Review of
He Ain’t No Bum,
by O. A. Phillips and Ray Buck
Four out of five stars
A laudatory, not a biography
This is one of
those sports books that is purported to be a collaboration between the principal
and a writer. That is not the case here. The book consists of many quotes from
Phillips while he was the coach of the Houston Oilers of the NFL and material
written by Buck that is very laudatory of Phillips. In many ways it is a bit of
a textual lovefest.
While he was
coaching the Oilers, Phillips was one of the most quotable members of the NFL
coaching fraternity and in that area this book is good. He was a humorous man,
most of it was of the deadpan variety. He was unorthodox in many ways, when
asked why he did not have full contact scrimmages, he replied, “Houston isn’t
on our schedule.”
If you are
familiar with the Houston Oilers of the seventies, this is a book you will
enjoy. It is unfortunate that Phillips was never able to make it to the Super
Bowl. While he was a good enough coach and he had the players, the problem was
that there was a better team at the time, the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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