Mike Krzyzewski Mulling Retirement? Coach K Says He's 'Looking Forward to the Next 5 Years'
ByDuke Blue Devils fans have not had any reason to think about life without Mike Krzyzewski, but the legendary coach may have just given them one.
"Coach K," as is his popular nickname, indicated he will remain the coach of the Duke men's basketball team at least another five year. Presumably, he would retire at that point.
"I'm looking forward to the next five years," Krzyzewski told reporters during his season's end address, according to ESPN. "What do we do in the next five, not just what do we do next season. What are the decisions? The first thing is, I look at me. I'm going to be here."
He mentioned his brief health scare during the loss to Wake Forest this year, but assured everyone he is in good health.
"This past year I had a few setbacks and I had an episode with health at the Wake game. I wanted to clear the air that I'm good. I'm going forward," he said.
Krzyzewski and Duke were a three-seed in the Midwest region of this year's NCAA Tournament, but were eliminated in the first round by 14-seeded Mercer. Krzyzewski has coached Duke for 34 years and has accumulated 910 wins, the most of any Division I men's basketball coach. His four national titles also ties him with Adolph Rupp for second all-time to the great John Wooden.
Krzyzewski has also been a coach of the U.S. Olympic and World Cup teams about as long as he has been at Duke. He is committed to coaching team USA in the summer World Cup and the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
"I try not to look at how we run our program in one-year periods or based on one game, whether that means you've won the national championship or you got eliminated like we did this year," Coach K said in his conference. "I really don't think that's the way to run a program."