Football Scouting Methods

The book provides a coach or the serious football fan insight on how teams can easily fall into patterns with their strategy, and what teams can do to become less predictable. The need for additional information to gain an advantage over competitors pertains to sports just as much as it does in business or other pursuits that are competitive in nature.Hedge funds rely on expert networks, insurers rely on analytics providers, and the most successful football teams are deeply invested in the scouting process to gain even the slightest information advantage to get a competitive edge.The book was a little dry, but that should be expected because of the emphasis on precise details and the investment of time necessary to excel at this behind the scenes part of football.A coach or a serious football fan should feel they received a good return on investment if they gain exposure to even one concept they were not previously familiar with, and this book provides ample opportunity for even the most dedicated students of football to pull something of value from the book.

As an assistant high-school football coach, often tasked with scouting upcoming opponent programs, and serving under an "old-school" head coach, I found a lot of this book enjoyable and relative.While the Xs & Os of football seem to come and go with new variations all the time, and players and positions have changed since the 1950s-60s, a lot of what scouts look for from other teams has remained constant. Certainly computers, PDAs, multiple-view cameras with high-def digital film and customized software have changed how coaches scout and break-down an opponent. But a checklist of what to look for can still be surprisingly effective.I wish that a publisher would have taken this book and put it in a more readable font than that old typewriter look, I realize there is probably not a lot of money in it. Worth reading for any student of the game or scout, and worth owning for a select group (old-school coaches or Belichik-philes)

Deserves a book review interesting in how old scouts worked but extremely dated by now.

This was a great book for both new coaches, or seasoned coaches looking to improve their scouting. Belichek does a great job of analysing how to effectively scout all phases of the game, without dictating policy.While the anecdotes, stories, terminology (defensive quarterback?) and proposed equipment (mimeograph?) to use are quite dated, the game is not much different than it was back then. Players still give the same tip-offs, coaches still develop tendencies, and scouts still forget that they aren't there to "watch" a football game.Definitely a book to keep on the shelf.

This book is great for anyone trying to learn how to scout a team. Obviously this book was written a long time ago and the game has changed very much since then. However the information on how to scout a team is still highly relevant. The formations shown in diagrams will not be seen in today's game, but that doesn't matter since the diagrams were not meant to show the formations that you will see but how to sketch the formations that you do see. The names of some position have also been changed, but it is quite easy to realize who he is talking about in the terms we use today. Steve Belichick is a great football mind and this is a great football book.

If you are, hope to be, or want to learn about football scouting, you are doing yourself & the job itself a complete disservice if you do not own a copy & have read (multiple times) this quintessential book on the subject of football scouting. I am straight up not overselling this book AT ALL & any scout that has read this book will almost surely tell you the same thing. Written decades before anyone (outside of maybe college football coaches/scouts) ever knew of or cared about anyone named Belichick, this book was known in scouting circles as THE book on the topic. Well written, concise, easy to follow & incredibly pragmatic in it's methods. Just like the Belichick men themselves.

I was extremely excited to jump into this book being this was the man who taught Bill Belichick about football. However, as you read the book you realize that a lot of the information is outdated and not applicable to today's game. He mentioned that few teams pass more than they run, and makes numerous reverences to games that took place in the 50's and 60's. Also, the terminology used has its differences as he will reference a nose as a defensive guard among others. Don't get me wrong there are still many valuable tips and important things to learn from this book; just know that there are quite a few pages that won't be useful in today's spread it out, high flying, pass first offenses.

Finely detailed and everything you'd think it would be from a Belichick. Great primer for identifying and evaluating talent and schemes. Wish the printing wasn't so small but that does not wholly detract from its value

Excellent book for the scouting interested person!

Not a great book. Not too bad but often states

Simples e atual. Muito útil para treinadores com interesse na área do scouting, embora tenha sido escrito há mais de 60 anos. Também é importante entender que o livro era voltado para scouts presenciais e precisa ser adaptado para os tempos atuais onde, no Brasil, raramente se tem a chance de observar o adversário in loco.

Un gran libro de trabajo para poder entender el valioso arte del scout , el papá de uno de los más grandes coaches de la NFL

O estudo estatístico no esporte é fundamental para o sucesso de uma equipe. Este livro do Steve Belichick mostra como isso tudo começou no futebol americano, décadas atrás.