Coaches should not write books. Unless the book is about coaching, they should leave this field to the professionals. Charles Dickens did not coach national title-winning football teams, and Nick Saban should not have written a book.
“How Good Do You Want To Be?” was written by Nick Saban with the assistance of Brian Curtis and published by Ballantine Books. It presents itself as a motivational book to succeed at life. What it ends up being is a collection of recaps of LSU football and tired maxims from Saban’s life.
The book moves from one story to another while attempting to relate a “tip” from the author to the story. The anecdotes seem forced and anyone who has ever seen a coach on the sidelines will find it hard to believe some of the tales of cool-headedness and levity.
References to the Saban family try to make it seem as though they come first in his life, but constant stories of hours put in lead the reader to believe otherwise.
The failings of the book do not rest solely on Saban’s shoulders. Brian Curtis, the sports analyst who assisted in the writing, did little to make the book exceptional.
On the cover of the book, Saban, wearing all purple and gold, is named as the coach of LSU. It is a pity that his picture could not have him in the Miami Dolphins’ teal and orange. Many hurt fans could construe this as Saban using LSU regalia to increase the sales of his book like he used the LSU championship season to position himself for a career in the NFL.
It is hard to find a correlation between coaching a college football team and being able to properly discipline children, but Saban reaches, and falls short, of this analogy.
While no one can discredit Saban’s abilities as a coach and a leader himself, his motivational tips are either so well-known that it was either a waste to print them, or they apply only to football coaches or teachers.
For all the faults of the book, the stories of LSU football are interesting to read from the coach’s perspective, but they do not go into enough detail. Perhaps if the book had been an account of the 2003 season instead of a self-help book, it would have made a more intriguing read.
While this book probably will not ruin Saban’s coaching career, it will make already bitter LSU fans dislike the coach even more, that is, if they can make themselves finish the entire thing.