The Winner’s Manual—My Review
Why would a young player not want to play football at Ohio State?
After reading through Jim Tressel’s book… it makes me wonder.
It’s called “The Winner’s Manual,“ which is an actual document Jim Tressel uses in his coaching. This book is not the actual manual, merely cited passages from the manual and hints on how Tressel and his staff employ that manual. So he’s not exactly giving away trade secrets, but truth be told, the manual really isn’t full of trade secrets. This is something any other school could adopt—they simply don’t. I’d guess the main reason why is that the manual is only partially football focused.
There are passages about personal and team spirituality, including quotes from ranging from ancient greek philosophy to blue collar-esque. Simple truths like “It is impossible to grateful and unhappy at the same time.“
In the book Tressel makes a great point about success… he cites Dan Marino as an example. He says most people view Dan Marino as a successful NFL quarterback, but what really matters is if Dan Marino views himself that way. That’s the true measure of success, he says… if the person can confidently say it about themselves.
Tressel goes into some detail, none of it surprising, about his family upbringing and the influence his father had on Jim’s coaching career. I’ve talked to many people who think the book is an autobiography, and in the early reading you might get that impression. But it quickly changes to specific topics, like discipline (which is my favorite chapter, btw), excellence and responsibilty. He does share a story in the “work” chapter related to his grandfather, a life long dairy farmer, who died at age 87 sitting in his rocking chair with a bible in his lap. It’s good storytelling.
There’s some funny stuff in the book, like the list of Ten Reasons Why I Swear! It’s part of the players’ manual, written in a sarcastic manner, to show players why swearing isn’t as cool as they think.
Overall, I highly reccommend reading this book, especially for Buckeye fans. But I’d really suggest it to people dealing with tough cicumstances—-people fighting major illness or someone who’s lost faith and searching for hope. We all know people who fall into those categories, and this book uses football to show a mindset that can lead to better things. It’s a fine read, and a good investment.
