Letter From the Publisher

Bud Grant, the Hall of Fame coach of the Minnesota Vikings (18 years, 158-96-5, 12 playoff teams and four Super Bowl appearances, all after a successful Hall of Fame career as a CFL coach with Winnipeg: 10 years, 102-56-2, and four Grey Cup championships), was an innovator in the "self-scouting" concept. He was a great believer in "coaching people" and getting to know what made them tick. Grant was known for creating rules during training camp simply to test his players. He wanted to know for certain which players would play with discipline. In 1967, Grant gathered his Viking team before they took the practice field and informed them that the groundskeeper had asked for the team's cooperation in keeping off a particular patch of turf. "I made a big deal out of it. I went over the area in great detail," said Grant. "Of course the groundskeeper had not said a word about any turf to me."