Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Will Ojanen @WillsWorldMN –
Can you remember the last head coach on the sidelines before Coach K took over? You don’t. It was Bill Foster, who coached the team for six seasons, before leaving for South Carolina. But come November 2022, we’re going to see a new face on the Duke bench. Jon Scheyer will be tasked with replacing arguably the greatest college basketball coach of all time. In my opinion, he is.
We knew this announcement was going to come eventually. But, you’re never truly prepared to hear it. The idea of Duke’s coach not being Mike Krzyzewski is something we’re not going to be ready for, no matter how you feel about him. But we’re going to have to face that reality a year from now. We don’t know of a life without him on the sidelines.
It’s going to be difficult for any future college coach to accomplish what Krzyzewski has accomplished. Coaches these days aren’t going to stick around in one spot for 40 years. They’re not going to win championships in different eras of basketball like Krzyzewski has, because I don’t foresee an age again where top players are sticking around for 3-4 years like they were when he won titles in the early ‘90’s. He’s also won a title with one and done players. But his other accomplishments are far more impressive.
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Last Head Coach
For example, he has 1170 wins and counting, nearly 200 more than the second most. His 1083 wins at Duke is 800 more than anyone else at the school. In fact, if he has another successful season, he will have had more than half of the wins in the history of Duke basketball. He’s been coaching for what will be his 47th season. Only two coaches have coached longer. Only 11 coaches all time have a higher win percentage than him. He also has five national championships, 12 Final Four appearances, and 15 ACC Tournament championships. He’s only had 10 seasons with double digit losses in 46 seasons, and just four losing seasons, and none since the 1982-83 season. Not to mention the more than 60 players who will have been drafted once the 2021 NBA Draft is complete.
It’s going to be borderline impossible for any coach to top these feats. Most coaches get burned out long before they get to their 47th year in coaching. With the constant turnover of college rosters nowadays, with the one and done rule still being a thing and the transfer portal. Plus, let’s not forget the eventual NIL law going into effect, it’ll be difficult to have consistent rosters from one year to the next. If you really think about it, Krzyzewski has done well with roster turnover for the most part, because his top players usually stick around for one year. Then they head off to play in the NBA, reloads with top talent, then repeats the cycle.
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Call him, the Last Head Coach and though he won’t be literally, he’ll be in ways we’ll never be able to explain to generations to come.
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