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Swing Your Sword: Leading the Charge in Football and Life
Legendary head coach Mike Leach tells his captivating story––from rural Wyoming to law school to the upper echelons of the SEC.
SWING YOUR SWORD is the first ever book by one of the most fascinating and successful coaches in sports today. A maverick who took an unlikely path to coaching through law school, Mike Leach talks about his unorthodox approach to coaching and the choices that have brought him success throughout his career. A lover of the game who started creating formations and drawing his own plays as a kid, Leach took his Texas Tech Red Raiders to numerous bowl games, achieving the #2 slot in national rankings and being voted 2008 Coach of the Year before being unceremoniously fired at the end of the 2009 season. The scandalous nature of his dismissal created a media frenzy and began a personal battle between Leach and his accusers that remains unresolved.
SWING YOUR SWORD is the first ever book by one of the most fascinating and successful coaches in sports today. A maverick who took an unlikely path to coaching through law school, Mike Leach talks about his unorthodox approach to coaching and the choices that have brought him success throughout his career. A lover of the game who started creating formations and drawing his own plays as a kid, Leach took his Texas Tech Red Raiders to numerous bowl games, achieving the #2 slot in national rankings and being voted 2008 Coach of the Year before being unceremoniously fired at the end of the 2009 season. The scandalous nature of his dismissal created a media frenzy and began a personal battle between Leach and his accusers that remains unresolved.
Editorial Reviews
I could tell that our players liked him right away. What really struck me was how sure of himself of what he wanted to do. He had such conviction and confidence in his way of doing it and there wasn't any second guessing it: "This is what we're going to do. It is going to work. It has worked everywhere we've been." I remember feeling great. This is exactly what we needed to do. -- Bob Stoops, Mike's former boss at Oklahoma
He's one of the most unique people I've ever met. He's infinitely curious about everything. He doesn't come in there and meet new situations with an agenda. He likes to walk straight up and ask the tough questions. He loves it when someone is real as can be. He wants to learn something new. He wants to hear another point of view on something. Mike Leach is an infinitely interesting guy. His free association is epic. Nobody has the ability to free associate like this guy. He starts going and you're thinking, ‘O.K., where are you going with this?' I love his re-set. His re-set line is always, ‘well, the thing is.' Whenever he switches gears to another subject, that his comma, it's ‘Well, the thing is. . . ‘ -- Matthew McConaughey
I think he's brilliant. Mike Leach is a renaissance man through and through. The commercials about the World's Most Interesting Man―that's Mike Leach. I love him so much. I aspire to live a full and rich life and he's doing it. He's as interested in literature as he is in football. He's just a very complicated, well-rounded individual. He's a real maverick and an inspiration. -- Peter Berg, filmmaker, director FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
Mike Leach has proved he can write a book that's as good as his passing schemes. I might add that it also ranks up there with his leadership and communication skills. Don't miss this eye-opening entertainment. -- Dan Jenkins
Mike Leach is a great leader and an amazing motivator of men. And he got screwed. He's got fantastic ingenuity, not only on the football field, but what he did with Texas Tech. The guy was on the cover of the New York Times Sunday Magazine as the head coach of Texas Tech. Think about how unusual that is. He is just so smart and really is a great guy, and a great coach. -- Donald Trump
He's one of the most unique people I've ever met. He's infinitely curious about everything. He doesn't come in there and meet new situations with an agenda. He likes to walk straight up and ask the tough questions. He loves it when someone is real as can be. He wants to learn something new. He wants to hear another point of view on something. Mike Leach is an infinitely interesting guy. His free association is epic. Nobody has the ability to free associate like this guy. He starts going and you're thinking, ‘O.K., where are you going with this?' I love his re-set. His re-set line is always, ‘well, the thing is.' Whenever he switches gears to another subject, that his comma, it's ‘Well, the thing is. . . ‘ -- Matthew McConaughey
I think he's brilliant. Mike Leach is a renaissance man through and through. The commercials about the World's Most Interesting Man―that's Mike Leach. I love him so much. I aspire to live a full and rich life and he's doing it. He's as interested in literature as he is in football. He's just a very complicated, well-rounded individual. He's a real maverick and an inspiration. -- Peter Berg, filmmaker, director FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
Mike Leach has proved he can write a book that's as good as his passing schemes. I might add that it also ranks up there with his leadership and communication skills. Don't miss this eye-opening entertainment. -- Dan Jenkins
Mike Leach is a great leader and an amazing motivator of men. And he got screwed. He's got fantastic ingenuity, not only on the football field, but what he did with Texas Tech. The guy was on the cover of the New York Times Sunday Magazine as the head coach of Texas Tech. Think about how unusual that is. He is just so smart and really is a great guy, and a great coach. -- Donald Trump
Readers Top Reviews
NiSo
Wanted to learn more about the airraid offense and philosophy behind. Found not only that but also Infos and ideas to use with my team in CH
D.NiSo
Il libro ripercorre la carriera di Mike Leach (fino a Texas Tech), allenatore di football fuori dagli schemi tradizionali; scritto in un inglese di semplice comprensione, è una lettura piacevole e da alcuni spunti di riflessione sul football pur senza scendere in dettagli troppo tecnici.
D.NiSo
Swing your sword is a good read, it follows the coaching journey of Mike Leach from his side of the fence. Leach shares several great stories in this book that help the reader become more aware of Mike and football at the College level. The book also includes stories from people in Mike's life, they share little things about Mike and his journey that really help set a tone for who Mike Leach really is.
JAG D.NiSo
My evaluation of this book is most likely biased in some ways. I am an alumni and a huge Red Raider fan. However, I would submit that anyone who wants a peek into one of the most innovative minds in NCAA College Football would enjoy this book. When I was at Tech ('92-'95), our football program was really pretty weak. We won a few, but we lost a few more. Games were fairly well attended and fun, but we never even came close to experiencing the kind of buzz and excitement generated in the late 2000's. (I could get a ticket for $15 in 1992. Last time I went to a game in 2005, a ticket in the same section cost $75). There's no question Leach put Tech football on the map, and there's no question he made watching Tech play exciting for anyone who loves football. I had people (non-Tech fans) tell me all the time that they enjoyed watching TTU play, and they didn't miss our games if they were on TV. I remember my father-in-law called me late one night all excited to talk to me about how the Red Raiders came back from being down 38-7 to beat Minnesota in a bowl game. He said it was the most exciting game he had ever seen, and he is a CU fan! A lot of the anti-Leach yahoos on message boards obviously didn't go to Tech before Leach arrived (and possibly never at all). If they had, they'd understand what he did for our school. He was able to make our football program respectable and as fun to watch as any team I'd ever seen. While I know that he didn't win conference championships or BCS trophies, anyone who disagrees with his success should go look at the campus. Just in the past 10 years, the place looks completely different. Academics and sports types on campus have his teams to thank for a lot of students (athletes and non-athletes) and dollars making their way to Lubbock. It's sad to think that Leach will never be back, and reading this book makes it sink in even more. However, I respect Tuberville, and I believe he is a talented coach who could really take Tech to the next level. I'm excited after a solid first season, and hopeful for future success. Yet, all of Leach's successors have him to thank for making the program what it is. That game in 2008, when Crabtree caught that amazing last second TD vs. Texas, will go down as the most exciting sports moment in my life. And, it marked the first time in my memory that every football fan I knew had watched one of our games. Outside of winning a national championship, I can't imagine anything topping that for me. The book is a quick read, and it really doesn't solely focus on the controversy. Leach tries to explain how his life experiences helped shape his career as a lawyer and a football coach. It also explains how he tinkered with offenses at each school he coached until he came up with the schemes that gave Tech success. While the last few chapters do dive in...
