Krzyzewski Quotes & Sayings

Don't worry about losing. Think about winning. — Mike Krzyzewski

Defense is one man guarding the ball and four others helping him — Mike Krzyzewski

Throughout my life, my mom has been the person that I've always looked up to. — Mike Krzyzewski

My mom gave me unconditional support and unfailing love. You can't get any better than that. That's why I've never been afraid to lose. — Mike Krzyzewski

I didn't miss any games, but Coach Knight came out and spent three days with my family in Chicago when my dad passed away. I came back and played and it was good therapy for me. Having a basketball family and a coach who understood and actually became like a father figure for that time was comforting to me, and I'm sure that will be comforting to Coleman. — Mike Krzyzewski

As teachers and coaches, we must remember that when mere winning is our only goal, we are doomed to disappointment and failure. But when our goal is to try to win, when our focus is on preparation and sacrifice and effort instead of on numbers on a scoreboard then we will never lose. — Mike Krzyzewski

You can't play any defense if the other team is on the foul line. — Mike Krzyzewski

Whatever a leader does now sets up what he does later. And there's always a later. — Mike Krzyzewski

Always get back to your core principles. — Mike Krzyzewski

When I was growing up, there weren't any Little Leagues in the city. Parents worked all the time. They didn't have time to take their kids out to play baseball and football. — Mike Krzyzewski

When I went to high school, an all-boys' school, a Catholic school, I tried out for football, and I didn't make it. It was the first time, athletically, that I was knocked down. — Mike Krzyzewski

If a team cannot perform with excellence at a moment's notice, they probably will fail in the long run. — Mike Krzyzewski

For a college basketball player or coach, to reach the Final Four is la-la land. You've achieved, you've got your stamp of approval. My first team to do that was in 1986. Then we did it in '88, '89 and '90. — Mike Krzyzewski

If you win a National Championship, or you win two, people think you have not only seen the Holy Grail, but you've embraced it. Basically, I do what a lot of people do, but I've been able to win. — Mike Krzyzewski

When you win, sometimes it overshadows a poor performance. — Mike Krzyzewski

The life expectancy of a team is about eight months. Then the next year, it's a whole new team. — Mike Krzyzewski

Parents can really help, but they can also really hinder the development of their youngsters. — Mike Krzyzewski

My ambition in high school was to be a high school coach and teacher, and that's still what I do: teach. — Mike Krzyzewski

A leader's responsibility to his team is paramount. It overshadows even his own personal feelings at any given time. — Mike Krzyzewski

During the season, your team should be led with exuberance and excitement. You should live the journey. You should live it right. You should live it together. You should live it shared. You should try to make one another better. You should get on one another if somebody's not doing their part. You should hug one another when they are. You should be disappointed in a loss and exhilarated in a win. It's all about the journey. — Mike Krzyzewski

Courage and confidence are what decision making is all about. — Mike Krzyzewski

Sometimes in a defeat, you can set the stage for future victory. I wanted them to feel good about what they had accomplished. Not to like losing, but to like the success that they had. — Mike Krzyzewski

I hated to lose. — Mike Krzyzewski

Believe that the loose ball that you are chasing has your name wirtten on it. — Mike Krzyzewski

Don't do anything as an individual that will make you stand out from your teammates. — Mike Krzyzewski

I'm fortunate now that I coach at Duke University and we've won a lot. I have some kids who haven't failed that much. But when they get to college, they're going to fail some time. That's a thing that I can help them the most with. — Mike Krzyzewski

When a leader takes responsibility for his own actions and mistakes, he not only sets a good example, he shows a healthy respect for people on his team — Mike Krzyzewski

I believe work is good. There is dignity in work. I also believe that a hard-work ethic forges strong leaders. — Mike Krzyzewski

It takes courage not only to make decisions, but to live with those decisions afterward — Mike Krzyzewski

Are you going to show integrity only when someone is watching you - or are you going to show it all the time? — Mike Krzyzewski

You should do things because of what your expectations are of yourself. — Mike Krzyzewski

Don't let a single game break your heart. — Mike Krzyzewski

Effort is fully replenishable. There is no need to save any of it. Leave every bit you have on the playing field — Mike Krzyzewski

I always won in my imagination. I always hit the game-winning shot, or I hit the free throw. Or if I missed, there was a lane violation, and I was given another one. — Mike Krzyzewski

There are always those times when you're going to be down. It's how you step through it that makes you the person you are. — Mike Krzyzewski

Turning down the Lakers was tough, but it is always good to renew your vows to the loves of your life. — Mike Krzyzewski

In our program, the truth is the basis of all we do. There is nothing more important than the truth because there's nothing more powerful than the truth. Consequently, on our team, we always tell each other the truth. We must be honest with one another. There is no other way. — Mike Krzyzewski

A team is a fist-not five fingers. — Mike Krzyzewski

You develop a team to achieve what one person cannot accomplish alone. All of us alone are weaker, by far, than if all of us are together. — Mike Krzyzewski

A leader is someone who puts their people in position to be successful all the time — Mike Krzyzewski

In putting together your standards, remember that it is essential to involve your entire team. Standards are not rules issued by the boss; they are a collective identity. Remember, standards are the things that you do all the time and the things for which you hold one another accountable. — Mike Krzyzewski

I'm still not a great reader, but my wife is and my daughters are, and I envy them. I think I got into a bad habit of trying to do something all the time, instead of trying to sit down and take my time a little bit. — Mike Krzyzewski

Every leader needs to remember that a healthy respect for authority takes time to develop. It's like building trust. You don't instantly have trust, it has to be earned. — Mike Krzyzewski

Imagination has a great deal to do with winning. — Mike Krzyzewski

We travel in Duke stuff ... They can have a hat, but it must be a Duke hat. — Mike Krzyzewski

A leader may be the most knowledgeable person in the world, but if the players on his team cannot translate that knowledge into action, it means nothing. — Mike Krzyzewski

You start developing a championship attitude by, first of all, telling kids that they are really good and that they have the potential to become better. — Mike Krzyzewski

Therefore, as a player, as a coach, even though we might have lost in a season or not won a championship, it was like a self-fulfilling prophecy that I'm going to win some time. I've never felt myself a loser. — Mike Krzyzewski

I was very pleased with the entire selection process. The manner in which it was conducted included all parts of United States' basketball, from the professional level to the colleges and high schools. Everyone was considered. — Mike Krzyzewski

Hate can destroy you or it can fuel you. I knew I had to find a way for it to fuel me." Krzyzewski — John Feinstein

Every season is a journey. Every journey is a lifetime. — Mike Krzyzewski

If you set up an atmosphere of community and trust, it becomes a tradition. Older team members will establish your credibility with newer ones. Even if they don't like everything about you, they'll say, 'He's trustworthy, committed to us as a team.' — Mike Krzyzewski

I think in college they give you a chance to really mature, form yourself and build relationships. I think that's what a team is all about, and when you build relationships, it shows on the court and that brings out success. I love the whole attitude of staying in college to take advantage of a free education. I just felt like Kentucky wasn't a fit for me. The whole attitude and approach of the one-and-dones, that's good for them, that's their decision. But I think [Duke] Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] is a guru of basketball. I want to learn from one of the best. — Jabari Parker

There are kids don't want to do something because they're afraid of looking stupid to their peers. There comes a time when they start protecting themselves, instead of extending. I want to make sure that they're always trying to extend themselves. — Mike Krzyzewski

Visualize a wagon wheel as a complete team. A leader might be the hub of the wheel at the center. Now suppose the spokes are the connecting relationships the leader is building with people on the outer rim of the wheel. If the hub is removed, then the entire wheel collapses. In a situation like that, if a team loses the leader, the entire team collapses. — Mike Krzyzewski

Phil took us to the finals three out of the five years and you want to fire him and want to bring in Mike Krzyzewski? Come on, man. That's like being married to J-Lo, then dropping J-Lo for a girl that's 5-10, 480 (pounds). — Shaquille O'Neal

I have a plan of action, but the game is a game of adjustments. — Mike Krzyzewski

Goals should be realistic, attainable, and shared among all members of the team — Mike Krzyzewski

Leaders show respect for people by giving them time. — Mike Krzyzewski

Communication does not always occur naturally, even among a tight-knit group of individuals. Communication must be taught and practiced in order to bring everyone together as one — Mike Krzyzewski

The team that trusts-their leader and each other-is more likely to be successful. — Mike Krzyzewski

Almost everything in leadership comes back to relationships. — Mike Krzyzewski

As a leader you can get sidetracked but you have to complete your mission — Mike Krzyzewski

The only way you're going to grow is to be in difficult situations. — Mike Krzyzewski

A leader has to show the face his team needs to see. — Mike Krzyzewski

Friendships, along with love, make life worth living. — Mike Krzyzewski

That's what I do now: I lead and I teach. If we win basketball games from doing that, then that's great, but I lead and teach. Those are the two things I concentrate on. — Mike Krzyzewski

Basketball was not my main sport in grade school, or even the first year of high school. — Mike Krzyzewski

Embrace the hell out of personal responsibility. — Mike Krzyzewski

The other thing I knew I had was a high level of competitiveness. — Mike Krzyzewski

People want to be on a team. They want to be part of something bigger than themselves. They want to be in a situation where they feel that they are doing something for the greater good. — Mike Krzyzewski

Each group and each youngster is different. As a leader or coach, you get to know what they need. — Mike Krzyzewski

One of the worst things anybody can do is assume. I think fools assume. If people have really got it together, they never assume anything. They believe, they work hard, and they prepare- but they don't assume. — Mike Krzyzewski

Actually, the Kentucky moment was better than winning the two National Championships, because it was the epitome of what I try to get from a team in a crisis situation. — Mike Krzyzewski

A basketball team is like the five fingers on your hand. If you can get them all together, you have a fist. That's how I want you to play. — Mike Krzyzewski

It's simply doing what you're supposed to do as well as you can when you're supposed to do it. — Mike Krzyzewski

Mutual commitment helps overcome the fear of failure - especially when people are part of a team sharing and achieving goals. It also sets the stage for open dialogue and honest conversation. — Mike Krzyzewski

Discipline is doing what you are supposed to do in the best possible manner at the time you are supposed to do it. — Mike Krzyzewski

Sometimes it's not bad to hurt. Sometimes you don't want things until you get hurt. We got hurt today, let's see what we do. — Mike Krzyzewski

People have to be given the freedom to show the heart they possess. I think it's a leader's responsibility to provide that type of freedom. And I believe it can be done through relationships and family. Because if a team is a real family, it's members want to show you their hearts. — Mike Krzyzewski

In order to be a winner, you have to look for ways of getting things done and not for reasons why things can't be done. People who live with excuses have things that can't be done hovering around them all the time. — Mike Krzyzewski

Leaders should be reliable without being predictable. They should be consistent without being anticipated — Mike Krzyzewski

Confrontation simply means meeting the truth head-on. — Mike Krzyzewski

If the only reason I coached was to win basketball games, my life would be pretty shallow — Mike Krzyzewski

It is the ultimate honor for a coach to be his country's coach. — Mike Krzyzewski

In developing teams, I don't believe in rules. I believe in standards. Rules don't promote teamwork, standards do — Mike Krzyzewski

Champions play as they practice. Create a consistency of excellence in all your habits. — Mike Krzyzewski

I think coaching is confused at times as being an arrow that only goes to a player. Those players send arrows back to you, and that's where a relationship is developed. I don't make a player, and a player doesn't make me a coach. We make each other. — Mike Krzyzewski

If you have talent with teamwork, you've got a chance to be a championship team. — Mike Krzyzewski

The thing I loved the most - and still love the most about teaching - is that you can connect with an individual or a group, and see that individual or group exceed their limits. — Mike Krzyzewski

The truth is that many people set rules to keep from making decisions. — Mike Krzyzewski

In all forms of leadership, whether you are a coach, a CEO, or a parent, there are four words that, when said, can bring out the best in your team, your employees, and your family. I BELIEVE IN YOU. Those four words can mean the difference between a fear of failure and the courage to try. — Mike Krzyzewski

Great rivalries don't have to be built on hatred. They're built on respect, on a respect for excellence. — Mike Krzyzewski

Two are better than one if two act as one. — Mike Krzyzewski

I never want to lead a team that is not allowed the freedom to pursue what's in their hearts. If you want your team to be fully committed, then you'd better be fully committed — Mike Krzyzewski

My parents didn't really understand too much about sport. At that time, we were in a Polish community in the inner city of Chicago, and I was the youngest of a bunch of cousins. Polish families are real big, with cousins and aunts and uncles. — Mike Krzyzewski

Pete Newell told me 'get as much information and learn as much about the game as you can, but use your own personality to teach it.' — Mike Krzyzewski

I don't think you play for other people's expectations, you know. You don't go and become a lawyer because your mother or father want you to, you don't become a coach because somebody wants you to. — Mike Krzyzewski

With me and basketball, it became part of me. — Mike Krzyzewski

I don't look at myself as a basketball coach. I look at myself as a leader who happens to coach basketball. — Mike Krzyzewski