Brandon Sneed is the author of Head in the Game: The Mental Engineering of the World's Greatest Athletes. He has written for Bleacher Report, ESPN, GQ, and Outside, among other publications. His work has been recognized multiple times in Best American Sports Writing, and he was a finalist for the Livingston Award. He lives in Greenville, North Carolina.
"In Sooner, we learn how Oklahoma wunderkind Lincoln Riley combined
grit and guile on his journey from Muleshoe, Texas, to join the
pantheon of college football geniuses. With rigorous reporting and
dazzling prose, Brandon Sneed has given us the exhilarating story
of the making of a thirty-three-year-old coaching mastermind.
Sooner is the sports book of 2020."
--Don Van Natta Jr., New York Times bestselling author of First Off
the Tee and Wonder Girl and winner of a Pulitzer Prize "Lincoln
Riley didn't just miraculously arrive as Oklahoma's boy genius
savior but took lumps and setbacks along the way. Brandon Sneed
skillfully guides readers through each step of Riley's parallel
paths of a man evolving into a coach and a coach maturing into a
man, to his ultimate destination on top of the Big 12."
--Jonathan Abrams, New York Times bestselling author of Boys Among
Men and All the Pieces Matter "Lincoln Riley becoming Oklahoma's
head coach at just thirty-three years old was astonishing. So is
the story of how he got there. It is full of surprising twists and
turns, and Brandon Sneed tells it beautifully. He gives us not just
a great story of a young man learning how to be a coach, but also a
raw and moving meditation on what it means to grow as a human
being. This is the football book of the year. You'll be glad you
read it."
--Lars Anderson, New York Times bestselling author of The Mannings,
Chasing the Bear, and The Storm and the Tide "Lincoln Riley can
seem, from the outside, to be a whiz-kid overnight success story.
But Brandon Sneed's Sooner shows how his success is rooted in work
ethic, dedication, smarts, and good old-fashioned elbow grease.
It's a comprehensive, intelligent look at a man whose story is just
getting started."
--Will Leitch, author of Are We Winning? and God Save the Fan
"Lincoln Riley's meteoric rise to the top echelon of college
football might seem preordained, but Brandon Sneed tells a very
different story. He artfully explores the traits, the big breaks,
and the crucial moments that led Riley from Muleshoe, Texas, to the
throne of a blue-blood program at just 33 years old--six hours and
several lightyears from where he started. Sooner is a rich
biography of a fascinating person, which will quickly find its
place in the canon of college football's must-reads."
--John U. Bacon, bestselling author of Overtime: Jim Harbaugh and
the Michigan Wolverines at the Crossroads of College Football "How
could you not like reading the story of a guy from Muleshoe, Texas?
But Lincoln Riley's inspiring journey to the top is only one of the
stories that make Sooner so appealing. With deep reporting and a
knack for making every character come off the page, as he takes us
from dusty West Texas backroads into rollicking stadiums, Brandon
Sneed offers up nothing less than an authentic view of college
football's soul."
--Peter Richmond, New York Times bestselling co-author of The Glory
Game "An elegantly written, admiring portrait of a still-young but
impressive college football coach....The author's knowledge of the
game is evident throughout this well-paced account....[Sneed] is
especially good at describing some of the changes that technology
has wrought on college ball, which now has a vast audience--and
also enables fans to get inside players' heads through instant
messaging and social media. Vigorous and smart, like its subject,
and a special treat for Sooners fans."
--Kirkus Reviews
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