That First Season: How Vince Lombardi Took the Worst Team in the NFL and Set It on the Path to Glory

The story of a team, a town, and a leader: Vince Lombardi’s first year as head coach of the Green Bay Packers, and how he turned them into a powerhouse.

The once-vaunted Green Bay Packers were a laughingstock by the late 1950s. They hadn’t fielded a winning team in more than a decade, and were close to losing their franchise to another city. They were in desperate need of a savior—and he arrived in a wood-paneled station wagon in the dead of winter from New York City.

In a single year, Vince Lombardi—the grizzled coach who took no bull—transformed a team of underachievers into winners and resurrected a Wisconsin city known for its passion for sports. He would lead them to championship to championship, and bring out the best in players including Bart Starr, Jim Taylor, Willie Davis, Forrest Gregg, and many more. From an award-winning sportswriter, That First Season is “a compelling read about perhaps the most compelling coach ever to stride an NFL sideline” (Washington Times).

“Richly detailed in seamless prose, this is historical sportswriting at its finest."—Lars Anderson, New York Times best-selling author of The Mannings: The Fall and Rise of a Football Family |

"A brisk, sometimes revealing look at Lombardi's early days in Green Bay and is a nice complement to the existing works on the legendary coach." -- Publishers Weekly "The exciting chronicle of Vince Lombardi’s pivotal first season as head coach of the Green Bay Packers... How the stout, brash Brooklyn native was able to transform a directionless assemblage of players into a gridiron behemoth is as much the subject of Eisenberg’s exhaustively researched account as his thrilling description of each game... A must-read for Packer and Lombardi fans, and will interest most NFL fans as well." -- Kirkus Reviews  "A worthy and informative account." -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "Incisive." -- Washington Times "Engrossing . . . Provides a thrilling look at the coach and players who legends shine brightly in Titletown even decades later." -- Associated Press "A breezy and likable look at [Lombardi]." -- Bloomberg "A compelling read about perhaps the most compelling coach ever to stride an NFL sideline. This one is a keeper for anyone who remembers St. Vincent or wonders how he did so much so quickly." -- Washington Times