Bill Belichick's book sounds like less of a tell-all and more of a textbook

Bill Belichick has a book coming out next month. Some have received advanced copies for review purposes.

Not surprisingly, we have not.

So we'll have to defer to the opinions of those who have gotten an early copy. A review of The Art of Winning (a title which may or may not have been an homage to one of his penpals) from Ben Volin of the Boston Globe creates the impression that the book is far less a tell-all and far more a textbook.

There's no mention of the still-mysterious benching cornerback Malcolm Butler, who went from de facto Super Bowl MVP to, three years later in the championship game, MIA. Volin adds that neither Robert Kraft nor Aaron Hernandez are mentioned.

While Volin calls the book "an enjoyable, breezy read," he adds that some of the coaching principles Belichick articulates are "a little cliched or well-worn."

Belichick admits to mistakes, including not drafting quarterback Lamar Jackson in 2018. (Belichick took running back Sony Michel one spot before the Ravens traded back into the first round for Jackson, at pick No. 32.) Belichick also attributes letting Tom Brady leave in free agency to financial considerations, which sharply conflicts with the notion that, after 20 years, Brady had simply had enough of Belichick.

The NFL seemingly has had enough of Belichick. Plenty of NFL fans have not; they'll surely give him $35 in droves for copies of a 289-page book that sounds like it would have been a lot better if he'd leaned fully and completely into the interesting things he's experienced in nearly 50 years of coaching football at the highest level.

Maybe that book will come, if/when Belichick realizes that he won't be coaching in the NFL again. For now, it makes sense for Belichick to burn no bridges.

No more than he already has, that is.