How does a football coach from Columbia University, a school that isn’t exactly known for powerhouse football, end up coaching the greatest business leaders in our time?
That’s Bill Campbell’s story. A gritty, tough, passionate coach who went from the sidelines of college football to the boardrooms of Apple, Google, and some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley. They called him the Trillion Dollar Coach because the companies he coached ended up being worth, collectively, trillions.
And here’s the kicker. He didn’t know tech. He didn’t know coding. He didn’t know how to build an iPhone. What he knew was people. And when you can coach people, you can win anywhere.
Bill Called It As He Saw It
This was my biggest takeaway. If you were great, Bill told you. If you were slacking, he told you. No sugarcoating. No politics. Just the truth.
That hit me because I was raised the same way. My father was a leader, and from an early age he taught me that being direct, honest, and passionate about people is the only way you really help them. I grew up on football fields too, and anyone who’s ever been coached knows what I mean. A good coach pushes you, even when you don’t like it at the moment. But years later, you look back and realize they were the ones who believed in you the most.
Bill Campbell wasn’t a dictator. He wasn’t a tyrant. He was a coach. He cared. He respected people enough to tell them the truth, even when it stung. And that’s exactly why people loved him.
From Columbia U. to Google
Here’s what blows my mind. Bill wasn’t coming out of Alabama or Notre Dame. He coached at Columbia, a team that wasn’t turning out NFL stars. Yet he took that same mindset into business. Coach the whole person. Care about your players. Demand their best.”
When Eric Schmidt, Larry Page, and Sergey Brin were building Google, Bill became their glue. Think about that for a second. You’ve got three of the smartest guys in tech history in one room, and they needed a football coach from Columbia to help them work together? Yep. Because genius without leadership is chaos. Bill gave them accountability, honesty, and trust. Google doesn’t become Google without Bill Campbell.
Apple’s Secret Weapon
And then there’s Apple. Everyone knows Steve Jobs as the visionary. But even Steve Jobs needed a coach. Bill Campbell was that guy.
There’s a story in the book about Apple’s famous 1984 Super Bowl ad. The one that became the most iconic commercial of all time. Most people think it was just Apple’s creative genius. What you don’t see is the leadership culture Bill helped shape behind the scenes. The courage to take risks. The discipline to execute. The accountability that made sure the team could actually deliver.
Bill Campbell didn’t just sit on the sidelines. He was woven into the DNA of Apple’s success.
Lessons We Can Use
Here are the things I pulled out of this book that any leader, whether you’re running a billion-dollar company or a crew of five, can use right now:
Tell the truth. Celebrate greatness, call out weakness. Do it with respect, but do it.
Coach people, not just skills. Care about them as human beings, not just as employees.
Give generously. Time, attention, belief. Bill poured himself into people.
Lead with love and accountability. Those two aren’t opposites. They’re teammates.
Performance matters. But performance comes from people who feel seen, believed in, and challenged.
My Takeaway
Reading this book fired me up. It reminded me of the football fields I grew up on, the coaches who shaped me, and the way my father taught me to lead with care, passion, and honesty.
And it left me with this thought. If a football coach from Columbia, a school that wasn’t even a contender, could become the go-to coach for Apple, Google, and some of the greatest leaders of our time, what’s stopping the rest of us from stepping up and leading with the same conviction?
Trillion Dollar Coach isn’t just a book about Silicon Valley. It’s a playbook for anyone who wants to build people, not just businesses.
Golden Squeegee Rating:
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 (5/5)
Solid. Inspiring. Eye-opening. A true leadership playbook.
Keep Shining.
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