---
title: "Brave Hearts, Strong Arms"
date: 2026-08-26
author: "Laurie Stroud"
featured_image: "https://birminghamchristian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/0926-best-books-Brave-Hearts.jpg"
categories:
  - name: "Best Books"
    url: "/category/news/entertainment/best-books.md"
tags:
  - name: "Featured"
    url: "/tag/featured.md"
---

# Brave Hearts, Strong Arms

**Best Books**

“I just hit fifty. Every dream I’ve had, I’ve achieved—and more. And yet I feel empty.”

[![Brave Hearts Strong Arms cover](https://birminghamchristian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Brave-Hearts-Strong-Arms-cover-195x300.jpg "Brave Hearts Strong Arms cover")](https://birminghamchristian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Brave-Hearts-Strong-Arms-cover.jpg)The man across the table had everything. The businesses. The trophies. The lunch invitations from everyone in town. And he was asking a former Alabama linebacker why none of it had worked. Jerry Leachman had a word for him. He’s had one for thousands of men since. Jerry played football at the University of Alabama under Coach Bear Bryant. He spent years as chaplain of the Washington Redskins under Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs. For more than forty years, he has coached men—in locker rooms, in living rooms, in hospital hallways and on the worst days of their lives—toward the only game that actually counts. Jerry has spent a lifetime challenging men to answer a far more important question than how to win the next game: Who are you becoming?

[![Leachman in Alabama jersey](https://birminghamchristian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Leachman-in-Alabama-jersey-225x300.jpeg "Leachman in Alabama jersey")](https://birminghamchristian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Leachman-in-Alabama-jersey.jpeg)Jerry played football at the University of Alabama under the legendary Coach Bear Bryant.In his first book, *Brave Hearts, Strong Arms: Locker Room Talks for the Only Game that Matters,* Jerry distills decades of biblical wisdom, unforgettable stories, and practical coaching into forty-six concise chapters that challenge readers to trade lives of fear, achievement, and performance for lives of courage, purpose, friendship, servant leadership, and enduring faith. Inside, you’ll find straight answers to the questions men rarely ask out loud:

- Why achieving every goal you set still leaves you unvalidated
- What guilt and shame actually do to a man—and how to put them down
- The four levels of friendship, and why most men never get past the first
- Whether your marriage is a covenant or a contract
- How to father sons and daughters differently, and on purpose
- What it looks like to finish well when the clock runs out

[![Jerry and Holly Leachman](https://birminghamchristian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Jerry-and-Holly-Leachman-300x272.jpg "Jerry and Holly Leachman")](https://birminghamchristian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Jerry-and-Holly-Leachman.jpg)Jerry Leachman is seen here with his wife Holly. They have been involved in ministry together for over 40 years.This isn’t a book about being a perfect man. It’s a book about being a committed one—showing up, staying in the fight, and playing for a Head Coach who never leaves the field. *Brave Hearts, Strong Arms* releases on September 15, 2026 and is available for [preorder now on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Brave-Hearts-Strong-Arms-Locker-Room/dp/1939358469/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3E0KT3ZWRKEK4&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.RsrJXqwo_DqxW0xv_VPl8Tzq8AyuV3prP4KZD-g_sdGlEvlvzh1V3Rc2rvTWtuX0LbqD1arkWWmnXpRmATGdcSirW6C7FlbMbkUdg_4r7b-D1kqM6EwyyJkVUFYluJGWemiczT3xxIcKSU8BwxIa7Q.o_J1M2-eYHUKCPZPWDgjnM-LsT-KwbZTheSI4MiV24k&dib_tag=se&keywords=brave+hearts+strong+arms&qid=1787798168&sprefix=brave+hearts%2Caps%2C198&sr=8-1). You can meet Jerry at Ashley Mac’s Kitchen in Homewood on September 24 for a book signing for *Brave Hearts, Strong Arms* from 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. †