In high school, in sport, I had a coach who told me I was much better than I thought I was, and would make me do more in a positive sense. He was the first person who taught me not to be afraid of failure.
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

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

Once you win a National Championship, how do you do that again? How do you get the passion to do that again? We won it again right away, the next year. A lot of it had to do with the fact that I didn't give myself an opportunity to enjoy the first one.
Mike Krzyzewski

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

Playing sport was somewhat frivolous, but I liked it. I rebelled a little bit, and wouldn't go to music lessons and things like that, but I would go and play ball. My parents learned to love it because they saw how much I got out of it.
Mike Krzyzewski

That's another thing, we made up games. We didn't have equipment. When it snowed, we would play slow motion tackle football. We would play hockey, but we wouldn't skate. We just made things up. I loved doing that.
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

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

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

The person who has inspired me my whole life is my Mom, because she taught me commitment. She sacrificed.
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

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

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

To me, teamwork is the beauty of our sport, where you have five acting as one. You become selfless.
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 was in sixth grade, I wanted to become a priest.
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

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