Coach K: The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski

Product Information

This is a good biography of Coach K by Ian O'Connor. If you want to know more about Coach K and how he got to be where he is, this is a good book with lots of anecdotes and the behind the scene stories which show how he really is. I hoped for new info on the Olympic players, especially LeBron and Kobe, but there's not much. So much is common knowledge even to someone like me who did not closely follow Duke or the ACC other than when Christian Laettner and Zion Williams** played there. The rest was TMI, and you can feel O'Connor strain in certain parts to paint Coach K in the best light.

Coach K: The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski|Paperback

About 80 percent of the proceeds will go toward supporting The Chronicle, which is now in its 117th year of publication and 27th year of financial independence. O'Connor's writing here is often one-note. Mostly what he's done here is collate information. Almost all of it is from other sources, is public knowledge and/or common sense. There's too much about Coach K as a student at West Point playing for Army and too many details about life at West Point (more than at Duke). Do you want to know the math book most students dreaded? In here along with more minutiae. One thing surprised me, because I was a child when Krzyzewski played for West Point: during the Vietnam War some crowds chanted "baby killers!" at the team. Ian O'Connor's Coach K: The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski is a fabulous look into the leader of Duke basketball. This book read more like a repeat of everything I'd ever read about Duke Basketball, and as it turns out, I had indeed read most everything in this book in previously published material. The author relied heavily on previously published material in writing this book. When he wasn't using rehashed material, the author relied on anonymous sources, innuendo, and passive voice. There were factual errors, too. In writing about the 1996 team, O'Connor wrote, "Duke lost in the first round of the NCAAs for the first time since 1955, and yet this would go down as one of Krzyzewski’s most important teams ever." (The 1984 team says, "Hi, Ian!" On March 18, 1984, Duke lost to Washington by a score of 78 to 80 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Beasley Arena in Pullman, Washington. Duke finished that season 24–10. I remember these things, and these facts were easily verifiable with a simple Google search.)

This book was exceedingly well researched. It had a bunch of stories even I -- a lifelong Duke fan who hosts a podcast about Duke basketball -- had never heard. I found the stories about K's rise to greatness the most interesting part. We hear so little about those early years. An examination of past allegations of NCAA rules infractions and eligibility issues, and a belief among rival schools and coaches that the governing body gives Duke favorable treatment.

Coach K Book In “The Greatest Comeback Of All Time”: Sydney’s Coach K Book In

One of the fundamental truths that O’Connor teases out is the fact that there is a high cost to high achievement. And to reach these heights – 12 Final Fours and five NCAA titles, three Olympic championships – the cost is that much higher. The toll it takes on one’s health – physical and emotional – is significant. And yet, Coach K soldiers on. This book is a well-deserved and timely tribute to Coach Mike Krzyzewski. For those sports fans who are counting, I finished reading this the night after Coach K’s 2022 Duke team lost in the Final Four to their uber-rivals, the University of North Carolina Tarheels.

Send Report

If you are a fan of college basketball, Duke basketball, and more specifically Coach K, this book is about as comprehensive and well written as they come.

Coach K: The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski - Kindle

The book, "Coach K: The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski," chronicles the fabled career of the Duke men's basketball coach, who is retiring after 42 seasons and five NCAA national championships. He announced that this would be his last season on June 2, 2021 -- with Scheyer named his successor the same day. I'm relieved I won't have to type the name again, though Connor includes some actual mispronounciations and misspellings before he was a household name, and those amused me***) O'Connor's assessment of Coach K's coaching ability is somewhat blinkered. Time and again, he says that Coach K is not considered a strategic genius, the type of person who can draw up a play when the team needs a last second basket. Yet, he provides at least two examples, where Coach K-designed plays provided the winning shot that sent Duke into the Final Four. (As an aside, who are these coaching savants who can come up with last second sure-fire scoring? O'Connor never says.) This year marks Coach K’s last on the Duke bench. He’s walking away after the season, heading into a retirement that his family undoubtedly thinks is long overdue. It’s interesting to think about what a guy with this kind of competitive fire will do without that outlet; who can say what he’ll do next? The Chronicle, Duke’s independent student news organization, has published a new book documenting Mike Krzyzewski’s historic coaching career ahead of his final season leading the Blue Devils.

Recent Stories

Kind of a fascinating biography by an author who appears contemptuous of his subject; since I can’t stand Coach K I was fully ready to embrace every aspersion, and was glad to find something more balanced than the hagiography I was expecting. There is, though, little context given to how Krzyzewski became so intensely driven; the narrative is mostly a long series of anecdotes (based on what seems like a staggering amount of research and interviews, although nothing on the record with the subject himself) that might at times be hard to follow for a reader who’s not steeped in recent basketball history. Mike Krzyzewski, known worldwide as “Coach K,” is a five-time national champion at Duke, the NCAA's all-time leader in victories with nearly 1,200, and the first man to lead Team USA to three Olympic basketball gold medals. Through unprecedented access to Krzyzewski’s best friends, closest advisers, fiercest adversaries, and generations of his players and assistants, three-time New York Times bestselling author Ian O’Connor takes you behind the Blue Devil curtain with a penetrating examination of the great, but flawed leader as he closes out his iconic career. Coach K: The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski is an excellent read for hard-core college hoops fans. Like me. And then, in 1980, Coach K managed to land the Duke job, leapfrogging a number of more qualified candidates. While his resume might not have been as impressive as others, he brought an energy and desire that seemed to fit what the school was looking for in a head coach. After graduation, he served for five years in the U.S. Army before moving on to become a grad assistant to Knight, who had taken the job at Indiana that would define his career. It was on Knight’s recommendation that Krzyzewski would land his first head coaching gig at his alma mater, taking over the Cadets and helming them for five years.

Book: Coach K chose Scheyer over Amaker - ESPN Book: Coach K chose Scheyer over Amaker - ESPN

I'll definitely seek out the updated chapter on Duke's 2021-22 basketball season once it's published. As the brief snippets from Coach K's videos in The Bear season 2 hint, Sydney learns through his books and lectures that in times of extreme pressure, a team should continue grinding while keeping composure. She also absorbs that true leadership comes from failing and understanding what may or may not work. Out of all the lessons from the book, the one that seemingly holds the most importance in Sydney's arc is Coach K's emphasis on being a good listener and thoughtful communicator. In The Bear season 2's finale, when they finally open their restaurant, Sydney's efforts into honing her leadership skills through Coach K's lessons finally pay off. O’Connor dives deep, digging through extant sources as well as conducting his own interviews with scores upon scores of people with close connections to Coach K. The result is a fascinating portrait of sporting greatness, a long look at a man who ascended to the heights of his profession. A man who, for all his flaws, would prove to be a beloved figure in the history of his sport. I skipped the Sweet Sixteen -- March 24, for Duke -- and they won but still it was a dumb mistake. Traveling.There is a staggering amount of reportage at work here, so many details from every aspect of the Coach K story. We hear from his old buddies from the neighborhood. We hear from guys he played with at West Point, as well as guys who played for him. We get the lowdown from Blue Devils across generations – players, coaches, administrators, you name it. All of it focused on this singular guy who, through sheer force of will and a masterful grasp of motivation, turned himself into the winningest DI coach to ever sit on the bench. This is cool: I realized from the tales of Coach K’s West Point squads that I actually saw Coach K’s first Army team play. Army came to Knoxville, Tennessee for the old Volunteer Classic tournament. I remember that tournament well. The good news is that I got to see a legendary coach do his thing long before he became a legend. The bad news is that since this game was played forty-five years ago, I am therefore old.