Football Nomad

Football Nomad is a memoir of over a half century of coaching at all levels of American football by one of the most recognized assistant coaches in the field, whose innovations altered the sport to its current form. Howard Cosell, ABC Sports commentator: "[Radakovich] built the tradition of linebackers at Penn State who now seem to inhabit the National Football League...He formed the great defensive line called the "Steel Curtain" of Greene, Greenwood, Holnes and White...and built the offensive line that blew the Oakland Raiders out of the ballpark yesterday." (1976 ABC radio broadcast) Art Rooney Jr., Vice President, Pittsburgh Steelers: "Terrific book! Very insightful about professional and college football-also very humorous. I especially liked the story about doing the mirror dodge drill against The Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz." Notre Dame offensive line coach Harry Hiestan: "Bad Rad's book is the story of one of the great football coaches of all time, and his incredible coaching life. Rad has a way of making the most important part of football, the fundementals, clear and understandable. A man with strong principles details incredible stories in this book. Some situations he made hard on himself because of his pursuit of what was right.There is only one Bad Rad and the stories in this book will help you understand what that means. Rad has helped many football players be the best they can be, at every level of football; and also many coaches. I am one of the fortunate ones he has taken time to make better." Kirk Ferentz, head football coach, University of Iowa: "terrific book!" DAN RADAKOVICH was the originator of the Pittsburgh Steelers' "steel curtain" defensive line; coached the super bowl IX, X, and XIV offensive lines;and was the father of Penn State's "Linebacker U." LOU PRATO is a veteran print and broadcast journalist who has covered Penn State football periodically since his undergraduate days at Penn State when Dan Radakovich was a player and then an assistant coach. He also is a lifelong Pittsburgh Steelers fan, dating from the late 1940s, and in the 1960s he wrote many stories about the Steelers, including the hiring of Coach Chuck Noll. Prato is the author of four books on Penn State football: The Penn State Football Encyclopedia, What It Means to be A Nittany Lion; Penn State Football Vault; and Game Changers: The Greatest Plays in Penn State Football History. Prato helped organize and start the Penn State All-Sports Museum and in 2001 he became the Museum's first director, retiring from that position at the end of 2005. He is now contributing writer for two publications dedicated to Penn State football fans, Blue White Illustrated and Fight On State magazine. Lou and his wife Carole, who assisted Lou and Dan in writing this book, have been going to Penn State football games together since 1955, and Prato says Carole was a Penn State fan long before him.