Every Week a Season: A Journey Inside Big-Time College Football

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Random House Publishing Group, 2007 M12 18 - 320 pages
“Brian Curtis tells the stories behind the stories. He brings the meetings, practice sessions, recruiting calls and game day experience to light like never before. Fans who want to know what goes on behind the scenes will find out in this book.”
–RON ZOOK, head football coach, the University of Florida

In Every Week a Season, acclaimed sports reporter and author Brian Curtis takes readers on an unprecedented whirlwind tour of NCAA Division I football. It’s a world that breeds great drama, a world that millions watch but few understand. It is a multibillion-dollar business. It is an obsession.

To get to the beating heart of college football, Curtis embarked on a breakneck itinerary that took him where all red-blooded college football fans long to be: behind the scenes at nine big-time programs. In nine weeks, Curtis visited Colorado State University, the University of Georgia, Boston College, the University of Tennessee, the University of Maryland, the University of Wisconsin, Louisiana State University, Florida State University, and Arizona State University. He braved the rain to watch Wisconsin pull off the upset of the year; he was at Neyland Stadium to see Tennessee manage a thrilling overtime victory; he was in Tallahassee to witness Florida State’s dramatic double overtime battle for the ACC title. As added bonuses, he was with Georgia when the team fought for the SEC Championship, and on the LSU sideline when the boys from Baton Rouge defeated Oklahoma to capture the BCS National Championship. At each stop, he brings us inside the game’s inner sanctum: in team meetings and scouting sessions; on the field and on the sidelines, during scrimmages, practices, and games; at pre-game traditions, meals, and religious services; in the locker room before the game and at half-time. Virtually nothing and no one was off-limits.

Along with the players, Curtis got to know the coaches–from the young guns to the legends–spending time with them in their offices and on the road. We see firsthand the challenges of running a major college football program–when called on, coaches must serve as CEOs, PR gurus, lawyers, politicians, and policemen. We also learn of the sacrifices made by wives and children that enable coaches to keep the numerous young athletes under their supervision focused, secure, and happy.

Brian Curtis gives a no-holds-barred insider’s account that will rank as one of the most honest and accurate books on big-time sports in America. Short of strapping on a helmet, you’ll never get closer to the game.
 

Contents

Introduction
3
After Sonny Colorado State University
11
Faith in the GameThe University of Georgia
38
Guard on the WatchtowerBoston College
61
Tennessee Inc The University of Tennessee
82
Breakfast with the Fridge The University of Maryland
109
Im In Im OnThe University of Wisconsin
132
Focused on the FutureLouisiana State University
158
The Governor Florida State University
182
RedemptionArizona State University
209
SEC Championship GameSecond Chances
245
Epilogue
273
ix
291
245
298
Copyright

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About the author (2007)

BRIAN CURTIS is the author of The Men of March: Inside the Lives of College Basketball Coaches. Formerly a features reporter and analyst for FOX Sports Net, he has twice been nominated for Emmy awards. He is a member of the Football Writers Association of America and the United States Basketball Writers Association. He currently lives in Los Angeles, California.

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