Hannah Storm interviewed Bob Knight, Mike Krzyzewski and Bill Parcells this morning on their time at West Point, and how the Academy shaped their coaching philosophies and their lives. It's a longish interview, so here are some of the highlights, in case you're in class or don't want to sit through the full 10 minutes:
On West Point:
Krzyzewski: It's the greatest institution in the world. During that time, I had an opportunity to not only go to the greatest institution in the world, but be coached by one of the greatest coaches ever. I got a double dose of leadership and training. To me, West Point is a school of leadership. The two great coaches with me today, two great guys, they wanted to learn about leadership and teams and what better place to learn about it than the U.S. Military Academy? They tried out what they were learning on us players [laughs]. Some of the things worked and some didn't. But thank goodness I got a chance to see it.
Storm: So you're saying that something Coach Knight did didn't work? What might that have been Coach K?
Krzyzewski: Hey, I'm still not saying that.... [Still] whenever I hear his voice I get down in a defensive stance [laughs].
Knight: The thing that made Mike such a great coach was that he understood what he could and couldn't do as a player. He was the best I ever had at that. [Krzyzewski laughs].
And this exchange, later in the interview, is pretty priceless:
Parcells tells a story about K giving up an easy layup, Knight yelling his name twice, and Mike being smart enough to ignore him. "I think he needed to get his hearing checked," Parcells says.
Krzyzewski counters with, "Well, he used to call me different names. I wasn't accustomed to hearing my last name."
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