Synopses & Reviews
The national spotlight never strays from the University of Michigan football team. More people have seen the Wolverines play football—in person and on TV—than any other team in the nation. Michigan boasts the most wins, the best winning percentage, the biggest stadium, the most alumni, the most heated rivalries, and the richest tradition in the game. As their famed fight song proclaims, the Wolverines are "Victors valiant . . . conqu’ring heroes." Or they were, until 2008. The brilliant but star-crossed Rich Rodriguez led the young Wolverines through three of the program’s toughest seasons. With the entire sports world watching, they enjoyed thrilling victories and suffered heartbreaking losses, often falling short in the winner-take-all struggle of big-time college football. Day after day for three years, John U. Bacon watched the drama unfold, from the sidelines to the locker room to the meeting rooms and even the homes of the players and coaches. No sportswriter has ever been granted more intimate access to a top-flight college football program. Now Bacon—an award-winning journalist and coauthor of Bo’s Lasting Lessons—has written a narrative saga in the vein of Friday Night Lights and Season on the Brink. His story is one of hopes raised and dashed; of reputations pumped up, then punctured; and of coaches and youngsters striving to satisfy the demands of a culture that values winning above all else.
Review
“John U. Bacons report on the weird world of college football is eye-opening, and occasionally jaw-dropping.”—George F. Will
Review
“John U. Bacon is one of the best reporters/writers of my generation. Three and Out proves it. Its one of the most riveting non-fiction works I've read in years, in any genre. The eyewitness details from the locker room, the sidelines, and the most powerful offices on a college campus are breathtaking. Get this book. You will thank me.” —David Shuster, Current TV “John U. Bacons report on the weird world of college football is eye-opening, and occasionally jaw-dropping.” —George F. Will
Review
“John U. Bacon found himself with the kind of access unheard of in modern athletics. The result is a remarkable book . . . [If] you are simply a fan of college football, or interested in big-time college athletics more generally, it is a fascinating read.” —The National Review
“A fascinating look inside the workings of a major-college football program. Rodriguezs failure was everyones fault and no ones. Unreasonable expectations combined with bad decisions and bad luck led to three bad seasons. Not acceptable at Michigan. Fine reading for college-football fans.” —ALA Booklist
“John U. Bacons Three and Out [is] an epic piece of reporting behind the scenes of a college football program going to hell.” —New York Magazine
“Rich Rodriguez never had a chance as coach of the Michigan Wolverines. He showed up with a glowing resume and got himself eaten alive. John Bacons account of Rodriguezs epic failure is a cautionary tale for anyone who doesnt realize that being a major college football coach requires one to be part CEO, part psychologist, part carny barker, and all crazy.” —Charles P. Pierce, author of Moving The Chains: Tom Brady and the Pursuit Of Everything
“College basketball has Season on the Brink. High school football has Friday Night Lights. Now college football has Three and Out, which takes you inside the locker room to show you what its really like to be a college football coach and player. If it surprised me—and it did—Im sure it will surprise even hardcore fans. If you care about college football, youll want this book.” —Adam Schefter, ESPN
“John U. Bacon is one of the best reporters/writers of my generation. Three and Out proves it. Its one of the most riveting non-fiction works I've read in years, in any genre. The eyewitness details from the locker room, the sidelines, and the most powerful offices on a college campus are breathtaking. Get this book. You will thank me.” —David Shuster, Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist
“When, several millennia from now, archeologists excavate American ruins as archeologists have done those of Carthage, they may be mystified by the Big House in Ann Arbor, Michigan. How did this 109,901 seat football emporium come to be connected to an institution of higher education? Or was the connection the other way? Without waiting 2,000 years, readers can join John U. Bacon on his eye-opening, and occasionally jaw-dropping, report on the weird world of college football.” —George F. Will
Review
“College basketball has A Season on the Brink. High school football has Friday Night Lights. Now college football has Three and Out….It will surprise even hard-core fans. If you care about college football, youll want this book.”—Adam Schefter, ESPN “An epic piece of reporting behind the scenes of a college football program going to hell.”—
New York Magazine “Sets a new standard for books about college sports…A great read.”—Alex Ashlock, NPRs “Here & Now” “One of the most riveting nonfiction works I've read in years, in any genre. The eyewitness details from the locker room, the sidelines, and the most powerful offices on a college campus are breathtaking….John U. Bacon is one of the best reporters of my generation.”—David Shuster, Emmy Award--winning broadcast journalist “John U. Bacons report on the weird world of college football is eye-opening, and occasionally jaw-dropping.”—George F. Will
Review
“John U. Bacon found himself with the kind of access unheard of in modern athletics. The result is a remarkable book . . . [If] you are simply a fan of college football, or interested in big-time college athletics more generally, it is a fascinating read.” —The National Review
“A fascinating look inside the workings of a major-college football program. Rodriguezs failure was everyones fault and no ones. Unreasonable expectations combined with bad decisions and bad luck led to three bad seasons. Not acceptable at Michigan. Fine reading for college-football fans.” —ALA Booklist
“John U. Bacons Three and Out [is] an epic piece of reporting behind the scenes of a college football program going to hell.” —New York Magazine
“Rich Rodriguez never had a chance as coach of the Michigan Wolverines. He showed up with a glowing resume and got himself eaten alive. John Bacons account of Rodriguezs epic failure is a cautionary tale for anyone who doesnt realize that being a major college football coach requires one to be part CEO, part psychologist, part carny barker, and all crazy.” —Charles P. Pierce, author of Moving The Chains: Tom Brady and the Pursuit Of Everything
“College basketball has Season on the Brink. High school football has Friday Night Lights. Now college football has Three and Out, which takes you inside the locker room to show you what its really like to be a college football coach and player. If it surprised me—and it did—Im sure it will surprise even hardcore fans. If you care about college football, youll want this book.” —Adam Schefter, ESPN
“John U. Bacon is one of the best reporters/writers of my generation. Three and Out proves it. Its one of the most riveting non-fiction works I've read in years, in any genre. The eyewitness details from the locker room, the sidelines, and the most powerful offices on a college campus are breathtaking. Get this book. You will thank me.” —David Shuster, Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist
“When, several millennia from now, archeologists excavate American ruins as archeologists have done those of Carthage, they may be mystified by the Big House in Ann Arbor, Michigan. How did this 109,901 seat football emporium come to be connected to an institution of higher education? Or was the connection the other way? Without waiting 2,000 years, readers can join John U. Bacon on his eye-opening, and occasionally jaw-dropping, report on the weird world of college football.” —George F. Will
Review
“College basketball has A Season on the Brink. High school football has Friday Night Lights. Now college football has Three and Out….It will surprise even hard-core fans. If you care about college football, youll want this book.”—Adam Schefter, ESPN “An epic piece of reporting behind the scenes of a college football program going to hell.”—
New York Magazine “Sets a new standard for books about college sports…A great read.”—Alex Ashlock, NPRs “Here & Now” “One of the most riveting nonfiction works I've read in years, in any genre. The eyewitness details from the locker room, the sidelines, and the most powerful offices on a college campus are breathtaking….John U. Bacon is one of the best reporters of my generation.”—David Shuster, Emmy Award--winning broadcast journalist “John U. Bacons report on the weird world of college football is eye-opening, and occasionally jaw-dropping.”—George F. Will
Synopsis
Three and Out tells the story of how college footballs most influential coach took over the nations most successful program, only to produce three of the worst seasons in the histories of both Rich Rodriguez and the University of Michigan. Shortly after his controversial move from West Virginia, where he had just taken his alma mater to the #1 ranking for the first time in school history, Coach Rich Rodriguez granted author and journalist John U. Bacon unrestricted access to Michigans program. Bacon saw it all, from the meals and the meetings, to the practices and the games, to the sidelines and the locker rooms. Nothing and no one was off limits. John U. Bacons Three and Out is the definitive account of a football marriage seemingly made in heaven that broke up after just three years, and lifts the lid on the best and the worst of college football.
Synopsis
Sports fans invest great hopes and dreams into their teams. College football fans invest even more, I think, because of the stronger connection they feel with the school and the players. But Ive never seen any fans ask more of their teams than Michigan football fans ask of theirs. There are only two groups who are more devoted to the Wolverines, and demand more in return: the coaches and the players. They have the most to gain and the most to lose. They know the stakes. And they accept them—even embrace them. Its why all of them, from Rich Rodriguez to Tate Forcier to Denard Robinson, came to Ann Arbor. Not to be average, or even good, but “the leaders and best.” Anything less would not do. This book explains how the coach and his team fell short—and what happened when they did.
Synopsis
“Like the Moneyball of college football, Three and Out blows the lid off one of the sports worlds most perplexing mysteries.”—Entertainment Weekly Three and Out tells the story of how college footballs most influential coach, Rich Rodriguez, took over the nations most successful program, only to produce three of the worst seasons in the University of Michigans celebrated history. Coach Rich Rodriguez granted author and journalist John U. Bacon unrestricted access to Michigans program. Bacon saw it all, from the meals and the meetings, to the practices and the games, to the sidelines and the locker rooms. Nothing and no one was off-limits. John U. Bacons Three and Out is the definitive account of a football marriage seemingly made in heaven that broke up after just three years, and exposes the best and the worst of college football.
Synopsis
Three and Out tells the story of how college footballs most influential coach took over the nations most successful program, only to produce three of the worst seasons in the histories of both Rich Rodriguez and the University of Michigan. Shortly after his controversial move from West Virginia, where he had just taken his alma mater to the #1 ranking for the first time in school history, Coach Rich Rodriguez granted author and journalist John U. Bacon unrestricted access to Michigans program. Bacon saw it all, from the meals and the meetings, to the practices and the games, to the sidelines and the locker rooms. Nothing and no one was off limits. John U. Bacons Three and Out is the definitive account of a football marriage seemingly made in heaven that broke up after just three years, and lifts the lid on the best and the worst of college football.
About the Author
John U. Bacon has written for Time, The New York Times, and ESPN Magazine, among other publications, earning national honors. He is the author of five books on sports and business, including Bos Lasting Lessons (with Bo Schembechler), a New York Times and Wall Street Journal business bestseller. Bacon teaches at Northwestern University and the University of Michigan and is a popular public speaker.