Figure It Out: My Thirty-Two-Year Journey While Revolutionizing Pro Football's Special Teams
"We called Mike Westhoff the mad scientist. He changed the game."

— Roger Goodell, NFL commissioner

Simply put, Mike Westhoff is the greatest special teams coach in National Football League history.


Sharp-witted, creative, and intensely focused, Westhoff spent thirty-two years working alongside and learning from some of the legends of the sport—including Don Shula, Dan Marino, Woody Hayes, and Al Davis—while revolutionizing the most misunderstood phase of the game.


Over the course of 657 games, primarily with the New York Jets and the Miami Dolphins, Westhoff was a relentless innovator—constantly figuring out new ways to help the individual skills of hundreds of players surface and develop. All the while, he reinforced the essential qualities of diligence, creativity, and teamwork in a sport built on those traits.


Interviews with dozens of his contemporaries and former players such as Sean Payton, Taysom Hill, and Zach Thomas provide a rare glimpse of NFL life beyond the field—inside the offices, meeting rooms, and locker rooms with one of the game's most unforgettable personalities.


But his story isn't just about football. Westhoff also shares intimate details of his multiple battles with cancer and the life lessons learned through the fights.


In Figure It Out, Westhoff presents his one-of-a-kind experiences and unfiltered views in his trademark style—a refreshing blend of honest (sometimes brutally so), funny, and poignant. His deep insights into the workings of special teams—illustrated by 27 detailed original diagrams—and timely commentary on the current state of pro football reveal a critical side of the sport that very few truly understand.

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Figure It Out: My Thirty-Two-Year Journey While Revolutionizing Pro Football's Special Teams
"We called Mike Westhoff the mad scientist. He changed the game."

— Roger Goodell, NFL commissioner

Simply put, Mike Westhoff is the greatest special teams coach in National Football League history.


Sharp-witted, creative, and intensely focused, Westhoff spent thirty-two years working alongside and learning from some of the legends of the sport—including Don Shula, Dan Marino, Woody Hayes, and Al Davis—while revolutionizing the most misunderstood phase of the game.


Over the course of 657 games, primarily with the New York Jets and the Miami Dolphins, Westhoff was a relentless innovator—constantly figuring out new ways to help the individual skills of hundreds of players surface and develop. All the while, he reinforced the essential qualities of diligence, creativity, and teamwork in a sport built on those traits.


Interviews with dozens of his contemporaries and former players such as Sean Payton, Taysom Hill, and Zach Thomas provide a rare glimpse of NFL life beyond the field—inside the offices, meeting rooms, and locker rooms with one of the game's most unforgettable personalities.


But his story isn't just about football. Westhoff also shares intimate details of his multiple battles with cancer and the life lessons learned through the fights.


In Figure It Out, Westhoff presents his one-of-a-kind experiences and unfiltered views in his trademark style—a refreshing blend of honest (sometimes brutally so), funny, and poignant. His deep insights into the workings of special teams—illustrated by 27 detailed original diagrams—and timely commentary on the current state of pro football reveal a critical side of the sport that very few truly understand.

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Figure It Out: My Thirty-Two-Year Journey While Revolutionizing Pro Football's Special Teams

Figure It Out: My Thirty-Two-Year Journey While Revolutionizing Pro Football's Special Teams

Figure It Out: My Thirty-Two-Year Journey While Revolutionizing Pro Football's Special Teams

Figure It Out: My Thirty-Two-Year Journey While Revolutionizing Pro Football's Special Teams

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Overview

"We called Mike Westhoff the mad scientist. He changed the game."

— Roger Goodell, NFL commissioner

Simply put, Mike Westhoff is the greatest special teams coach in National Football League history.


Sharp-witted, creative, and intensely focused, Westhoff spent thirty-two years working alongside and learning from some of the legends of the sport—including Don Shula, Dan Marino, Woody Hayes, and Al Davis—while revolutionizing the most misunderstood phase of the game.


Over the course of 657 games, primarily with the New York Jets and the Miami Dolphins, Westhoff was a relentless innovator—constantly figuring out new ways to help the individual skills of hundreds of players surface and develop. All the while, he reinforced the essential qualities of diligence, creativity, and teamwork in a sport built on those traits.


Interviews with dozens of his contemporaries and former players such as Sean Payton, Taysom Hill, and Zach Thomas provide a rare glimpse of NFL life beyond the field—inside the offices, meeting rooms, and locker rooms with one of the game's most unforgettable personalities.


But his story isn't just about football. Westhoff also shares intimate details of his multiple battles with cancer and the life lessons learned through the fights.


In Figure It Out, Westhoff presents his one-of-a-kind experiences and unfiltered views in his trademark style—a refreshing blend of honest (sometimes brutally so), funny, and poignant. His deep insights into the workings of special teams—illustrated by 27 detailed original diagrams—and timely commentary on the current state of pro football reveal a critical side of the sport that very few truly understand.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781637552711
Publisher: Mascot Books
Publication date: 07/12/2022
Pages: 448
Sales rank: 899,605
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Mike Westhoff coached for thirty-two seasons in the NFL for the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, and New Orleans Saints. He is considered the foremost expert on special teams in the modern NFL. Former coach Rex Ryan and others have campaigned for Westhoff's induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.


Barry Wilner has been a sports writer for the Associated Press since 1976. He has covered the NFL since 1985 and has been the AP's lead pro football writer since 2001, attending every Super Bowl since 1987. He has covered fourteen Olympics and nine World Cups, as well as major events in tennis, golf, and boxing, and the Stanley Cup Finals. He has written more than seventy books for both adult and youth audiences.

Table of Contents

Prologue 1

Chapter 1 A Spunky Kid 5

Chapter 2 Wyoming and Wichita 15

Chapter 3 Lee Corso, Woody Hayes, Bear Bryant-and Me 31

Chapter 4 From a Hoosier to a Flyer 45

Chapter 5 On to the NFL 51

Chapter 6 Adjusting to Indy 69

Chapter 7 The USFL-and a Call from Coach Shula 85

Chapter 8 A Miami Dolphin 91

Chapter 9 The Biggest Fight of My Life 109

Chapter 10 Replacement Football 125

Chapter 11 Cancer Survivor 133

Chapter 12 Working with the Greatest 145

Chapter 13 J-E-T-S, JETS JETS JETS 163

Chapter 14 Retirement? Not Quite 267

Chapter 15 Back in the Game in the Big Easy 277

Chapter 16 The Art and Science of Special Teams 317

Chapter 17 All-Star Special Teamers 369

Chapter 18 Special Moments 405

Chapter 19 Thoughts for the Future 425

Photo Credits 435

Acknowledgments 437

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