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Sign up todayA Coach's Life
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Learn moreLegendary University of North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith tells the full story of his fabled career, and shares the life lessons taught and learned over forty years of unparalleled success as a coach and mentor.
For almost forty years, Dean Smith coached the University of North Carolina men's basketball program with unsurpassed success- on the court and in shaping young men's lives. In his long-awaited memoir, he reflects on the great games, teams, players, strategies, and rivalries that defined his career, and explains the philosophy that guided him. There's a lot more to life than basketball- though some may beg to differ- but there's a lot more to basketball than basketball, and this is a book about basketball filled with wisdom about life. Dean Smith insisted that the fundamentals of good basketball were the fundamentals of character- passion, discipline, focus, selflessness, and responsibility- and he strove to unite his teams in pursuit of those values.
To read this book is to understand why Dean Smith changed the lives of the players he coached, from Michael Jordan, who calls him his second father and who never played a single NBA game without wearing a pair of UNC basketball shorts under his uniform, to the last man on the bench of his least talented team. We all wish we had a coach like Dean Smith in our lives, and now we will have that chance.
Dean Smith was born in Emporia, Kansas, in 1931. At age thirty he became head coach of the University of North Carolina, and in his more than thirty-six years there, he established a peerless record—879-254, .776—as the winningest coach in college basketball history. Smith has won numerous coaching awards, including eight ACC Coach of the Year titles, and was named coach of the 1976 U.S. Olympic team. He lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
John Kilgo is a writer who has known Dean Smith for three decades. He publishes a UNC sports magazine, Carolina Blue, and was the co-host of Smith's TV show for fourteen years. Kilgo lives in Davidson, North Carolina.
Sally Jenkins is the author of Men Will Be Boys and the co-author of Pat Summitt's first book, Reach for the Summit. A veteran sports reporter whose work has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, she has worked for The Washington Post, Sports Illustrated, and Condé Nast's Women's Sports and Fitness.
Dean Smith was born in Emporia, Kansas, in 1931. At age thirty he became head coach of the University of North Carolina, and in his more than thirty-six years there, he established a peerless record—879-254, .776—as the winningest coach in college basketball history. Smith has won numerous coaching awards, including eight ACC Coach of the Year titles, and was named coach of the 1976 U.S. Olympic team. He lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
John Kilgo is a writer who has known Dean Smith for three decades. He publishes a UNC sports magazine, Carolina Blue, and was the co-host of Smith's TV show for fourteen years. Kilgo lives in Davidson, North Carolina.
Sally Jenkins is the author of Men Will Be Boys and the co-author of Pat Summitt's first book, Reach for the Summit. A veteran sports reporter whose work has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, she has worked for The Washington Post, Sports Illustrated, and Condé Nast's Women's Sports and Fitness.
Dean Smith was born in Emporia, Kansas, in 1931. At age thirty he became head coach of the University of North Carolina, and in his more than thirty-six years there, he established a peerless record—879-254, .776—as the winningest coach in college basketball history. Smith has won numerous coaching awards, including eight ACC Coach of the Year titles, and was named coach of the 1976 U.S. Olympic team. He lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
John Kilgo is a writer who has known Dean Smith for three decades. He publishes a UNC sports magazine, Carolina Blue, and was the co-host of Smith's TV show for fourteen years. Kilgo lives in Davidson, North Carolina.
Sally Jenkins is the author of Men Will Be Boys and the co-author of Pat Summitt's first book, Reach for the Summit. A veteran sports reporter whose work has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, she has worked for The Washington Post, Sports Illustrated, and Condé Nast's Women's Sports and Fitness.
Reviews
“Dean Smith epitomizes what a coach can be—teacher, counselor,mentor, example, friend.”—Bill Bradley
“Coach taught me the game. . . . He’s like a second father to me.”
—Michael Jordan
“Dean Smith is not merely a basketball coach of historic accomplishments. He is also a man of uncommon integrity and decency. His life story will be heartening to the many Americans who have watched him shape two generations of young athletes to reach their full potential as men.”
—Senator John McCain
“Dean Smith is a better teacher of basketball than anyone else.”
—John Wooden, former coach, UCLA Expand reviews
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