Podcast Episode: Coach K on Faith, Sports, and Leadership
The audience filled the pews of Duke Chapel for this year’s William Preston Few Lecture on October 9. In this episode of Sounds of Faith, we listen to that public conversation on “Faith, Sports, and Leadership” with Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski. “I believe in God,” Coach K says in the discussion with Duke Chapel Dean Luke Powery. “My path in that belief was the Catholic faith. It’s been a strong part of who I am…. One thing about faith is you are never alone.” Listen to the episode:
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Transcript
(music)
JAMES TODD:
Welcome to Sounds of Faith a podcast exploring traditions of faith, sacred music, and spoken word.
The audience filled the pews of Duke Chapel for this year’s William Preston Few Lecture on October 9. in this episode of Sounds of Faith, we listen to that public conversation on “Faith, Sports, and Leadership” with Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski. Duke senior Olivia Martin gave the introduction.
OLIVIA MARTIN:
Good evening, welcome to today's conversation on 'Faith, Sports, and Leadership'. Warm greeting to those turning off the light as well. I'm Olivia Martin, a senior here at Duke University. It might have met you, I remain in my faith and allowed it to shape my thoughts, and sense of purpose. That fate has guided many parts of my journey here at Duke.
It was physically throughout my role and the women's Muscatine which is open the door to many incredible opportunities. It is also led me to pursue my passion to become a leader of consequence of an undergraduate scholar with the Coach K scholarship of leadership and ethics. I've been fortunate to work alongside some truly inspirational leaders and mentors. It is my distinct honor to introduce some of those leaders here tonight.
Our discussion this evening will be moderated by the Reverend Doctor Luke Powery. The Dean of the Jude Chapel. In addition to his role leading the chapel, Doctor Powery is a professor of politics, and African-American studies here at Duke. His teaching and research interests lie at the intersection of preaching, hematology, music, and culture. Particularly expressions of African Diaspora.
For tonight's topic of 'Faith, Sports, and Leadership', I cannot think of anyone with more insight than our featured speaker. His resume begins with being the winningest coach of NCAA men's basketball history and goes from there. 12 time national coach of the year, sports illustrated sportsman of the year, and head coach of three gold medal winning US basketball teams. He is about murder of the day Smith Memorial basketball, febrile national collegiate basketball, the US Olympic and Paralympic Halls of Fame.
Even with all of those a conference, our speaker is here with doing as much as he does off the court. Cofounder of the Coach K Center on Leadership and Ethics, and board chair of the Emily Krzyzewski center here in Durham. He is a husband, father, grandfather, parishioner, teacher, mentor, university ambassador, and so much more. Please join me in welcoming to this event, Dean chapels de Luke Powery and a man you may know is Coach K, or the goat, Mike Krzyzewski.
(Applause)
LUKE POWERY:
Good evening. Good evening. It is great to have you here for the special few lecture and thanks again Olivia for welcoming us all to the special event. Can we think Olivia for her introduction?
(Applause)
LUKE POWERY:
As I am sure you are, I am honored to be here and so are our cosponsors, to have the goat himself.
MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:
I've been called a lot of animal things... goat, I'll take goat.
LUKE POWERY:
The goat coach Mike Krzyzewski as her 2025 Michael few lecture, this is our fourth year of the lectureship. The few lecture was named after the first president of Duke University, William Preston Few Lecture, supported by an endowment that was started by his son, Kendrick as few. We even have some few family members here with us this evening. Can we welcome the few family?
(Applause)
LUKE POWERY:
President you articulated a vision of education promoting the courage to seek the truth and the conviction to live it. This evening we have an opportunity to pursue that vision with the Duke icon and an incredibly accomplished leader, Coach K, who can prompt us to examine what we believe, and how we are called to lead. I will have a handful of questions for Coach K. About a month ago, he told me I can run motion offense in this conversation. I'm not a basketball player, but we will see.
Then we will open it up to you with questions that you may have for him. I know we have provided notecards for you. I will indicate when the time is. When you write your question on the card, please write it out in very neat and legible handwriting. Our topic this evening, as you know is 'Faith, Sports, and Leadership'. Three themes that are important to the life of Duke University. But also as you told me, coach, this is been your life. What I meant those themes. I thought we would start tonight first with the theme of faith. Could you share with the folks here, who may not know, what role has faith played in your life? Key people, key moments?
MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:
It is an honor to be with all of you. Olivia, your mom you drove all... that stand up. You drove all the way here just to be with her daughter.
(Applause)
MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:
Olivia, you're lucky I can see where you got the smile. Lou, faith, I grew up with faith. I grew up in the inter-city of Chicago. Catholic, my grandparents, I never knew my grandparents they came from Poland. Brenda Brody, holy mackerel. Now, come on. One of the unbelievably great people of all time is Brenda Brody. Her husband was the greatest man I've ever known here at Duke University. I love you. Thank you for all that you've done for me.
You and your husband had faith in me. I appreciate it. I am contracted by so many great people. This is like going to an All-Star camp. Which player are we going to recruit? We usually knew it when he recruit. Faith I learned it from my parents. I am Catholic, still Catholic, I'm married to a Baptist. We get along. We have been married for 56 years. It is amazing when you were eight years old and your parents allow you to get married. That's what Polish people do.
Faith has been with me my whole life. I believe in God. My path in that belief was the Catholic faith. It is been a strong part of who I am. I think when I go and speak to countries – my companies across the company to ask about keeping balance. I say there are two acts, my two acts were family, but wife and three daughters and 10 grandchildren. My mom and my dad. We are a close knit family. And faith.
Never alone. One thing about faith is you are never alone. I went to all Catholic schools, boys in high school. Can I talk about an interesting moment? When I was not sure my faith, I'm like 17. I know it's hard to imagine but I was really good basketball player. I was an Allstate player. I thought it was great. I had a coach who may be better. Code Ostrowski, I thought man I could do that. I had a pumping Catholic at that time, 17, I felt you couldn't do anything.
Everything was the same, you can think, move. You might as will be like this. Was having a bit of a problem with that. My religiousness mentor for my whole life, the other room, he passed away three years ago. He was a teacher at Weber high school. He said what's wrong with you? I said father, come on man, you can't do anything. How do you live? We sat down and he spent an hour with me and I started to understand. I get chills thinking about it. It was a moment that started relation, a 60 year relationship with father Rogan.
I became stronger. The thing I learned when I married Nikki, my wife, there are different paths. We were brought up to be Catholic to go to heaven. We had the only tickets. My wife said I have a ticket to. And then I found out going to West Point being with a whole bunch of different guys, different religions and whatever, it's like you know, there are bunch of roads that lead to good faith. That is what I enjoyed learning about. I believe it is help me immensely.
LUKE POWERY:
Thanks for that. Staying with fakith for a minute and thinking about how that might be connected to your views on program your dream. I know, I believe you said you've never really prayed to win a game. Perhaps except for the Navy game. Could you say something about how prayer was connected to your dreams?
MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:
We always had it in prayer, our father, before he went out on the court. My team was just shooting, doing warm-ups and whatever. Before every game in the Catholic Church we have a rosary, all these beats. Whatever. Pretty cool, you can put as a necklace. You can use it for a bunch of things. Just by myself I'd say the rosary. I was taught you can offer it up for somebody. I usually think of one who had passed, someone who is sick, a member of my family. During the game, and find a moment of weakness, I would he allow I'm weak, I'm weak, help me. I would use that person's name is a mantra. That would help me.
I did that before every game. Just as a tipoff for every game, I would be 1/3 base coach and to the sign of the cross and I say and help me do my best. Every game I did that except one game. In 1986 our first grade team was in 1984, were playing the Army, and West Point. Dave David Robinson, the most valuable player. If we win, we go. If we lose, so. The one time I did not do it I said, please God not Navy. It's my confession. We beat them. So.
I should have started to that maybe if you work on. A couple national championship games. Maybe we have a couple more.
LUKE POWERY:
Thinking about sports, basketball, any sports. You were known for writing keywords, and even one of your books. It was about words.
MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:
Words, the power of words.
LUKE POWERY:
You would write a keyword on the whiteboard I guess before each game I think. What would be your keyword today?
MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:
To me, it's a great word. Attitude. All of us here in this amazing chapel, where all the same because of one thing. We all have control over our attitude. We are all equal and the ability to have a great attitude, good one, bad one. No, none. At this time, with what is happening in our country and around the world, was happening with people losing jobs, the economy, whatever. It is important for us to have a great attitude. No matter what, we are in control over that. Imagine if we said I'm going to have that and we all left here with a great attitude.
You would have more smiles on their faces. People would help one another out better. We would have empathy for one another. We would care for one another better. It does not cost important thing. I've got to be careful not to say damn too much. I could be a Navy officer, cannot use them too much. Try to have a good attitude. The good one another. Care for one another. All this negative stuff is the line. Attitude. One more word.
The word why? If you are lucky enough, you live your life. I am 78, when I was 16, with coach Ostrowski, and father broke. I got my why. I won't be up during a code, I wanted to be in a bin that my entire life. I've embraced it, I love what I do. That does not mean you love everything you do, doing what you love. There is a price to be paid for that. A lot of companies when I speak, I say you are only concerned with how and what. Remember why you are doing thing, and how and what will be better. You will go deeper with how and what. Why is a big-time word for me.
I've been around a lot of people who have understood their why and have had that their entire life.? Can you tell why you wanted to coaching?
MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:
Yeah, because of the impact, I do not know. I know my moment done any better. But they're supposed to do that. They did a great. They sacrificed and that. Those two guys had an impact on me when I was 16, 17. I said I want to do that. I won't have an impact on guys, the guys and I would coach. When I was thinking of people, the student might have the opportunity, the honor, I can have an impact on someone's life. I was fortunate, I did not want to go to West Point for my parents kind of coerced me to do that.
Some ethnic pressure. By going there, I went there because I believed in them and they trusted me. I call it the best decision I ever made. My parents had the guts to tell me, look you should do this. You have got to do this. A lot of times we are afraid to tell young people what we think. My parents were not afraid of that. I have never been afraid of telling my daughters what I think. They've never been afraid of telling me what they think in return either.
I went to West Point, it was like being on steroids, not literally. But for opportunities. I got to be with amazing people, and got better. Because as with so many great people. I had incredible opportunities I never would've had if I did not have that from my mom and dad. I was in my moment of her for five years as a head coach, and I tell you that relationships have with my guys is great. We have a brotherhood. I can't believe they are as old as they are. A couple of them are grandfather's name. How did that happen? They got older than me and my wife. I know how they skipped us. Can you leapfrog like that? I don't know. They must have because were not old enough to have players who are grandfather's.
So you know, I love being with you all. I love Duke. This is our home, and Duke has been a place we can never leave. No matter what. This is the best place. This is the best place. Again, I'm getting a little emotional. I'm a little bit afraid, because I never looked out like this. I'm getting a better appreciation for what you do every Sunday. Do you dance a little bit too?
LUKE POWERY:
No dancing.
MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:
May be, who knows. The next 13 years. He has been here for 13 years.
(Applause)
LUKE POWERY:
Thank you. When I read some of your work in your thinking on coaching, and even some of the things you are saying here, it sounds almost like you could be seen as a team chaplain. Not your language, but on the court.
(Laughter)
MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:
My language tonight has been pretty good, right? He came in here with a bad attitude.
LUKE POWERY:
Right, right.
(Laughter)
MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:
Made we could get rid of it.
LUKE POWERY:
Have you seen your approach as a coach, and maybe a team chaplain? Is there a connection for you?
MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:
With my assistance to you. When you're a teacher, when your coaching, you get to see the highs and lows of youngsters. To see the progression, where they are excited and down, you know. They can't do it alone. You have to develop relation ships, not have to, you want to. To develop relationships. The beautiful thing that happens is when they give themselves to you. They trust you. That's the most beautiful thing. It's the same thing for a chaplain, you want somebody to trust you. A huge thing, and it's now being taken care of much more. It's still rampant, to mental health.
For everybody, but especially teenagers and once they get to college. College is a whole different gig. They go through, a lot of kids don't fail until they get to college. They are the star. And all of a sudden they're looking and saying woah, she is the star. I thought I was good looking. All that kind of stuff. If you can help them during those moments, you connect with them. We now have at Duke really good stuff for mental health.
During the 90s, it was not looked upon very well. Actually with Keith Brody and my daughter Wendy, my middle daughter. We established our own counseling, because you could be stigmatized if you went on campus. That would not have been good at that time. Now it is a strength. Doctor Brody mentor Wendy, my daughter, actually. Her third boy, called Kayden Brody Frazier. We understood the importance of him. It is really important. We have 10 grandchildren and they all lived within minutes of us.
By the way my wife and I do not watch reality TV, we have 2 21-year-old granddaughters. Turn the TV off... phone is on. It is a reality show. Hopefully most of it is good. Watching, my daughters did not have to go through social media. It is a sick thing, especially for teenage girls. If you have a granddaughter, daughter, have great empathy for that. For players, they get hit with social media. Will they win boom. When they lose blue. They can take that. You have to be careful about that. We try to always tell our players, let's listen to one voice. Our voice.
If you have to depend on his other voices, not going to be good. It's going to be a roller coaster. Who knows when it goes down, you can stay down there. Our voice is going to stay up here. We got your back. We love you, we will be there all the time for you. The social media thing right now, it is very difficult. Very, very difficult.
LUKE POWERY:
Coach, let's turn to leadership. What has sports taught you about leadership?
MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:
I have studied the leadership for six years. He went to the best leadership school the world, the United States military Academy. I have actually been with Fuquay for over a decade, I'm a professor of leadership. My buddies back home say you're a professor? I said yeah, knucklehead. Yeah. I am. When I was 18, I went to West Point and they have in the summer beast barracks, where they beat the heck out of you and change your limits. You fail a lot.
When you feel, had a mom and that I use as a West Pointer, you use the mantra your whole life. Failure is not your destination. Whenever you get knocked down, you get up. You either form a new way to do a formal team. My whole life, even when we were 38 and 47, here my first three years, I believed we are going to win. They got President Sanford and Tom but is believed that too. A lot of fans did not leave it at that time.
When you're asked a question via upperclassman, you could give three answers. Yes sir, no sir, and no excuse sir. They something happen. When my players are come up with their palms up, with that players would say say something to me. Watch. For my entire life, I was not able to do that. Now if you did. You are solution oriented. When something happened, he tried to figure what the heck happened and let's go. Because failure is not our destination.
What happens is you trust one another, the most important people I worked on when I coach, whether it be with the US team or Duke or West Point is the speed trust. How quickly will you trust me?
How many of you want to lose? It is not an idiot in the chapel. The will to win, come on. You should have the will to win. Not everybody has the will to prepare to win. The will to prepare to win is more important than the will to win. I looked at, my entire coaching career I tried have both will. The will to prepare in the will to win. I call it being worthy of winning. It cannot mean that the other guy would not worthy of winning.
You get better doing that, being the of winning. I wanted it from 18 to 22, how lucky can you be. Besides all of the books and all of that. A lot of people do not get an opportunity to learn those things. It would be nice if he played as one. One of the expressions I use all the time is it's too are better than one, we can act as one. We do not do that. We do not act as one. It is not right. If it's not right. In building teams, I love the development of teams.
You have to create an environment where everybody on earth. When I would coating the US team, our first meeting with the US team, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Camille Anthony, Duane. All these guys are the best. Not a bad group. You are in the room with them, and I said I don't believe in the expression leave your egos at the door. What would I want you to come in and not be you? I think the way, Lebron and Kobe would have brought their egos in any way. I told them to put them all under one ego umbrella. The US. I said if we do that, and we have one ego, we will rule the world.
I want you all to know that you are not playing for the United States. They looked at me like this guy is really an idiot. I paused, and we always had a picture of the gold-medal popular teamwork. I said we will not win the gold medal, and pointed to each one individually and bless you all are United States basketball, you are United States basketball. You cannot play for, you have to be. Big difference.
I don't want you here and see what we are doing, I want you to feel what we are doing. If you could feel what we are doing, you got your heart. We are going to be really good. That night I told them, look, we had a meeting on standards. How we are going to live together, no real, just how were going to live together. Everyone contributed so as their rules. Our rules. Up Pro pronoun team. We practiced in Las Vegas, and I said when you go up to sweets and want you to be 16 for one minute.
What we did is we laid their Olympic uniforms on their beds. Later that night I was doing a service for the win. I was checking the video poker machines to see if they work.
(Laughter)
MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:
That's the kind of guy I am. Really. I want to make sure that's where were staying, I don't want anything broken there. I was stuck at this one that really was not working. It was a true story about the machine too. I get a tap on my shoulder and is Kobe Bryant. I said what's up? Coach, I did what US me to do. I said what happened? He said I cried. Two days later I brought in one of my former players, Paul Brown at West Point, retired as a four-star general. He was in charge of the Stryker unit in Iraq. He brought three of his wounded warriors and one of them was blind. The guy name Scotty Smiley, the first point officer in the Army.
They spoke our team about selfless service. It was riveting. All my guys were crying. I said men were going to be so darn good. We kept up a relationship with the military throughout so we can always feel not just do. That group was just attracted the Hall of Fame a month ago in Springfield, Massachusetts. Everyone was there. They were like brothers. How do you create ownership? How do you get feel?
How do you develop are you going to live together? My two standards all the time were when we look each other in the eye, all the time you were talking. And tell each other the truth. That speaks of trust. We had the meeting, you ask and a lot of these guys don't like to research and. Jason Kidd, who now coaches the Mavericks, Dallas. He said coach we should be on time. We should respect each other. Be on time. I said what you guys think? Yeah, we should be on time. Speaking of respect, the US had lost four of the last five major competitions internationally because we do not practice well and we were arrogant.
We thought were just going to win. One of my standards would be we never have bad practice. It is not my practice, as our practice, it is a plural pronoun team. It's not about you, I, me, it's about you us all work week. The only guy who did not contribute with Lebron James. I do know is poking me, I had 14 but I didn't know if I would have more than two. You never know. All of a sudden, he raised his hand and he was eloquent.
It is been my dream to win the gold medal, the more the better the world. He said, without me telling him, no excuses. When he said that, I reverted back to being 18. How the heck does he know that? He didn't go to West Point. It was one of those moments where, I know there's God but also believe in the basketball gods. Somehow the basketball God said no excuses. We owned it. We won gold medals. Not only did we win gold medals but we won them the right way. We respected who we played and respected our country in the game. That is the best way to win.
Where you are humble when you win. If you win, you don't need to say I want. They will tell you that you won. I am a big believer in not pontificating what you've just done. With that in, I told them people are only going to ask you one question. Did you win? If you answer, I heard you in the Beijing Olympics. Yeah, it was the leading scorer. Then they already know you lost. Because you are correct about what you did not what we did. These fundamental things about unity. Everyone is in it together. For me, it has been incredibly beautiful to be able to be a part of those things and you gave me opportunity to be here for so long.
We have been able to track some of the really great prayers that also great guys. When we recruited, my whole time here, we look for three things. They had to be really talented and they had to fit into Duke. They had to be pretty good students. The third thing, they are all equal, it's character. We would evaluate them. They are always the best player, how are they with a teammate? Did they pay attention to the coach. He walks the practice to see a hard they worked. We got character references to teachers. Were they good guys?
I would watch how they interact with their parent. All of them had mothers. In all of them had fathers. I watched the relationship between them. A few times, we did not recruit a guy, just because I did not feel right. We recruited talent with character. We did not recruit talented characters. It is a big thing. People say, boy, you made men of them. They were men. Duke and our basketball program made them better. They had a great foundation, otherwise we would not have recruited them.
LUKE POWERY:
Thank you. Since we believe in the we and the us, I wanted to ask my last question – if you've questions, please write those down on note cards, or lift up the card and people will be coming around to collect those, if you questions that we can read clearly.
MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:
Don't put down who I should tell Coach (unknown name) to start this year. He is been doing a great job with it this year.
LUKE POWERY:
He has. While that is happening and they are collecting the cards, let me ask you. This is a really good question about decision-making. I know many years ago, you had turned down an offer from the LA Lakers to coach. Not too long after that, you said yes to coach the US national team. What goes into your mind or your process on making decisions, even difficult ones?
MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:
Because we are very successful here, we have a lot of offers to coach at other schools. Multiple. I never entertain anything like that. We also have a bunch to coach in the NBA. The only two I entertained a little bit was in 1990 with the Celtics. David (unknown name), one of the great men of college sports ran the Celtics. I just couldn't leave college coaching. The next two years, we won our first two national championships. Crazy.
Then in 2025, – 2005, Kobe Bryant and I were really close and he really wanted me to coach the Lakers. I was 57 I think – anyway, late 50s I would say. I probably coached for at least another decade. I wonder if I should look at something else. Just to look at it. So we looked into it. The Lakers came out here and they offered an amazing offer. We have the (unknown name) center and we needed $3 million to finish it. They said, we will finish it. You can bring your daughters. They all have jobs. There first thing was $40 million for five years. It is a lot now. It was really a lot then.
Some said, whoa, maybe I should look into this. Now you are looking at generational stuff. Grandkids and whatever. They left, and my agent, David Faulk, one of the great men, we talked about it. I said to let me my family think about this. I called Tom (unknown name). He was no longer my ADD. 25 years before 1980, my first job, I made $40,000. 25 years later, they offered $40 million.
I called Tom. 40,000 then, 40 million now. What do you think? I said that I think you should send me a 10% finders fee.
(Laughter)
I called him and I said, expect a check for $4000. It is a true story. I just couldn't leave. A few months later, I was offered – you don't get paid it to be a US coach. None of the players get that. I needed that. I wanted to coach that level. God was good. And crazy, right? The two times I turned down, something more amazing happened. I have been very lucky. A big reason is I love college coaching. I loved Duke.
I will tell you this in all honesty. If I was that age now, I would have gone. They are doing a great job. College sports is just different. Not the product. The kids. It is professional. If I'm going to be professional, I better do it at the highest level.
Nikki and I talk about it all the time. We feel so very fortunate that throughout our time, we had the best. He and I have an unbelievable relationship. This past year, one of the times we were leaving and I said, you are doing this a lot better than I would have done. It is all new for you. Each year is different for him. He is in his fourth year. This year is not like last year. I said, you are young, you are innovative. I would have always said – it used to be that way. I said, this never used to be (indiscernible). It always is what is. Really, he has done a magnificent job. A much better job than if – anyway, you wouldn't want 78-year-old guy coaching the team. A much better job than I would have done. God bless him. We are lucky that John is with us.
LUKE POWERY:
Most definitely. Coach, we have some great questions here.
MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:
I will evaluate that.
(Laughter)
That is like a fan saying – I think this player is better. I will make that decision, OK?
(Laughter)
It is my gig, right?
LUKE POWERY:
So this first one is related to faith. How important to you is your faith in these tumultuous times of social and political change? Does your faith give you peace, strength, comfort, etc?
MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:
When I talked to business companies that a lot of times, people say, how do you handle stress, burnout and all of that? How do you just handle what is going on? The two F's. Faith and family. All I know – whatever else is happening, my family is terrific. We are going to go out to eat tomorrow. 18 of us. 18 of us. I wonder who's going to pick up the check.
(Laughter)
You don't have to order that, you know. Why don't we just have a buffet? No individual orders. Not expensive wine. Anyway. There should be a limit on all of that stuff. You have faith.
In other words, whatever the heck is happening, there is a higher calling. You want to be in touch with the higher calling. It gives you a balance so that you can handle this stuff better. I am a big believer in that. Actually, every once in a while – are you a Catholic priest? I am going to goof about our religion a little bit. I wish we had talked about that more on Sundays. About what is happening. Instead of the perinthians. I don't know who they are.
(Laughter)
In other words, I think many people who go to other faith and services to hear more about how to handle what is happening with you now. To stay in touch with that. They listen. The reason they are there is because they want that wisdom. It might be a word or two words or something, or just say, you know, I understand. That is a good thing to be able to tell someone. I don't have the answer, but I understand. You understand that too? Yeah, it affects me. Wow! I thought I was alone in this. Just stuff like that. You don't have to always come up with the answer, but you have empathy and understanding and whatever.
It is not a great time. We need to lean on one another and help one another.
LUKE POWERY:
Thank you. Here is another one. What were your most difficult losses over the years, and what did you learn from them?
MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:
I think you should learn from every loss and look at it as an opportunity. Even if it is the last game of the year. We have lost the national championship gig. The worst loss for me was coaching the US team. We just took over in 2006 and were playing in the world championships in Tokyo. We have a younger group. I thought I knew the landscape, but I didn't know it. The people with me, we didn't know it like we should. The Greek team were the European champions. One quarter, they kicked our butt and we could not recover. I felt like it was the end of the world. Here I am coaching our US team and we lost, but what happened because of the loss, we said we have to get better. That is not our destination. We can revamp, we brought international officials, we studied the game more. We have international scouts. We put together this machine. We won 77 straight games. We never lost again. 77 straight games. I try to learn from every loss.
Look, you are going to lose. You don't want to lose and lose and lose. You want to lose and say, OK. That is not going to happen again. Sometimes, like when we first started here, we do everything, but we were not going to win a lot. We were not that good. We are playing against Ralph Sampson for years and Jordan and all those guys. But eventually we got that good. We have to keep figuring out along the way.
A lot of parents don't like to see their kids fail. Sports is an amazing time for them to learn that. OK, I struck out three times. Did you have a good attitude? After I struck out once, I didn't know if I would hit it again the second and third time. OK, let's change that. Maybe the next game you play, you struck out. And then all of the sudden you got a base hit.
In other words, analyze why you lost and no excuses. Why did we lose? How can I help you? What were you thinking? What was your mindset? Let's get in a better frame of mind. You are constantly looking at how to get better and how to win. That is why they play a game.
I am not a big one on giving everyone a trophy. OK? In fact, I hate that. That means everybody won. Why the heck do we do this?
(Laughter)
Are we keeping score? Are we keeping score? If we are keeping score, that at the end I want them to have more than you. Why is that bad? It is called being competitive. All I know is I have had two hips, two knees, and an ankle replaced. I want a competitive surgeon working on me. Hey, it is just another knee. No, it is my knee.
LUKE POWERY:
This question is about leadership. What is your advice to future leaders? How to balance their calling, education, vocation, life, just have a fund balance.
MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:
Via continuous learner for leadership. I am still learning about leadership. Always be be coming for leadership. Leadership is the best profession of the world. It transcends every part of our society. If you have good leadership, that part of our society can be better. That part of an organization is better. You need leadership. I love it. When I go and speak on that, I learned what other leaders are doing.
One of the things – I got involved with (unknown name) 20 something years ago because I could only learn so much in my way. I wasn't going to be able to watch what Dean Smith and Bob Knight say. Tell me how I can be better. That is not point to work. I went and saw other leaders were doing. What other teams – not necessarily sports teams, how did they bond? What did they do? You just have to keep learning about it.
Can I tell the 3A's?
LUKE POWERY:
Go for it.
MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:
This is my thing. I have more than one thing. But this is one of the things. So the last eight months when I speak on leadership, I talk about the three A's of leadership. OK? We don't have to go to B and C. We just stay with A. Keep it simple. The first A is agility. If you are a football quarterback, you call it play. Then you see a defense, you make an audible. The Chicago Bears don't do it. That is my team. We are trying to get agile. Or if you are a point guard and the coach tells you to run a play and you come down and you see another guy open, you make that read. Agility.
The second A his adaptability. Adaptability, obviously technology, new laws, all that. That is not the adaptability I am talking about. The adaptability that I am talking about is communication. God has been great to me, but God kind of had some fun with me in that I kept getting older and the guys I coached stayed the same age. I don't how that happened, but it did.
I communicated in the 80s was different than in the 90s. I probably have to change about 15 times. They be more. You had to state current. You have to know movies, their music. Music is a big thing. And in the last 10 or 15 years, I really don't understand most of the words.
(Laughter)
What I would ask my younger assistant – OK, tell me a couple artists – by the way, artists are not called Jim, Frank, and Mary anymore. Where the heck do all these names come from? It is a different world. You can't remember all of them, but you get two or three, and you talk ahead.
Hey, are you listening to so-and-so? How do you know that? I really don't, but –
(Laughter)
You have to play tricks on them. Or, there are a couple words in a song that when you are talking to them, I said it is like what so-and-so says. "Hey, coach is pretty cool!" And then you have to dress decent. You can't wear all baggy stuff. Where Air Force One's. You can't dress like they do. They only look good in what they wear. They can wear anything. And they look good.
My last year of coaching, I am at practice and we haven't started practice. The guys are shooting. One of my players comes up and says "Coach, your feet are hot." I said, no they aren't. He said "No, your shoes." Oh man! Good! I got something today.
(Laughter)
And how long can you communicate? When you're the leader, it is how fast you get your message across. What are you talking about? What is your attention span? 10 years ago, a 20 minute talk to our team was OK. In the last few years, eight minutes. That's it. And if you can show pictures, boom. No, really. If you are a leader, it does not have to be your voice all the time. People get tired of listening to the same voice.
We use leadership as plural. When John (unknown name) was my associate, an eight minute meeting, I would say, you take it and talk about it. He would be talking and we would be in the theater. I would sit behind and make a point and every once in a while, I would say, "John, let me as a link to that." They would have to turn. When they had to turn, they paid more attention on the turns than they would if I was there for eight minutes. OK?
Communication. By the way, when you are working with your team – I might know your family and know your daughter's birthday and all of that. And anniversary. That is cool when a leader does that. What if we were going to do something and I said, what do you think about what we are going to do? Or we have already started doing that. How do you feel about what we are doing? It hits you in another place, right? We are asked those two questions enough. What happens then, is you give me until that I wouldn't have had. If we can develop a relationship where you just do that without me asking, we have a good team. We got a good team. You know what it cost? Nothing. Except time. Adaptability.
The third A his accountability. Not alive and well. Here accountability and think of bad. Just something bad. Can I use you as an example? Alright. Nothing personal. Alright. Are you wearing a suit? Beautiful suit. Your shirt, boom. It makes – it explodes. You are so hot right now it just –
(Laughter)
I wish I could find those shoes and give them to you. Speaking of your shoes, your shoes suck.
(Laughter)
No they don't! What I am saying is, when you are holding people accountable, it is the truth. Say good things to them. You did a good job, you look at or whatever. And then – you should change your shoes. And don't, please.
Or if those are the only things – it gets old. Accountability if it is done that way, boom. The toughest accountability I have ever had was in the Beijing Olympics, 2008 with Kobe Bryant. Best player in the world at that time. Maybe still is. He is right there. We are doing great and we are in Shanghai. Our last exhibition. We are beating them, but Kobe started taking Laker shots, not US shots. They were not good shots. Nothing against the current Lakers.
There is a free-throw stop action in the first half. My team knows that this – we can't do this. LeBron James walks in front of me and looks at me – what are you going to do? So I said, don't do anything, I will take care of it. And then when you are talking about that level of talent, they look at you two or three times. I said, I will take care of it. I stay up all night with my stuff. True story. I will have to hold the best player in the world accountable the next morning. We get all of the shots on tape. The next morning comes, I see Kobe. I say, I need to speak with you.
We go into a room. I said, yesterday you took really bad shots. If you take those shots, we won't have a team. We will not win gold, silver, bronze. We will not win a team. I show them the shots and there is that moment. And he is beautiful. Amazing. I am afraid, alright?
I don't if this will be World War III or whatever. There is that moment you have to look at and say, you have to understand you cannot take those shots. He looks at me and says "OK". My heart dropped. I stayed up all night for "OK". I asked him again. "Lebron –" he says "Coach, I will not take those shots."
We leave and go to Beijing and are playing. 3 1/2 weeks later, and he is not taking those shots. We are in the toughest game I had ever coached my whole career. The Beijing Olympics gold medal game against Spain with the gazelles. It is so intense. The guys were playing will tell you it is one of the great games they've ever played. There is eight minutes to go. We are up to. Our balls out of bounds.
I am sitting on a stool and trying to draw up a play. As a start drawing up the play, the hand of the guy I held accountable goes on my hand. It is Kobe. I get chills thinking about this. It is an amazing moment. He says "Coach, we don't need a play. This is the moment we came here to be. This is our moment. We are ready for this moment.
As a result of him saying, Lebron, (unknown name), and Carmelo all say something. We (indiscernible) the match without a play. I forgot to tell you there is 1/4 inning. We left with a winning attitude. And instead of – I think the play would have worked, but who knows. It was a good play. Instead of doing one play, they made play after play after play. They owned their moment. When I am saying as a leader – agility, adaptability, accountability produces an attitude on your team where you don't have to draw up a play for your whole team all the time. They will make winning plays. To me, that in essence is what leadership is about. Next year I will get into the B's.
(Laughter)
I get excited. Coach – no I don't. Sort of a weird moment.
(Laughter)
LUKE POWERY:
Let me close our time with these last two questions, and they can be brief. Out of all the aspects of your legacy, which specific part are you most proud of?
MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:
Yeah, that is easy. At Duke, we are number one in the five decades. Our teams on the 42 years were number one, and 21 of the 42 seasons. By far, our teams have played – we played in over 250 games when we were the number one team in the country. It really is a complement to other great kids that I coached, and the assistants in the pursuit of excellence. That is what I am most proud of. We showed up all the time. We did not win all the time, but we did alright. We did alright, and I think we did it in a manner that was alright.
LUKE POWERY:
Thank you. This is the last one. How do you find your why?
MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:
My why is easy. I got it all the time. I never lose my why. Let the people that you love that are close to you know your why, or the group you are pursuing it with. So if they ever think that it is slipping, they can help you. As a leader, it is OK to show vulnerability, like you are having a little bit of a tough time. You have to talk about it. My wife and my daughters would tell me before I asked. I have been lucky to have four ladies in my life. I call it a woman's wisdom. They – sometimes it was accepted reluctantly, but we have had a good team. Have people around you that will – if they see you having a struggle, say "Remember why you're doing this, man. You don't have to be perfect. I am with you."
To me, the four most important words in the world are "I believe in you". "I love you" is good as well. I believe in you, especially in those moments, I think if someone is having a little bit of a problem. In the reaction you get from that sometimes is unbelievably great. It is just great.
LUKE POWERY:
Will you leave us with the final word? But the wisdom of your mother.
MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:
So the greatest advice I ever got in my life – and I have used it as the basis for everything that I have done, came from my mom when I was 14. My mom never went to high school. Eighth grade – we have a big nonprofit, and we service about 2000 kids. She is great.
The night before I went to high school, in the inner city of Chicago – and I was kind of an impetuous guy. She said "Michael, sit down. Tomorrow, make sure you are on the right bus." I said "Ma, I know the city. I can even go divisions." She said "That is not the bus I am talking about." Impatiently, I said "What bus are you talking about?" She said "The bus you are going to have for the rest of your life. Or you are going to get on someone else's bus. Only let good people on your bus. And only get on the bus of good people."
The best. From eighth grade, cleaning lady, beautiful. Really, I have been always in search of people to get on my bus. While it is great to have Laker Hurley and Grant Hill on the bus, it was great to get on West Point's bus, to get on the US bus. In other words, the reason you are successful is not necessarily because of you and your talent. It is because of you, your talent, how hard you worked, and the choices you make with the people you want to use that talent with. Because talent makes talent better when you are with good people. Talent with envious or jealous people can destroy. That was really the best advice I've ever had in my whole life. God bless that woman. She is the Polish – a number of you, you know Lucille (unknown name), my mother was the Polish Lucille (unknown name).
(Laughter)
I came back – last point, real quick. I am at West Point, I come back in my uniform. I am in our apartment. My mom says "Mike, you think you are a hot ticket." I look at her and say "I am a hot ticket. I am your son. That is what makes me a hot ticket." She says, "I have my Masters degree." I said "Ma, you did not go to high school." She said, "I have my Masters degree. I am a domestic engineer. I chase dirt and I catch it all the time." She took pride in everything. Her dignity of work. She was fully committed to me and my brother. God bless that woman. And God bless all of you. Thank you for coming out tonight.
One of the great things about this is we have developed over the close relationship as a result of working with all this. I might even come on Sunday to critique – right down.
(Laughter)
By the way, there is a service. Does he take questions?
(Laughter)
If the first time I come here you start talking about the Corinthians, I am walking out. Just so you know.
(Laughter)
Thank you.
LUKE POWERY:
Thank you all for coming out. And thanks to Coach K.
(Applause)
(End of transcript)