You remember those days well, dear reader. I know you do.
Think back to your childhood and one of the best days of the calendar year: The last day of school. Nearly three full months of freedom were in your future. Maybe you were headed to camp for some of that time, or you had visions of playing with your friends every single day from dawn to dusk. But buried deep in your backpack, and something that would hang over your head as fall approached, was a list.
The summer reading list.
I wish I could regale you with stories of how I was a model student, and attacked that list with the same vigor I attacked pickup football games with the neighborhood friends or the various sports camps I attended each summer, but of course I did not. That list stayed buried in my backpack until sometime mid- to late-August, when my mother would finally lose her patience and tape it to my door so it was the first thing I would see in the morning, and the last thing I would see at night.
Eventually I would surrender to the inevitable passage of time, and start from the top of the list. In most cases, I would be turning the final page on the last book on my list just before drifting off to sleep the night before school started.
Maybe your experience was similar. Perhaps it was not. Either way, do not think that summer reading lists are a thing of the past. Summertime is the best part of the year to dedicate some effort to learning more about a wide range of subjects. To that end, and spurred on by a Tweet from a fellow member of the football media space, I present the football summer reading list. Here are some books, presentations, and more that I rely on, almost on a daily basis, to guide my work and my thinking about the game. I guarantee in here you will find a book or books to teach you more about the game you love. If you have some that you like, feel free to share!
Nike Coach of the Year Clinic Manuals
These have been a must-purchase for me dating back to the 2014 edition. Every year, Earl Browning edits together the presentations given at the various Nike Coach of the Year Clinics. High school and college coaches around the country come together to present on a variety of topics, from practice schedules to the ever-present “building a culture” presentation and of course some deep dives into Xs and Os.
For example, in the 2014 edition you had Mike Bobo on quick game passing concepts, Don Brown on linebacker drills, Kirk Ferentz on the offensive line, David Cutcliffe on training quarterbacks, and Mike Leach on the mesh play. That manual alone has supported much of my own work over the past few years. While these are available in a printed version, recently Browning has made them available via an immediate .pdf download.
I am a firm believer that when it comes to evaluating college prospects, it helps to know what they are being asked to do by their coaches, and these manuals are a huge help in figuring that part of the puzzle out. You can find these at nikecoyfootball.net.