Duke Signs Coach K To A Lifetime Contract

Nov. 14, 2001

DURHAM, N.C. - Duke University and coach Mike Krzyzewski have reached agreement on a new contract that will keep the Hall of Fame coach at Duke's basketball helm for the rest of his coaching career, Duke Director of Athletics Joe Alleva announced Wednesday.

Alleva said the 54-year-old Krzyzewski has agreed to a long-term contract that extends at least to 2011 and reflects "both Coach K's commitment to Duke and our basketball program and our commitment to him as the nation's most outstanding coach.

"This long-term contract recognizes Mike's exceptional achievements both as our coach and as an ambassador of our university," Alleva said. "We think he is the best coach in America and are delighted that he is committing to remain at Duke until he decides to retire."

University officials and Krzyzewski would not discuss the financial terms of the contract, although Krzyzewski said he felt "well compensated." Alleva stated that Krzyzewski is being compensated "appropriately, reflecting his achievements and his many contributions to the athletic program and the university."

Duke President Nannerl O. Keohane said that in recognition of "Mike's stellar leadership and commitment to the university," she has asked Krzyzewski to serve as special assistant to the president. "Both this new title and this long-term contract recognize Coach K's extraordinary accomplishments as a coach and as a university citizen," Keohane said. "I am so pleased - as I know members of the Duke University family around the globe will be - that Coach K has agreed to finish his coaching career at Duke. We are fortunate also that he will continue to have a very visible role in supporting the university's mission."

For more than a decade, Krzyzewski has worked with the Duke Children's Classic and the Duke Children's Miracle Network Telethon. Krzyzewski and his wife Mickie co-chaired the successful $32 million campaign for the McGovern-Davison Children's Health Center, which opened at Duke in the spring of 2000. Earlier this year, the Krzyzewskis created an endowed scholarship fund and are now leading a fund-raising effort to raise scholarships for Duke undergraduates from North and South Carolina. In 1997 the university recognized Krzyzewski's leadership by awarding him Duke's highest honor - the University Medal - for his many contributions to the university.

"My family and I love Duke, and I really appreciate the university making this type of long-term commitment," Krzyzewski said. "Duke is a very special place, and Duke basketball is part of what makes it special. The idea that I can continue to play a role in the success of each is very gratifying, and I'm thrilled at the expression of confidence the university is placing in me by offering this lifetime contract."

Last month, Krzyzewski was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. In 2000-01, Krzyzewski led Duke to its third NCAA championship, joining just three other Division I coaches - John Wooden (10), Adolph Rupp (4) and Bob Knight (3) - who have won three or more NCAA titles.

Entering the 2001-02 season, Coach K has a 606-223 career record in 26 years of coaching, including a 533-164 mark in 21 seasons at Duke. In addition to having the most wins in the storied history of Duke basketball, Krzyzewski has earned 11 National Coach of the Year honors and his teams have won six Atlantic Coast Conference championships. Earlier this year, Time magazine and CNN named Krzyzewski "America's Best Coach", in 1992, The Sporting News named him the Sportsman of the Year, becoming the first college coach to win the honor. The Sporting News said of Coach K at the time: "On the court and off, Krzyzewski is a family man first, a teacher second, a basketball coach third, and a winner at all three. He is what's right about sports."

Krzyzewski also has one of the top records of all coaches in the graduation rates of his teams. In the more than two decades that he has coached at Duke, all but two of his players who have stayed in school for four years have earned their baccalaureate degrees.

Krzyzewski achieved numerous milestones during the past year. He recorded his 500th victory at Duke and his 600th win overall, reaching 600 career wins faster than all but 10 coaches in college history. On Nov. 17, 2000, the Cameron Indoor Stadium court was named Coach K Court in his honor.

Krzyzewski is also known for his special relationship with Duke students, the "Cameron Crazies," as well as with members of the basketball team. Unlike at many universities, Duke undergraduates have access to several thousand floor-level seats. Each year students wanting to secure these free game tickets camp outside Cameron Indoor Stadium in an area officially designated as Krzyzewskiville, and Coach K repays their loyalty with pregame strategy sessions or, occasionally, by delivering pizzas or hot chocolate.

Highlights of Coach K's career at Duke

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee (2001)

Three national championships (1991, 1992, 2001)

11 National Coach of the Year honors (eight seasons)

Six National Players of the Year

17 NCAA Tournament bids

14 All-America selections (23 honors)

Nine Final Four appearances (third all-time)

Six ACC Tournament championships

Nine ACC regular season championships

533 total victories (202 ACC wins)

59 weeks ranked number one in the country, including the 2001-02 preseason poll (AP poll only)

56 NCAA Tournament victories (second all-time)

Quotes from Wednesday's Press Conference

Duke Director of Athletics Joe Alleva: "It is a really special day. It's a special day for Duke University. It's a special day for Duke Athletics. It's a special day for Coach K and his family. We couldn't be more proud or happy to announce this signing of Coach K to a lifetime deal with Duke University. I couldn't be happier. The university couldn't be happier. This signing is really representative, not of what Mike has done as a basketball coach, which you all know is outstanding, but of the fact he is the best coach in the country. He is also the best teacher, he is an educator, he is a family man, a role model and a great ambassador for Duke University. This commitment by the university and this commitment by Mike symbolize all of these things. It is wonderful day."

Duke University President Nan Keohane: "It really is a momentous day and I am very proud to be here. This is a moment that we can celebrate for Duke in many different ways. This decision that Coach K has made to complete his career at Duke is an amazing statement of his commitment to this university. We feel deeply honored by that and determined to make sure he will continue to flourish here and make this university flourish. I think many people around the world are very familiar with Coach K's accomplishments on the basketball court, but maybe not as many people are familiar with the other ways in which he has led this university. He and Mickie (Krzyzewski) have led a number of very important efforts for Duke, even apart from the basketball efforts. They have been involved with the Children's Classic, with the Duke Miracle TV Network, and they have also coordinated the $32 million campaign for the McGovern Davison Children's Hospital, which they led very successfully. They are now the co-chairs of a campaign to raise money for undergraduates from the two Carolinas called the Carolinas Challenge. He is a real ambassador for Duke in the best sense of the word, he is known, loved, recognized and admired by people literally from around the world. We honored him in 1997 by giving him the university's highest honor, the Distinguished University Service Medal, for his many contributions to the university. I am also pleased to announce that Mike has agreed to serve as Special Assistant to the President as a way of recognizing his many contributions in addition to all of his contributions as head coach. We thought it was important to have a way of describing that. I am truly honored that our partnership will develop in that way and that we will have a new level of teamwork around what it will mean for him to be a special assistant to president. It is a recognition of the excellence of service that he brings in so many ways. This all recognizes, as Joe (Alleva) said, the fact that Mike is not only the best coach in the world but also a teacher and a university leader. I know that Dukies around the world will be as excited as we are about this commitment. We are very grateful to Mike and fortunate that he will have an even more visible role in supporting this university's mission, which he does so splendidly."

Duke Head Coach Krzyzewski: "I want to thank Nan and Joe for their great words but also for the university and having confidence in me over the last 22 years. I am looking forward to many more years of running its basketball program. The Duke Basketball program has a rich tradition and I think we have added to it. It has been representative of our school in so many ways. When I came here in 1980 we had a press conference, I knew that I was becoming a part of something that was bigger than me, but I didn't know how much bigger it was. I have found Duke to be a place that I truly love, but also a place that I truly believe in. I have tried over the last twenty-two years, with the great players that I have had and the assistants and staff that I've had and still have, to run the program at a level that I think is right there with anybody. We have also tried to have it be an arm where the university can use it to help maintain its status as what I believe is the best school in the world. It is ironic that the announcement today is on the national signing day. We have a number of youngsters signing their letters of intent today, placing their belief in us to take their careers forward. I'll have an opportunity to talk to the kids tonight and say, `You weren't the only ones who signed today.' It's worked out that way and it is a great example of why I am here today and why we have had this success. People have made commitments to one another and they have followed through with them. In fact, they have bent over backwards to help one another be good. I've found that at this university people look for ways of making other people better because everyone feels like they are part of something great in Duke University. To be recognized as a special assistant, especially to this president, is quite an honor. I've had the opportunity of working for three great presidents, however at this time in my life and the relationship I have had with Nan since she came on has really proven to be an incredible one. I feel like I can give her and have given her 100 percent in every way and look forward to doing it for the remaining years that I am here. She is here to take our school forward and that type of commitment has been especially gratifying to me. I'm not sure even if the university realizes it but in my world, in the athletic world, today you all have made an amazing statement because what you've said to me over the last 22 years, you really say it now even better with the special assistant to the president, is that you've always recognized the athletics as part of the educational process. In fact, it is a very important part of the educational process. A lot of schools don't want to say that for whatever reason and here at Duke we not only say it, we embrace it. To have athletics and academics not be totally different worlds helps both. We're on the same campus and we're teaching the same lessons. I would love to have this serve as an example for other institutions to provide that type of commitment to their coaches. I would like to see other coaches receive the support that Duke has given me over the past 22 years. I can honestly say that there was never a second that I've been a coach at Duke that I was ever worried about being fired. There was a never second that I've been at Duke where I've ever felt that I was in this alone. You know why? Because there was never a second that I was. I've always been supported by a great team and whether it be Tom Butters who hired me, or Joe Alleva and his staff, or Terry Sanford, Keith Brody or Nan Keohane. That says a lot for our school. It is why I've wanted to make this commitment to Duke. It is an easy commitment. It is not as easy as the commitment I made 32 years ago when my wife and I got married, but it is the next one. I say this not just for me but for my entire family. We have absolutely loved being a part of the Duke team and we will always be a part of the Duke team and this contract is just a symbol of that commitment."

On the length of his contract: "The contract rolls over through so-called "university retirement" at sixty-five, and is still open. I don't feel like fifty-four--I feel like I can do this for a while. Especially if Jason (Williams) and those kids make commitments like they've made. For me to have the opportunity to coach kids like that for 22 years--a couple are here in the audience on my staff, Chris (Collins) and Steve (Wojciechowski)--that's been unbelievable for me. My buddies always tell me that I am really lucky because I got to do what I wanted to do, and I agree. I'm doing what I wanted to do and happen to be doing it at the best place to do it."

On if the signing came at a good time: "It's been a hectic time since we won the National Championship--with grandkids, weddings, hall-of-fames, a bunch of different things. Somehow, thanks to the administration, we've been able to take care of this before the actual season starts. The timing is about as good as it could be."

Joe Alleva:
On how the idea for a lifetime contract came up: "The idea is something that has been talked about with the president, Mike and myself for a while now. It is a great idea and this is the way it should be for someone who has done what Mike has done for this university."

Coach Krzyzewski:
On if he thought he would ever work somewhere else: "I don't think there has ever been serious consideration about anything else. But there are times when you have to celebrate commitment, and this contract celebrates commitment. I'm doing it with my university on this day, which makes me feel great."

On when he started at Duke: "I came to Duke full of belief, ambition and enthusiasm. When (Tom) Butters offered me the job, I just wanted to get started. When you make a commitment to something, you have to trust them. I said `Take care of it, we've got a program to build.' It was all private. Everything was done in a very good way that would help everyone."

On his title as Special Assistant to the President: "It formalizes a relationship that Nan and I have had since she got here. I'm not sure that there is a university president out there that would spend time with me like she has. When I'm through with coaching, it formalizes a way that I can stay on with the university."

On working as a team with other Duke administrators: "You need to have a day-to-day basis dialogue--not that you are working for somebody but rather with them. Duke has provided the environment for that to happen. I believe that when we won in Minneapolis, that Nan felt like she won. When Ralph Snyderman makes an announcement for the hospital, he knows that I feel like I've won, too."

Duke Signs Coach K To A Lifetime Contract

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