Book cover: Strength That Shapes Lives, The Legacy of Coach Ken Mannie, by Ed Agostinelli, foreword by Mark Dantonio. Coach Mannie stands in a green Michigan State jacket.

The Legacy of Coach Ken Mannie

Strength That Shapes Lives

A life is measured by the lives it changed.

Written by
Ed Agostinelli
Foreword by
Mark Dantonio
Notify me when ordering opens Hear the song
Want a signed first-printing hardcover? →
  1. Saban Era1995–1999
  2. Bobby Williams Era2000–2002
  3. John L. Smith Era2003–2006
  4. Dantonio Era2007–2019

The man behind the whistle

Strength was never just measured in pounds.

Ken Mannie’s weight room was a classroom. The lessons were accountability, preparation, faith, family and the courage to put your name on everything you did.

Written by his lifelong friend and University of Akron teammate Ed Agostinelli, this is Ken’s journey, and the ripple effect still moving through families, teams, professions and communities.

  • 45Years in coaching
  • 25Years at Michigan State
  • 1Standard that never moved

Inside the book

Selected highlights

A journey built on work, toughness, loyalty and service, told through the people who stood beside Ken and the people he helped shape.

  1. The Valley

    The place, people and values that formed him.

  2. The Mannie Way

    A way of working and living that never moved.

  3. Walk On

    Akron, Toledo and the road that led to Michigan State.

  4. The Ripple Effect

    The lives changed, and the lives they changed in turn.

Michigan State weight room sign: Everyone is willing to eat, but who is willing to hunt?

Put your name on it

Everybody wants the reward. Who will do the work?

Ken’s sayings were never decoration. They were challenges, short enough to remember and strong enough to follow you long after the workout ended.

“Everyone is willing to eat… but who is willing to hunt?”

“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17

Through the years

In the room where it was built.

Coach Mannie with two young men in the Spartans weight room
The Spartans weight room, East Lansing
Coach Mannie kneeling on the indoor practice field with two young boys in Michigan State shirts
On the indoor field with the next generation
Coach Mannie with a family of visitors in the Michigan State weight room
A family visit to the weight room
Coach Mannie with his arm around a former player in the weight room
Friends in the Spartans weight room

More photos from Akron, Toledo, Michigan State and family are on the way.

Watch

Hear it from the people who lived it.

Told by the people who lived it

Coaches. Players. Family. Friends.

  • Dan Simrell
  • Gary Pinkel
  • Nick Saban
  • Bobby Williams
  • John L. Smith
  • Mark Dantonio

Did Coach Mannie shape your life? Share your story with us.

Put Your Name On It album cover: a steel mill and Spartan Stadium at sunset over the Ohio River
Cade Steele in a black cowboy hat and leather jacket
Cade Steele & the Steele Valley BandPut Your Name On It · 10 songs from the book

The soundtrack

Songs inspired by Ken Mannie.

Ten songs written from the pages of the book. Hear a preview here, then stream the full song wherever you listen.

Featured song

The full album

Written because of friendship

Ed Agostinelli

Ed and Ken Mannie arrived at the University of Akron as teammates and became roommates, best friends and brothers for life. More than fifty years later, Ed began this book for one reason: to make sure the man who spent his life building others could see the full reach of what he built.

This is not a distant biography. It is the story of Ken Mannie told by someone who was there at the beginning, and by the coaches, players, family members and friends who carried the Mannie Way into their own lives.

University of Akron offensive lineman #61 · Coach · Lifelong friend