Gottfried's autobiography, entitled Coach's Challenge: Faith, Football, and Filling the Father Gap and co-written by Ron Benson, was released on September 11, 2007. Gottfried and his wife, Mickey, founded Team Focus in 2000. It is a cost-free community outreach program aimed at young men without fathers. The program goal is to give opportunities for all team members to be "motivated, encouraged, and challenged". Mike felt drawn to start Team Focus because he lost his father at age eleven, and understood the difficulty and hardships young men without fathers feel. There is also a group for females called G.I.R.L.S. Network.