WRAL Sports Fan

Duke

Backing Coach K is family business

By Kelcey Carlson

Apr 2, 2010

When Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski steps on the court, he can count on a pretty important support system in the stands.

“It's a mom -and-pop job,” his wife, Mickie, said. “The whole family does this.”

Mickie Krzyzewski said that family support is a big part of the coach’s success.

That support system has grown in Krzyzewski’s 20 years at Duke. His three daughters, now grown, all attend the Blue Devils’ games to back their dad. Over the years, seven grandchildren have been added to the family rooting section.

“All three of my daughters went away for awhile and they've all come back to live right here in Durham,” Mickie Krzyzewski said.

Both she and Coach K said the growing family keeps the coach young.

“I've read things that he dyes his hair which isn't true,” the coach’s wife said.

“I wish he'd go gray so I could go gray,” she added.

The entire family is in Indianapolis, backing the Blue Devils in the Final Four.

And even though it is not their first championship, Mickie Krzyzewski said, there will still be nerves.

“It doesn't get any easier,” she said.

“It never feels like I've done this before. Every single time it's different because you're with a different team.”