KEY POINTS

  • Mike Krzyzewski was appointed head coach of the Duke Blue Devils in 1980
  • He is the second-highest paid coach in the NCAA in the 2020-21 season
  • He also served as coach for the U.S. men's national basketball team

Mike Krzyzewski, popularly known as “Coach K” to most basketball fans and his team Duke Blue Devils, has had a long coaching career that allowed him to build a fortune and establish his name not only in college basketball but also in the sport as a whole.

Krzyzewski’s net worth is at $45 million, per Celebrity Net Worth. As head coach of the Blue Devils, his annual salary is $7 million as of 2021, according to USA Today Sports. Coach K’s annual salary at Duke makes him the second-highest-paid NCAA coach as of March.

In his 41 years as head coach of the Blue Devils, Krzyzewski has led the team through five national championships (1991, 1992, 2001, 2010 and 2015), according to the team's website. This makes him the coach with the second-highest number of titles in NCAA Division I history, surpassed only by John Wooden.

Krzyzewski also holds the distinction of being the Division I men’s career wins leader, with his 1,000th career win coming during the Blue Devils's Jan. 25, 2015 game against St. John’s.

Coach K started his basketball career at West Point when he enrolled at the U.S. Military Academy, per Duke’s website. He served in the military from 1969 to 1974, which includes two years of head coaching the basketball team at the Military Academy Preparatory School. Before his gig at Duke, he built the basketball program at West Point for five years.

He was appointed as head coach of the Blue Devils in 1980. Under his tenure as head coach, the team has had 11 National Player of the Year honors, six National Defensive Player of the Year awards and six players receiving the National Freshman of the Year honors, per the Duke website.

Apart from his contribution to collegiate basketball, he was also the head coach of the U.S. men's national basketball team, which won gold at the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Summer Olympics. He also coached the American team that won gold medals at the 2010 and the 2014 FIBA World Cup.

Krzyzewski also has his hands full off-court. He serves as a member of the board for various organizations, including the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research, Duke Children’s Hospital, the CEO Roundtable on Cancer and the Emily Krzyzewski Center.

Mike Krzyzewski Duke
Mike Krzyzewski has been the head coach of Duke since 1980. Reuters/Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports