Get personalized recommendations and earn points toward a free book!
Before you go...
Check Out
The Bestselling Books of All Time
See the List
A Coach's Life by Dean Smith, John Kilgo and Sally Jenkins
Read An Excerpt
Read An Excerpt
Read An Excerpt

A Coach’s Life

My 40 Years in College Basketball

My 40 Years in College Basketball

My 40 Years in College Basketball

By Dean Smith, John Kilgo and Sally Jenkins

By Dean Smith, John Kilgo and Sally Jenkins

By Dean Smith, John Kilgo and Sally Jenkins

By Dean Smith, John Kilgo and Sally Jenkins

By Dean Smith, John Kilgo and Sally Jenkins
Read by Eric Conger

By Dean Smith, John Kilgo and Sally Jenkins
Read by Eric Conger

Best Seller
Paperback $16.00

Feb 12, 2002 | 464 Pages

Ebook $11.99

Feb 29, 2000 | 384 Pages

Audiobook Download $15.00

Mar 24, 2015 | 288 Minutes

All Formats
+
    A Coach's Life by Dean Smith, John Kilgo and Sally Jenkins
    Paperback
    Feb 12, 2002 | 464 Pages
    See All Formats (2) +

    Paperback
    –

    • Paperback $16.00

      Feb 12, 2002 | 464 Pages

    Ebook
    +

    • Ebook $11.99

      Feb 29, 2000 | 384 Pages

    Audio
    +

    Buy the Audiobook Download:

    About A Coach’s Life

    For almost forty years, Dean Smith coached the University of North Carolina basketball team with unsurpassed success, having an impact both on the court and in the lives of countless young men. In A Coach’s Life, he looks back on the great games, teams, players, strategies, and rivalries that defined his career and, in a new final chapter, discusses his retirement from the game. The fundamentals of good basketball are the fundamentals of character—passion, discipline, focus, selflessness, and responsibility—and superlative mentor and coach Dean Smith imparts them all with equal authority.

    About A Coach’s Life

    Legendary 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.

    About A Coach’s Life

    Legendary 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.

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    About Dean Smith

    Dean Smith was born in Emporia, Kansas, in 1931. At age thirty he became head coach of UNC, and over… More about Dean Smith

    About John Kilgo

    John Kilgo is an award-winning newspaper columnist in North Carolina. He hosted Dean Smith’s television show for fourteen years and… More about John Kilgo

    About Sally Jenkins

    Sally Jenkins is an award-winning journalist for The Washington Post and the author of eight books, three of which were New York Times bestsellers. Her… More about Sally Jenkins

    About Dean Smith

    Dean Smith was born in Emporia, Kansas, in 1931. At age thirty he became head coach of UNC, and over… More about Dean Smith

    About John Kilgo

    John Kilgo is an award-winning newspaper columnist in North Carolina. He hosted Dean Smith’s television show for fourteen years and… More about John Kilgo

    About Sally Jenkins

    Sally Jenkins is an award-winning journalist for The Washington Post and the author of eight books, three of which were New York Times bestsellers. Her… More about Sally Jenkins

    About Dean Smith

    Dean Smith was born in Emporia, Kansas, in 1931. At age thirty he became head coach of UNC, and over… More about Dean Smith

    About John Kilgo

    John Kilgo is an award-winning newspaper columnist in North Carolina. He hosted Dean Smith’s television show for fourteen years and… More about John Kilgo

    About Sally Jenkins

    Sally Jenkins is an award-winning journalist for The Washington Post and the author of eight books, three of which were New York Times bestsellers. Her… More about Sally Jenkins

    Product Details

    Category: Biography & Memoir | Sports

    Paperback | $16.00
    Published by Random House Trade Paperbacks
    Feb 12, 2002 | 464 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | ISBN 9780375758805

    Category: Biography & Memoir | Sports

    Ebook | $11.99
    Published by Random House
    Feb 29, 2000 | 384 Pages | ISBN 9780375504594

    Category: Biography & Memoir | Sports | Audiobooks

    Audiobook Download | $15.00
    Published by Random House Audio
    Mar 24, 2015 | 288 Minutes | ISBN 9780147521736

    People Who Read A Coach’s Life Also Read

    ‹ ›
    Our Nig
    Abraham Lincoln
    Family Romance
    Elvis Presley
    Secret Daughter
    Menagerie Manor
    Robert E. Lee
    Conduct Under Fire
    Windblown World
    Patton and Rommel
    Margot Fonteyn
    Red House
    Battle Ready
    The Privilege of Youth
    So Many Books, So Little Time
    Rise of the Vulcans
    Kate Remembered
    Her Husband
    The Interior Castle
    Wheels for the World
    In the Company of Heroes
    Strapless
    White Mughals
    River of Shadows
    The Letters of John and Abigail Adams
    Journals
    A Love Supreme
    Reluctant Saint
    Secrets
    How I Learned to Snap
    The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings
    The Last American Man
    Last Man Down
    Black Like Me
    Siddhartha
    Letters to Father
    When Character Was King
    Shackleton's Way
    Word Freak
    Chronicle of the Narvaez Expedition
    The Olive Farm
    Recollections of My Life as a Woman
    Treason by the Book
    Too Close to the Falls
    Catch Me If You Can

    Inspired by Your Browsing History

    Praise

    “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

    Looking for More Great Reads?
    Download our Spring Fiction Sampler Now
    Back to Top

    Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network

    Brightly

    Raise kids who love to read
    TASTE img

    TASTE

    An online magazine for today’s home cook

    LitFlash

    The eBooks you want at the lowest prices

    Read it Forward

    Read it first. Pass it on!