An "excellent sports history" ( Publishers Weekly ) in the tradition of Michael Lewis's Moneyball , award-winning historian S.C. Gwynne tells the incredible story of how two unknown coaches--Hal Mumme and Mike Leach--developed the Air Raid offense and revolutionized American football at every level, from high school to the NFL. Hal Mumme spent fourteen mostly losing seasons coaching football before inventing a potent passing offense that would soon shock players, delight fans, and terrify opposing coaches. It all began at a tiny, overlooked college called Iowa Wesleyan, where Mumme was head coach and Mike Leach, a lawyer who had never played college football, was hired as his offensive line coach. In the cornfields of Iowa these two mad inventors, drawn together by a shared disregard for conventionalism and a love for Jimmy Buffett, began to engineer the purest, most extreme passing game in the 145-year history of football. Implementing their "Air Raid" offense, their teams--at Iowa Wesleyan and later at Valdosta State and the University of Kentucky--played blazingly fast--faster than any team ever had before, and they routinely beat teams with far more talented athletes. And Mumme and Leach did it all without even a playbook.

"A superb treat for all gridiron fans" ( Kirkus Reviews , starred review), The Perfect Pass explores Mumme's leading role in changing football from a run-dominated sport to a pass-dominated one, the game that tens of millions of Americans now watch every fall weekend. Whether you're a casual or ravenous football fan, this is "a rousing tale of innovation" ( Booklist ), and "Gwynne's book ably relates the story of that innovation and the successes of the man who devised it" ( New York Journal of Books ).