are very good on the role each player had in development of the game. Joe Scmidt, for example, was "the first true middle linebacker." Lombardi is also good on the stories about the draft shenanigans that landed players on just the right team to be great.

I am not convinced that most of these players would be just as good in today's NFL, which Lombardi claims. Skill and toughness can overcome allot, but modern-day players are dramatically bigger, faster and better trained. Of course, Lawrence Taylor or Jerry Rice would dominate any time they played.

This is an entertaining thought-provoking football book.

[Matthew Edwards · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not what I was expecting. It's basically a few lists of historical people of importance, and then a list of his 100 best players. It is not nearly as good as his first book, which I really enjoyed. Almost rated it 2 stars. I was just happy to be done by the end.

[Aaron Heugel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Enjoyed the book as a football fan, but dang, did Lombardi have someone proofread the book before publishing? Most errors I’ve come across in a published book. Belichick would be disappointed in the lack of grammatical execution lol

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pains me to give a negative review to this one, as the author (a) obviously knows a ton more about football than I do, having had a long career in NFL front offices and worked with Belichek, Walsh, Al Davis, etc.; (b) comes across as a good guy, with lots of behind-the-scenes insight (notably on draft strategies and history) and exceptionally good taste (fan of the Washington football team and of Bruce Springsteen); and (c) kept it moving -- couple pages on each of the players in his top 100 list, for instance.

However............

1. Without actually being explicit about his method for making the evaluations, he oddly mixes stats-driven, algorithmic (this many wins, this high a percentage, this many titles........) approach to nominating coaches for Hall of Fame in one chapter with pre-sabermetric anecdotal/subjective stuff about the top 100 players.

I get that comparing players across eras and at different positions is tough and that creating a formula for it is unlikely (did Anthony Munoz' blocking surpass Deion Sanders' shutdown coverage as a corner?), but you should at least deal with basic career-ranking questions that make a huge difference in evaluations, e.g.

--peak value, career value, or mix of the two?
--how much of a bonus for being on championship teams? for every position or just QB?
--do we credit only what someone did, or also take into account what might have been except for something over which they had no control, like an injury, or something admirable, like serving their country?

For example, he has Roger Staubach just ahead of Barry Sanders, at #15 (among all players ever, not among, say, QBs in the super bowl era or something) though he was never first-team all-pro and second-team only once, in part b/c his career stats were constrained by his service in the Navy after graduating from USNA.

Staubach was an excellent player and tormented the burgundy-and-gold when i was young, but he is grossly overrated here, and I can't help but think it's the Belichek/Navy connection -- author clearly worships Belichek and Walsh (Tom Brady, almost needless to say, is #1 on his top 100 player list, and 3 of top 12 are from Walsh-era 49ers [granted, Rice, Lott, Montana don't need a lot of help to get high grades!]).

2. Got to go do errands, so I won't belabor this one too much, but this is the worst copy-editing job on a published book I've seen in a long time. Some random typos such as inserting an extra word ("I am going to for the store" variety), and LOTS of weird factual errors -- e.g., Ray Lewis played for the "Baltimore Raiders" per p. 213. Every couple pages there was something distracting. His writing overall is not bad, but it reads as if they really rushed it into print, having "accepted" all the track changes and not read the final copy or something like that.

[Bookreporter.com Biography & Memoir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Lombardi brings substantial credibility to FOOTBALL DONE RIGHT, a delightful and thoughtful discussion of the history of the National Football League. The book features the type of conversations that often occur among football fans across America.

Lombardi is a former NFL general manager who spent more than 30 years with successful franchises in New England, San Francisco and Oakland. He worked with legends Bill Walsh, Bill Belichick and Al Davis while serving as an executive with three Super Bowl-winning teams. Retired from the NFL, he is currently an author and the host of football-themed podcasts. For those who may be wondering, he is not related to coaching icon Vince Lombardi.

In all fairness, FOOTBALL DONE RIGHT requires some familiarity with the NFL to better appreciate and enjoy it. Lombardi’s knowledge of the game is encyclopedic, and he strongly believes that to understand the current NFL, you must be aware of its past. Those who may not be as well-versed in that history may find some sections of the book challenging, but ample opportunity exists for outside research or Google checks to supplement his thoughts.

Lombardi devotes a majority of the book to his list of the 100 greatest NFL players of all time, which he divides into five sections: The Everlasting, The Excellent, The Exceptional, The Extraordinary and The Elite. I may have included some of the NFL’s founding players, like Jim Thorpe or Red Grange, but this will make for a fun, vigorous discussion among football fans.

The remaining chapters involve a myriad of subjects that readers will want to talk about and debate. Among these topics are the NFL Draft, which itself has become an event each spring; the qualities shared by successful football coaches; and how Howard Cosell, Brent Musberger and John Madden brought the NFL to television and sports prominence.

My favorite chapter in the book is the first one, “The White Oaks.” Here, Lombardi credits the work of many pioneers of professional football who saw the potential for innovation that changed the sport from a game of toughness and muscle to one exemplified by today’s emphasis on speed and quickness. He acknowledges these inventive coaches who challenged football’s original strategies and ultimately revolutionized the sport.

Whether you are drawn to the NFL for betting, fantasy football or just the social aspect of the game, you will want to read FOOTBALL DONE RIGHT. Michael Lombardi had a great role in what has become the dominant sport in America and is spreading worldwide. He has shared his experiences and observations in a wonderful and enjoyable book for football fans everywhere.

Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman

[Marc Gerstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mike Lombardi is an excellent football historical and analyst. U thoroughly enjoyed his podcasts, as well as his first book, Gridiron Genius.

This one had a lot of terrific information too. But it let me down a bit.

It was mainly a compendium on the game's great coaches and players. And the part on the players let me down. It’s organized a Lombardi's personal ranking from 100 all the way up to 1. I don't think it's a great spoiler to real that he puts Tom Brady at #1.

But as a beginning to end read, it came off as annoying as the list (each entry including a statistical introduction and verbal narrative) droned on. I never understood Lombardi's ranking criteria, and frankly, would rather it would have been organized better.. by team, by position, something more logical to someone other than Lombardi himself.

In fact, the brady entry summarized the flaw. Among the criteria Lombardi lists is the win-loss record with which he’s associated. Bad criteria! No other great QB has played most of his career against the horrifically dysfunctional (during most of Brady’s tenure) AFC East teams.

Lombardi, as a former GM, should know how hard it is to evaluate individual merit against other external influential factors. I know his rankings failed with respect to Brady. That makes me wonder how many other such failures there were. After all, we know football is THE most team-oriented sport with the most external factors… coaching, systems, teammates, climate, turf, etc. How much did such things infect Lombardi’s rankings.

With most sports books, I can live with such omissions. But they’re unacceptable given the Lombardi’s brand… as a super objective high-end GM type.

[Ian Allan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was surprised by the number of errors.

Bobby Layne appears as Bobby "Lane". Tedy Bruschi as "Teddy" Bruschi (and he played for one of Lombardi's teams). A claim that the 1977 Rams went to the Super Bowl (2 years off). Every few pages, a basic error of this sort.

There's a really cool observation on page 199 that Ted Hendricks holds an unofficial NFL record of blocking 25 kicks. That was undermined seven pages later, when it's written that Alan Page blocked 28.

How does this sentence get by any editor with a basic football background: "In his Super Bowl win in Dallas, Gibbs's play designs made Tony Robinson an effective thrower."

Lombardi, I think, isn't really a writer (certainly not a speller). He needs somebody with a football background to clean things up, and he didn't have it on this book. Definitely not as good as his previous book.

There's a few decent stories here and there, but the discussion/analysis of the greatest players is lacking. He's got only two pages to talk about Jim Brown and chooses to veer off away from Brown into his own personal crusade that there needs to be an academy to train minority coaches. He's been banging that drum for years. And in his writeup on Tom Brady, he's again working with limited space but can't help himself but instead choosing to share his beliefs that Lee Harvey Oswald wasn't the lone gunman.

But there are a few Davis-Walsh-Belichick stories in there that I haven't heard before, so I guess we take the bad with the good.

[Sumukh · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoy football, then Lombardi does a great job in general on his podcast and in this book covering the sport. What’s most important from this book is his ability to capture the history, perhaps allowing generations even in their 40s & 50s at this point to understand players and the early days of football they may have no awareness of.

The book is really a way to highlight the history of the game and the certain downfalls of the Hall of Fame. Of note, I agree with him that head coaches with 200+ wins should be in the all. Their impact and success on the game with multiple organizations should not be overlooked even if they did not win the Super Bowl.

I am not one for lists but the structure of the book is listing the top 100 players in a similar but far more shorter/concise way that Lombardi friend Bill Simmons constructed his Hall of Fame pyramid for “The Book of Basketball.” Regardless, it provides good background to players you may not even be aware of in history with some personal connections due to Lombardi’s decades in the business. I can’t disagree at all with his Top 5.

Enjoyable, quick read for the football fan and a good extension for those of us who have been have avid Lombardi podcast listeners. Hopefully he mentions this review on the podcast — at least I can read that Deacon Jones is #11! 😂

[Benjamin K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Football Done Right by Michael Lombardi is a good history on the coaches and players who all contributed in their own ways in crafting the National Football League into what it is today. One of the main themes of Lombardi's book is bringing to the forefront many figures of the NFL's past that are often forgotten or whose contributions to the growth of the game have not been taken as seriously as they ought to have been. The book's first third is spent on this, particularly on the subject of coaches who revolutionized different aspects of the game, as well as discussing better ways for the league to handle entry into the Hall of Fame. The majority of the book afterwards is spent on Lombardi's list of the top 100 players of all time (and yes, the person who you think is at number one is indeed listed at number one).

A good book with some interesting stories Lombardi has collected from his 35+ years of experience working in the NFL; the list format of the majority of the book's latter two-thirds made it a bit tedious to read lots of in one sitting, at least in my opinion. Also surprisingly quite a few more spelling and formatting errors than I would expect from a high profile NFL insider, but nothing too egregious. A nice read for those who enjoy reading about American football's history and its greats.

[Roger Smitter · Rating 4 out of 5]

When a writer named Lombardi gives us a book about football, we need to read the book. And the book gives some good pieces of what has happened from the early times of professional football.

The book takes us to the 1920’s when there was some movement to have professional football. The first sentence of chapter two is “Evaluation NFL head coaches are like evaluation former evaluating former United States presidents.” (p. 22) And Chapter 3 is labeled “The Lombard Criteria for Coaches.” And Chapter 4 has the “Top Ten Coaches.” (39)

And Chapter 8 has “Top 100 Players.” Then there’s “In America politics the Kennedy family dominated the politics landscape all through the twentieth century.”

The book has “Top 100 Players.” There will be some we’ve heard, but there are many we probably have never heard of. It starts with “Kenny Washington.” Heard of him? And last player, marked “Number 1” is “Tom Brady.”

It’s difficult to get through all of the players—especially when each player gets at most two pages.

But, the book gives us a new way to think about professional football.

[Tracy Cioni · Rating 1 out of 5]

As an avid football fan with a particular interest in behind the scenes working of running a team, I was eager to read Michael Lombardi’s new book, Football Done Right. Lombardi’s personal stories are interesting and feel like a comfortable conversation among friends. I learned the history of the NFL in a way I would not have even thought to ask. Unfortunately, a mind-numbing amount of statistics over-shadow the stories. The use of football lingo, i.e. soft hands, would benefit from explanations and analogies from other sports, i.e. golf and basketball, seem out of place in a book dedicated to football.
Lombardi shocked and dismayed me by comparing Ed Reed to Arnold Rothstein. Believing in yourself as a great player and reading an offense accurately to make plays is not remotely close to paying players to lose games.

[Adam Guzowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

The worst edited book I’ve ever read. Did Mike not have anyone edit this?! Just the first paragraph about Dick Butkus included 3 different errors! For a guy who claims to care about details, it’s an admission that he didn’t care about details at all with this book.

As an aside the player with the 5th most TDs ever didn’t break his top 100!

The book is fine and has some interesting stuff about NFL history and I appreciate his coaches section a lot but the player breakdown is generic, loaded with platitudes and inconsistent at best.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Michael Lombardi’s podcasts and enjoyed Gridiron Genius. The concept for this book is great and I can see that a lot of time and effort went into research. My only gripe is that (at least) the printed version has to be one of the most badly edited books I have read. There are constantly missing words on pages, and I feel that this is something that Lombardi or his editors should have picked up on, especially while writing about players who have attention to detail. Overall, a solid book that would be 5 stars if the editing were better.

[Mike Waisome · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a big fan of Michael Lombardi and was excited to read this book. I really enjoyed it but I think expectations should be tempered a little bit as this was a list of his top most influential coaches and top 100 players. I really enjoyed the stories related to each coach and player, but the book wasn’t as in depth as I was expecting. Overall I would recommend reading this if you are a big football fan like myself.

[Jake DiBattista · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you love the game of football and only are in your 30s this is a great deep dive connecting today’s game to its origins. With fun anecdotes and a tier list to wrap it all up, this is a great history lesson in the players and leaders of the sport.

If it falls short in any way it is Lombardi’s bias and constant references of personal experiences. While not bad, they create a weird juxtaposition next to the history and stat dense analysis in the rest of the book.

[Shawn Gallagher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book. I wish certain sections were longer. The 100 players would be better served if the book had more weight up front, like Bill Simmons Book of Basketball.

I would also ask him why Andy Reid isn't mentioned in the greatest coaches discussion, even though I'm happy he shows so much love for Marty Schottenheimer.

[Ted · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book full of football history. It is basically a reference book. Easy to read a few pages here and there, which is what I did and why it took me so long to finish. My only complaint is the lack of an index. There were many times I had to flip through and scan the book to refresh my memory about a certain player or coach.

[Jillian Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

I respect the heck out of this book, but I did not like it. Michael Lombardi’s lifetime of study and devotion to football is on full display, and it’s chock full of esoteric stats and descriptions. Unfortunately, the writing tone feels more like showing off than engaging. While Michael most definitely knows way more about football than me, I don’t need to be reminded of that every paragraph.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the content of the book, but the amount of errors in the book that could have been solved by editing really made this disjointed. For a book titled “Football Done Right” and so much of the book focused on greatness and attention to detail, the editing doesn’t match it. It is worth reading, but be prepared for the mistakes. Hopefully, the print versions are better as I read the ebook.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

The subtitle of this book says it all. In addition to addressing some of the obvious flaws in the system of the NFL, and certainly in the depiction of what football is really about in the press and social media, Lombardi gives credit to a lot of people whose contributions to the game are at risk of being forgotten, most particularly in two categories: head coaches, in which he names coaches who should have been in the hall for a long time, and who I hope are reconsidered in future nominations, and in his top 100 list, his inclusion of many lineman, offensive and defensive, is so refreshing. As a fellow lifelong fan of DC football, I appreciate how winning football teams are built around the linemen. It's about time they got their due.

[Drew Vinci · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael’s stories about his time in football always bring me joy. It was nice reading about some of the older generation of football greats and some of the coaches who shaped the way for the modern nfl.

[Ralph Plagman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The subtitle (Setting the Record Straight On the Coaches, Players, and History of the NFL) defines the book nicely. Top ten coaches in order (Paul Brown is #1) and top 100 players in order (Brady is #1) leave plenty of room for debate. Glad I read it!

[Nick Katenkamp · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I enjoyed the most about the book was discussing the great coaches. I had never read much about coach rankings but that was a welcome addition. I thought the top 100 rankings were interesting enough but I'd like more about the player or methodology to justify the rankings.

[Twan McQuan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Lombardi and the way he sees the game.

His write-up on Jim Brown makes me want to read a biography about him.

[Jon LaFollette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reads like a pamphlet instead of an authoritative text.

[Stuart Shiffman · Rating 3 out of 5]

My review that appeared on Bookreporter.com

https://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/...

[Evan · Rating 2 out of 5]

An impressive number of typos

[Anthony Panza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really comprehensive, but not super witty or engaging. Really enjoyed the lack of recency bias.