McKay a Coach's Story

By John H. McKay

Book Overview

McKay: A Coach's Story is a humorous and touching autobiographical account of John McKay's experiences coaching the USC Trojans from 1960 through 1975. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• ISBN: B001HTD2WG
• ISBN13: 9780689106248
• Release Date: January 1975
• Publisher: Atheneum
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A Coaches Glory

Being a lifelong UCLA fan, USC is my second favorite team. Accordingly, I read this book with great zeal. It is a must read for both Bruin and Trojan fans. It's great to relive those years and games from the mind and eyes of McKay. Unfortunately, a few things keep this book from getting a five-star rating, in my opinion--though USC grads may think differently. First, McKay shows complete disdain for UCLA. That was his perogative. But it tended to hurt his credibility somewhat, especially when describing the SC-UCLA games. For example, he said about the 1969 game that SC's final drive was merely aided by an interference call. That, of course, was an understatement. Even the SC receiver, when interviewed, expressed dismay--as did everybody else--at the UCLA defensive back who tackled him on fourth down as the ball was sailing six feet over his head. That was just one example, and I won't bore you with the rest. Another problem, however, was McKay's consistent denial of any responsibility for losing a game or making a mistake. According to him, he never made a mistake in his whole coaching life. The games SC won were always due to his brilliance or innovation, and the games he lost were always the fault of someone else--usually his own players. He clearly saw himself as the perfect coach. For example, when SC oddly went for one point in the 1969 game after Dickerson caught the TD pass, McKay claimed that the frenzy was so great that his players didn't hear him yelling to them to go for two points. But SC was clearly going for the TD on the drive. Any coach would naturally tell his team, or at least his kicker, beforehand to go for two should they score. And McKay blames the Beban TD passes in the 1965 game entirely on his players not listening to him. I just have a hard time believing it--especially when the bruins had to recover an onside kick and Beban had to make two TD passes for the bruins to win that game. How is it that, at the end of the season after being so brilliantly coached, you still have defensive players who don't listen to you in the big game with a minute left to play--twice in a row? McKay also tells about how he would discipline a player--a quarterback, for instance, who he felt wasn't giving a hundred percent. He would secretly tell the offensive line not to block on the next pass play so that the quarterback would get unexpectedly creamed. I found that negligent and immature, even for the Lombardi decade. McKay also lamented at length about how USC should have been allowed to leave the pac eight (pac-ten), and go independent. It struck me as an arrogant slam to the rest of the conference, and based solely on McKay's unfulfilled dream of coaching at Notre Dame. But otherwise, as I said, "Coaches Story" is a great book and a must read for both SC and UCLA fans. Erik Smith (Columbus, OH)