Reddit reviews The Art of Smart Football

If I were hiring for this position and you had a strong resume, I would be nervous about your lack of domain knowledge -- but that's something that software engineers are expected to pick up! So I would go in with:

• I know my role (SWEng) and I'm excited to learn more about the sport ... that's normal in software engineering, and you can expect me to be up to speed by the start of the season.
  
  Now, you can also cram. Read this Wikipedia article to learn the names of the positions and formations. Make flash cards! Study hard! Then dive into any of the following books:
  
  
• Take Your Eye Off the Ball - how to watch the game to learn more than a casual fan does
  
• The Art of Smart Football - big-picture strategic writing about how coaches and QBs plan for games
  
  A reasonable bar for a non-casual fan would be to be able to answer questions like:
  
  
• (Casual / Bare minimum) Discuss the recent history of the team you're visiting, and the recent strengths and weaknesses of their division rivals.
  
• (Casual / Bare minimum) Explain the three choices that a coach has on fourth down, and discuss recent (>2005) changes in attitudes toward that decision.
  
• (Casual / Bare minimum) Explain why a "nickel" or "dime" defense is a reasonable choice against a "two-minute" offense.
  
• (Casual / Bare minimum) There are five offensive linemen, usually divided into three position names. Name the positions and the differences between their skills. Explain why having a good offensive line is critical.
  
• (Moderate) Describe the set of games that makes up a team's schedule. Can you, as a SWEng, quantify which games have the most impact on a team's playoff chances?
  
• (Moderate) Outline rule changes over the last 15-20 years surrounding the concept of the "extra point" including the 2-point conversion.
  
• (Moderate) If you analyze the play-by-play data, you might notice that when a QB has many negative-yardage plays it correlates with losing, but when a QB has exactly three negative yardage plays, it correlates strongly with winning. Why? How could you adjust your software to remove this weird bias in the data?
  
• (Moderate) The Ravens have two victories in the last ten years that were both secured by deliberate late-game safeties -- that is, giving up two points to the other team. Explain how and why that strategy worked, and why it isn't viable anymore.
  
• (Moderate) Explain how player salaries are determined. Explain what someone means when they say "he's on his rookie deal" or "we can't cut him because of the dead money" or "they tagged him". Explain, using examples from around the league, what makes someone a "franchise QB" and what the reasonable market value is for a better-than-average QB.
  
• (Advanced) Read this three-part study and then discuss how you, as a SW engineer, can help me (the GM) select the best offensive line talent.
  
• (Advanced) A few years ago, in a NE@IND night game, everyone assumed New England would spend the evening passing the ball. Why? They ended up running the ball instead, and winning. What unusual wrinkle did they add to their offense that made it effective?
  
  Also... if the team you're applying to is the Ravens, I'll be happy to help you get up to speed.

Keep your eye off the ball NFL edition is good

Take Your Eye Off the Ball 2.0: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look https://www.amazon.com/dp/1629371696/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i.vWAbRA5EMJN

Also the art of smart football

The Art of Smart Football https://www.amazon.com/dp/069244825X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_qawWAb8X0RP9W

Most of these are analytical:

Take your eyes of the ball by Pat Kirwan.


The Games That Changed the Game: The Evolution of the NFL in Seven Sundays by Ron Jaworski

War Room: The Legacy of Bill Belichick and the Art of Building the Perfect Team by Michael Holley


The Art of Smart Football by Chris B. Brown

For more a bit more insight into the defensive principles described in the article, I found the first chapter of Chris B. Brown's The Art of Smart Football a great read!

Goes into why Carroll prefers a one-gap defense. Also describes the reasoning behind his 4-3 Under and Cover 3 schemes.

Kirwan's book is an excellent introduction to the finer details of the game, but for broader strokes about scheme and particularly their history and how they came into fashion I have a pair of other recommendations -

Sports Illustrated's Blood, Sweat & Chalk: The Ultimate Football Playbook: How the Great Coaches Built Today's Game

and

Chris B Brown's The Essential Smart Football, and really everything on his website http://smartfootball.com/

I thoroughly enjoyed both, they were as much entertaining as educational and easy reads. I've been waiting for Brown's new book to come out on the e-readers, and if doesn't soon I'll probably buy a hard copy.

Also a shout out to /r/footballstrategy - there are some smart cats on that sub who are always happy to answer questions

edit: If you're interested in web articles instead also check out Matt Bowen's Football 101 series that he wrote for Bleacher Report (I wish he'd come back, most of his content is behind ESPN's paywall now...), he broke down a lot of broad principles with some nice diagrams http://bleacherreport.com/users/2822152-matt-bowen/archives/newest?rel=nofollow

I would recommend, in order:

Take Your Eye Off the Ball by Pat Kirwan

The Essential Smart Football by Chris Brown

The Art of Smart Football by Chris Brown

Blood, Sweat, and Chalk by Tim Layden

These are some books I bought a few months back as a recommendation from someone on this sub and they're fantastic.

[Take Your Eye off the Ball 2.0] (http://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1629371696/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1453326704&sr=8-4&keywords=smart+football)

[The Art of Smart Football] (http://www.amazon.com/Art-Smart-Football-Chris-Brown/dp/069244825X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453326704&sr=8-1&keywords=smart+football)

[The Essential Smart Football] (http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Smart-Football-Chris-Brown/dp/1470125595/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1453326704&sr=8-2&keywords=smart+football)

I picked this up during the offseason and it helped level up my understanding quickly. Maybe a Xmas gift to yourself candidate:

The Art of Smart Football

Websites (Most are not active):

• Inside the Pylon - Videos may not load embedded, but you can copy the url. Pretty good look at base plays, position responsibilities, and other terms you run into.
  
• Breakdown Sports another place for looking at the above, less available though covered deeply. See article on Cover 1 for example.
  
• Football Study Hall More on the statistics side of football (old stomping ground of Bill Connelly), a bit more all over the place.
  
• Dan Casey's Twitter If you want to see clips of fun and interesting plays past and present, he's a good'un.
  
• Playbooks - Historic coaches' playbooks. You can get a pretty good understanding of things like read progression and play goals from these, as well as what the purpose of each player on the field for each play by reading through some of these.
  
  ---
  Books: These are the books most people recommend starting from.
  
  

1. David Seigerman's Take Your Eye Off the Ball This is a really good book for understanding the game holistically. From positions to managing a season to how you can pay attention to a play, a drive, and a game.
   
2. Chris B. Brown's The Essential Smart Football and The Art of Smart Football (read in order of printing) Fantastic book set for anyone ready to dive a deeper into how the game has and could develop. Seeing everyone raving about the wildcat is always a chuckle though.
   

• Tim Layden's Blood, Sweat & Chalk. Definitely worth the the purchase. Would recommend the above first, but this is a great go for the stories behind the plays. How they came to be and why.

I don't know too much about this myself, but I found "The Art of Smart Football" by Chris B. Brown (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Smart-Football-Chris-Brown/dp/069244825X/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2/258-9038664-6346904?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=4YW2R5VT4YR69EQDD7Y4) very enlightening.