When T. C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia, was desegregated in 1972, Yoast was replaced as head coach by Herman Boone, an African American. Yoast's pride was hurt, but he accepted an assistant coaching position. Together, he and Boone led their school to the state championship. It wasn't all hugs and kisses, but the coaches set aside their egos and worked past any racial tension; the kids followed their lead. If this all sounds familiar, it should. Disney made a successful movie about the 1972 Titans starring Denzel Washington and Will Patton. Yoast offers his personal recollections from that now-immortalized season as well as the coaching philosophy he developed in over 30 years of coaching. As in the how-to books penned by more famous coaches (Pitino, Krzyzewski, et al.), the homilies are standard issue: be honest, demand effort, expect excellence. What's interesting here, though, is Yoast's perspective: the professional memoir of a coach whose greatest rewards were the successful lives of those who learned valuable lessons from their athletic endeavors. The movie was good; this is better. Wes Lukowsky
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