Top 10 College Sports Coaches Ever: Where does Mike Krzyzewski Stand?

Jan 25, 2015; New York, NY, USA; Duke Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski is surrounded by photographers after his 1000th career win after the game against the St. John

5. Mike Krzyzewski, Army Black Knights & Duke Blue Devils, 1975-Present, College Basketball

Record: 1,000-305

4 National Championships

13 Conference Tournament Championships and 12 Regular Season Conference Championships (All in ACC)

As we celebrate the accomplishments, Coach K gets to be fourth on this list.

In terms of just X’s and O’s, there is absolutely nobody who is better than Mike Kryzewski in any sport. This guy has not only turned Duke into a national power the way Bobby Bowden did at Florida State. He has sustained it much longer, and he has done his job to make the Blue Devils the most hated team of every opposing ACC team’s fan base.

Even more remarkable is that Mike Kryzewski has commanded the respect of players at the professional level by coaching in the Olympics and the fact that he has always stuck to recruiting a certain type of player. Then he develops that player.

We always say that he never turned out too many NBA superstars, but he developed lots of his kids into role players who had long successful NBA careers. Michael Jordan may not be on that list, but Grant Hill, Christian Laettner, Elton Brand, Carlos Boozer, Shane Battier, Mike Dunleavy, Jr., and J.J. Reddick have all had valuable careers.

You can’t ask for much more than that.

And although Kryzewski is only No. 4 on this list right now, watch out. He looks like he has another decade, or even two decades, left to coach. By the time he’s done, there’s a good chance he stands over everybody in college coaching.

Next: No. 4 Ranked College Coach Ever