There is a pre-draft rundown of the AFC East over at Football Outsiders today, which touches on Belichick and Pioli throwing out the “Patriot Way” playbook last off-season in favor of top-dollar free agents.
This begs the question: Faced with an unprecedented exodus of home-grown talent, will the Patriots continue to deviate from their strategy of developing young talent? The acquisitions of Fernando Bryant, Jason Webster and Sam Aiken seem to forecast a return to the blueprint that built the dynasty to begin with.
Nowhere better is this blueprint better summed up than in James Lavin’s “Management Secrets of the New England Patriots.” It is without question the most comprehensive text I have ever read on developing a high-performance athletic organization.
Don’t be fooled by the mildly patronizing “Management Secrets…” title. This book is the real deal. Thoroughly researched, Lavin relies on hundreds of referenced articles, books, and interviews to build the value case for both Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli. Volume One covers the Patriots right up through Super Bowl XXXVIII, while Volume Two covers the victory over the Eagles, as well as the maintenance of an existing powerhouse through the 2005 season.
While the website does promise the release of Volume Three in 2006, it still has yet to be released. I exchanged e-mails with James this past February, and while he has begun writing the third installment, he is unsure of when it will actually hit shelves.
Until then, I can’t recommend the first two volumes highly enough. If I were developing a syllabus on sports management, this book would be one of the primary texts.
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