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

Bill Belichick is one of the titans of today’s game of football. Now, sports commentator and bestselling author Michael Holley follows three NFL teams—the New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, and Atlanta Falcons—from training camp 2010 through the Super Bowl and into the April draft, opening a new window into Belichick’s influence on the game. This one-of-a-kind exploration takes football fans behind the scenes of the most popular sport in America, with unprecedented insider access to the head coaches, scouts, trainers, and players who make the game what it is—including new insights from Bill Parcells, Todd and Dick Haley, and Belichick himself. For true fans of the game, and for readers of Badasses, Patriot Reign, and Boys Will Be Boys, Holley’s War Room is not to be missed.

Go inside the philosophy that built a dynasty and influenced a generation of leaders:

• The Belichick System: Discover how a revolutionary player evaluation and grading system, first developed for the Cleveland Browns, became the foundation for the Patriots dynasty.
• A Tale of Three Teams: Follow the Patriots, Chiefs, and Falcons through a full season to see how the Belichick philosophy is implemented, adapted, and challenged in different organizations.
• The Belichick Tree: Learn the origin stories of top NFL executives like Scott Pioli and Thomas Dimitroff, who learned the art of franchise building directly from the master.
• Insider Access: Hear directly from coaching legends and personnel gurus, including Bill Parcells, the Haleys, and Bill Belichick himself, as they reveal what it takes to win in the NFL.

In War Room, New York Times bestselling author Michael Holley gives readers an unprecedented look behind the scenes at three contending National Football League teams—from the draft room to the locker room to the sidelines—and grants access to the brilliant minds of Bill Belichick and his former protégés, Thomas Dimitroff and Scott Pioli.

In 1991, while he was with the Cleveland Browns football organization, Belichick was struck by the Big Idea: how to build the perfect team, one draft pick and one trade at a time. This strategy obsessed him, leading him on a remarkable personal and professional journey filled with miraculous finishes, heartbreaking losses, shattered relationships . . . and ultimately three Super Bowl championships. In Massachusetts, Belichick reunited with two former office employees from the Ohio days—Pioli, a low-paid scouting assistant, and Dimitroff, a groundskeeper and part-time scout—and together they refined and burnished Belichick's method for constructing a winning team. The end result was one of the greatest franchises in modern NFL history: the New England Patriots. Packed with never-before-told anecdotes and insights from team officials, players, coaches, and scouts, War Room is a fascinating, often astonishing story of grit and genius, and the art of building a championship team.

“A deeply reported, thoroughly engaging look at what it takes to succeed in the NFL.” - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“A fly-on-the-wall look at how a champion is assembled.…” - New York Times Book Review

“Fans will want to read how Belichick transformed the once-lackluster Patriots into the most successful franchise of the past decade, which Holley explains in an engaging chronological narrative.” - Booklist

“WAR ROOM is going to take you into the inner world of pro football. I recommend it highly.” - Peter King, Sports Illustrated

“The ultimate book for pro football geeks.” - Publishers Weekly

Crisply written, the story moves along like a two-minute drill. It also sparkles with interesting anecdotes and tidbits….WAR ROOM is a lively, fast-paced insider’s account that will please ardent and casual fans alike.” - Boston Globe

“Sickly stunning...it’s that damn good.” - Pittsburgh Tribune

“A salty, revealing look...Enlightening. The hard-core football stuff will be an X-and-O guy’s dream…the best thing I’ve read on football in recent years.” - Peter King, Sports Illustrated

“The oft-inscrutable Belichick is given a human face...Patriot Reign is irresistable for football fans, connoisseurs of football coaches and, indeed, students of successful businesses.” - Boston Herald