One Heartbeat, by Mack Brown and Bill Little

I read this well over a year ago and could have sworn I wrote about it then. Apparently I didn’t, though, as it isn’t anywhere to be found. It seems unlikely that Blogger lost a post, so I’m going to assume I simply forgot. I certainly prefer that to the idea that I’m randomly losing my posts!

This was a fascinating read—part-biography and part-psychology. It is largely a collection of anecdotes that demonstrates the lessons Mack Brown tries to impart to his athletes, but with a healthy dose of the career path Mack has taken thrown in. I found the story of how and why he left North Carolina for Texas quite interesting. About this time every year we see the coaching carousel fire up and often we hear coaches claim loyalty one day only to leave the next. We get the inside story of what happened when Mack changed jobs. Recruiting, teamwork, dealing with adversity, attitude, and honesty are some of the other topics tackled here. One of my favorite lessons applies to parenting as much as it does coaching: “It is all about training people ... when there is nobody else around, to make the right choice.” One Heartbeat will appeal to many people: coaches and managers looking for ways to lead others, fans of college football, and of course, anyone with Longhorn pride!

First Sentence:

To the farmer, it is a prayer for rain even when meteorologists say it won’t.