When Mike Krzyzewski retired after last season, there were some who wondered if the longtime Duke Blue Devils head coach would miss the college basketball action and perhaps even consider coming back at some point. According to his latest comments, that does seem very likely.
Coach K spoke with The Athletic’s Brendan Marks recently and explained that while he still loves the game, he’s run out of energy to remain a head coach at a high level.
“When I say I don’t miss it, it doesn’t mean I didn’t love it,” he adds. “I just think I squeezed every bit of joy from that sponge, you know?”
Krzyzewski also said that while last year ended with a loss instead of one final championship, it wasn’t a losing season by any means.
“I gave my all last year, and I think we had a great year. People talk about, we lost at the end — that was not a year that we lost,” Krzyzewski says. “You know, we put two banners up. The thing about losing was, we didn’t get a chance to put the sixth banner up. That’s the thing, when I look back — boy, we were that close — but we were that close a few times that we didn’t get it.”
Coach K added that while he’ll still be around and watching Duke games, it’s Jon Scheyer’s team now.
“The brand shouldn’t be me. I’ve been the figurehead of that brand, and we’ll always be part of it, but it’s Jon’s turn,” he says. “I told him from the start, don’t ever feel like I’m looking over your shoulder — but I’m there for you.”
