What do you think?
Rate this book
The Genius of Desperation: The Schematic Innovations that Made the Modern NFL
If necessity has been the mother of invention throughout the history of professional football, it could also be said that desperation is the father. Rare are the football innovations that have occurred without an owner, general manager, coach, or player up against the wall and reaching for a way to succeed anyway. In this meticulously researched, lively book, Bleacher Report lead NFL scout Doug Farrar traces the schematic history of the pro game through these “if this/then that” moments—paradigm shifts in the game from 1920 through the present. More than just a book about schemes and strategies, The Genius of The Schematic Innovations that Made the Modern NFL also tells the stories of the game’s most prominent innovators, the adversities they endured, and the ways in which they learned to exceed their own expectations on the path to true greatness. Everyone from George Halas to Greasy Neale, Paul Brown to Sid Gillman, Bill Walsh to Chip Kelly is featured, as well as many more.
- GenresSportsFootballNonfiction
304 pages, Paperback
Published September 25, 2018
87 people are currently reading
338 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
November 3, 2018
You know it's good when you're left wanting to read MORE about the zone blitz...
May 25, 2021
I’ll be stunned if anyone on my goodreads is considering reading this but in case you are - very educational but really tough to read. Not one to relax with.
February 3, 2019
Doug Farrar's "The Genius of Desperation" walks through NFL history in terms of tactics and strategy, discussing the tactics, people, and situations that brought them about. Farrar's main thesis is in the title - that these developments did not come out of thin air but were the result of real problems the people faced. For example, a team might just be in the dumps and need to do something to get out of it, or there was a lack of personnel that necessitated the change.
Football people know how wonderfully rich and interesting the history of football strategy is, it's a "second level" of football enjoyment. It can be hard to puncture though, with a lot of semi-impenetrable jargon that will get thrown about on TV or online without a lot of explanation. I think this book is good for attempting to explain this strategy as well as talking about the context and history of it. I would rate it higher if not for the fact that it misses the mark just a little bit - it definitely throws you in the deep end, with the early chapters lacking play diagrams and pictures and going immediately into the innovations (i.e. talking very little about what came before the innovations). It gets a little clearer later on but I think a lot of people who don't know basic football strategy may be turned off early on. I think a companion website with videos, play diagrams, etc. could really help out the book.
The book also gets a little repetitive at times, like when talking about Bill Walsh. But, maybe Bill Walsh is so good that he deserves to have his story talked about multiple times. Overall, I think this is a good read but be prepared for a bit of a slog in the early part of the book.
Football people know how wonderfully rich and interesting the history of football strategy is, it's a "second level" of football enjoyment. It can be hard to puncture though, with a lot of semi-impenetrable jargon that will get thrown about on TV or online without a lot of explanation. I think this book is good for attempting to explain this strategy as well as talking about the context and history of it. I would rate it higher if not for the fact that it misses the mark just a little bit - it definitely throws you in the deep end, with the early chapters lacking play diagrams and pictures and going immediately into the innovations (i.e. talking very little about what came before the innovations). It gets a little clearer later on but I think a lot of people who don't know basic football strategy may be turned off early on. I think a companion website with videos, play diagrams, etc. could really help out the book.
The book also gets a little repetitive at times, like when talking about Bill Walsh. But, maybe Bill Walsh is so good that he deserves to have his story talked about multiple times. Overall, I think this is a good read but be prepared for a bit of a slog in the early part of the book.
January 23, 2020
This book takes a look at many of the innovations that have occurred in the NFL over the last 70 years. Run-and-shoot, Wildcat, 4-3, 3-4, the 46 defense, the zone blitz, the West Coast offense, zone-read, RPO.
It's fine. There are a few nice observations in there that I wasn't aware of. For example, how Bill Walsh stumbled onto the value of putting people in motion before the snap -- giving the quarterback information about what the defense was doing.
Overall, however, not enough of the material was compelling or memorable enough. It's a workmanlike effort, I thought. Not recommended for casual football fans. And for those who are really into football, there might not be enough meat there for them.
It's fine. There are a few nice observations in there that I wasn't aware of. For example, how Bill Walsh stumbled onto the value of putting people in motion before the snap -- giving the quarterback information about what the defense was doing.
Overall, however, not enough of the material was compelling or memorable enough. It's a workmanlike effort, I thought. Not recommended for casual football fans. And for those who are really into football, there might not be enough meat there for them.
April 19, 2020
This book is really JUST okay. I’ve heard rave reviews from just about every corner of the football internet, but it left me wanting for a couple of reasons.
First, this book is all over the place chronologically, jumping wildly between eras of the sport. Football strategy is by nature about action and reaction, and schematic innovations, therefore, follow suit. But since the book doesn’t progress in a linear fashion, it’s difficult to see how schematic developments played together, a crucial factor of the “desperation” in the title. Michael McCambridge’s excellent book “America’s Game” does a much better job of laying out the historical context for schematic changes and why certain things happened when they did, and that book wasn’t even about strategy!
Second, this book is not really about desperation at all. Between the title and the early framing in the book, I expected a focus on how specific moments of desperation led to schematic changes. Instead, it’s mostly about gradual adaptation. And to be sure, that’s how most innovation occurs. But that’s not the story we’re promised here.
Finally, long sections of this book seem adapted from other works. This shows up in the form of long quotes from primary sources (e.g. a multi-paragraph quote from a book a coach wrote about a specific scheme) and from other contemporary writing about the sport. If the author relies so much on those other books, it makes me wonder why I didn’t just read those in the first place.
I guess read this one if you’re looking for some scattered thoughts about football and some ideas about what other books you should read instead.
First, this book is all over the place chronologically, jumping wildly between eras of the sport. Football strategy is by nature about action and reaction, and schematic innovations, therefore, follow suit. But since the book doesn’t progress in a linear fashion, it’s difficult to see how schematic developments played together, a crucial factor of the “desperation” in the title. Michael McCambridge’s excellent book “America’s Game” does a much better job of laying out the historical context for schematic changes and why certain things happened when they did, and that book wasn’t even about strategy!
Second, this book is not really about desperation at all. Between the title and the early framing in the book, I expected a focus on how specific moments of desperation led to schematic changes. Instead, it’s mostly about gradual adaptation. And to be sure, that’s how most innovation occurs. But that’s not the story we’re promised here.
Finally, long sections of this book seem adapted from other works. This shows up in the form of long quotes from primary sources (e.g. a multi-paragraph quote from a book a coach wrote about a specific scheme) and from other contemporary writing about the sport. If the author relies so much on those other books, it makes me wonder why I didn’t just read those in the first place.
I guess read this one if you’re looking for some scattered thoughts about football and some ideas about what other books you should read instead.
March 11, 2021
The book was interesting overall, but there were several problems:
From the title I had assumed that the thesis was going to be about how most innovative and lasting schemes came from moments of desperation, but this is not the case. There are only a handful of schemes that came from "desperation." Most of the lasting innovations came from men who understood the flavor of the month during that era and were able to adapt quickly.
Secondly, it was difficult to follow the narrative because the author jumped from different eras and so I was always a little perplexed who was innovating against what. Not a big problem, but it took a little time to reorient myself and get back into the book.
Third, there just wasn't enough examples on the schemes. The author did go over basic principles, but didn't go into great detail. He did go over certain in game situations, but I don't know if the game situations really helped illuminate what the coaches were thinking, and so we are left wondering more about the schemes.
It's an interesting attempt to document the history of football schemes, and there are pretty interesting facts in there, but overall it just didn't work for me.
From the title I had assumed that the thesis was going to be about how most innovative and lasting schemes came from moments of desperation, but this is not the case. There are only a handful of schemes that came from "desperation." Most of the lasting innovations came from men who understood the flavor of the month during that era and were able to adapt quickly.
Secondly, it was difficult to follow the narrative because the author jumped from different eras and so I was always a little perplexed who was innovating against what. Not a big problem, but it took a little time to reorient myself and get back into the book.
Third, there just wasn't enough examples on the schemes. The author did go over basic principles, but didn't go into great detail. He did go over certain in game situations, but I don't know if the game situations really helped illuminate what the coaches were thinking, and so we are left wondering more about the schemes.
It's an interesting attempt to document the history of football schemes, and there are pretty interesting facts in there, but overall it just didn't work for me.
July 8, 2024
An intriguing book that looks as the various innovations in the game of football, both from an offensive and defensive standpoint. It can cover ground that would be familiar with those that follow the game, and especially it is history. Yet, for the football fan that isn’t all that versed in NFL history ,this work is a good mix of narrative and technical description. It covers all aspects of the modern game, from the start of the T-formation, to the implementation of the modern RPO (run-pass option) offense in the game. Defense gets plenty of discussion, from the evolution of the 4-3, 3-4, the 46, zone blitz and the modern schemes looking to counter those offenses. It is a constant give and take, and while some aspects can appear repeating the past (the modern spread game takes much from the old single and double wing offenses of old), there will be newer innovations and actions that will define the game. This is more for the sports fan, but even a casual fan could get much out of this book. Not a bad read, especially with the pre-season under a few weeks away.
January 16, 2019
An interesting history of the schematic innovations over the history of the NFL. However, a few problems kept it from being great. First of all, it was unclear (at least to me) what effect some of the innovations actually had on game plan and the development of the game. Some possibly significant innovations were mentioned and described in a page or two, and I wasn't able to fully understand their significance. Second, the book is misnamed. Other than one or two examples of innovation brought on by desperation, the book merely focuses on the progression of innovation, rather than possible desperation that may or may not have brought on the innovation.
April 15, 2020
For the X's and O's junkie to the casual fan
It feels like each of the chapters and even sections within the chapters would require a full book to grasp completely. The Genius of Desperation manages to summarize these complex offensive and defensive concepts from both a schematic and historical perspective in a way that's easy to digest without being overly simplistic. I went down many internet rabbit holes diving deeper into a lot of these, and with that came an increased appreciation for the game and deeper understanding of what's going on.
It feels like each of the chapters and even sections within the chapters would require a full book to grasp completely. The Genius of Desperation manages to summarize these complex offensive and defensive concepts from both a schematic and historical perspective in a way that's easy to digest without being overly simplistic. I went down many internet rabbit holes diving deeper into a lot of these, and with that came an increased appreciation for the game and deeper understanding of what's going on.
February 1, 2019
This is a very good and useful book if you want don´t know about football or want to know more. In my case it helped me to understand more about what the succesful teams did to win the champions and understand to read the offense and defense of the team.
Also it helped me to understand which were the reason that have done that the Patriots have been son good playing football.
So I recommend this book.
Also it helped me to understand which were the reason that have done that the Patriots have been son good playing football.
So I recommend this book.
December 19, 2020
Ranks with Tim Layden's Blood, Sweat & Chalk: How the Geniuses of Football Created America's Favorite Game and Ron Jaworski'sThe Games That Changed the Game: The Evolution of the NFL in Seven Sundays as the best tactical/schematic histories of the NFL available.
January 28, 2019
fun read to tide me over from conference champs weekend thru part of the long wait for Super Bowl. would be perfect for blog format with inserted video clips to illustrate the points, a la Zach Lowe's basketball columns.
January 3, 2019
Tremendous look at the evolution of offensive & defensive schemes in the NFL and how they were created. It's a history of the league, told through innovation. I loved this.
November 9, 2022
Great insight into the changes that sparked changes and the birth of the NFL being a 'copycat league'.
April 16, 2025
This book provided lots of knowledge on the evolution of formations and football itself. Would recommend to a fan of true strategy.
June 29, 2022
This is such an uneven book, I'm not sure what to do with it.
First, many of the stories don't match the theme of innovation through desperation.
Second, sometimes he misses some precursor coaches when describing an innovation.
Next, the writing is so inconsistent. Once scheme he'll go into with some depth for pages and the next one very little.
This reads like a book for someone who doesn't know much about football or football history.
I was hoping for more.
First, many of the stories don't match the theme of innovation through desperation.
Second, sometimes he misses some precursor coaches when describing an innovation.
Next, the writing is so inconsistent. Once scheme he'll go into with some depth for pages and the next one very little.
This reads like a book for someone who doesn't know much about football or football history.
I was hoping for more.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews