From three-time New York Times bestselling author Ian O’Connor, “Coach K: The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski,” as the retiring icon tries to lead the Duke University Blue Devils to their sixth national title on his watch.
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.
Krzyzewski built a staggering basketball empire that has endured for more than four decades, placing him among the all-time titans of American sport, and yet there has never been a defining portrait of the coach and his program. Until now. O’Connor uses scores of interviews with those who know Krzyzewski best to deliver previously untold stories about the relationships that define the venerable Coach K, including the one with his volcanic mentor, Bob Knight, that died a premature death. Krzyzewski was always driven by an inner rage fueled by his tough Chicago upbringing, and by the blue-collar Polish American parents who raised him to fight for a better life. As the retiring Coach K makes his final stand, vying for one more ring during the 2021-2022 season before saying goodbye at age 75, O’Connor shows you sides of the man and his methods that will surprise even the most dedicated Duke fan.
Editorial Reviews
“With deep reporting and a profound understanding of the football life, Ian O'Connor comes as close as humanly possible to solving the mystery of the great football sphinx, Bill Belichick, and his unmatched coaching career.” – David Maraniss, best-selling author of When Pride Still Mattered, A Life of Vince Lombardi
"I thought I knew everything there is to know about the brilliant, secretive coach. The Hoodie would have made a model Prisoner of War. He gives up nothing. And yet Ian O'Connor somehow cracked the code at Fort Foxborough, producing this compelling portrait of the coach and the man. A must-read for football buffs and anyone who appreciates leadership.” – Dan Shaughnessy, Boston Globe columnist and best-selling author of Francona (with Terry Francona)
”In Belichick, Ian O’Connor has delivered an excess of compelling, fresh reporting and muscled writing to construct one of our great coaching biographies. O’Connor illuminates one of sports’ most secretive and mysterious figures. Fast-moving, exhaustively researched, Belichick will transform the way you consider the man and the Patriot’s dynasty.” – Adrian Wojnarowski, ESPN Senior Writer and best-selling author of The Miracle of St. Anthony
“A tour de force of world-class reporting and masterful, fair-minded storytelling.” – Armen Keteyian, contributing correspondent to 60 Minutes and best-selling author of Tiger Woods
“It is simply not possible to produce a more interesting, informative and beautifully written biography than Ian O'Connor has in Belichick … This is the kind of gold-standard reporting that all journalists aspire to, and few actually achieve.” – Mike Vaccaro, award-winning columnist for the New York Post
“A valuable portrayal of both the public and private side of the NFL's leading coach for the past 20 years that will be in demand among sports collections.” – Starred Review, Library Journal
“A fascinating look inside the team so many of us love to hate.” – Washington Post
