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Legendary UNC basketball coach
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Twitter: AJMckenzie94847
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00:12Somehow Dean Smith would always pull a rabbit on his head last minute and cost us the game.
00:17He's almost like a mad scientist. I think in a lot of areas Coach Smith was ahead of the game.
00:22Use of timeouts comes to mind right away. Nobody could extend the game longer
00:27and make two minutes feel like two hours.
00:31The impact of Dean Smith's brilliance as a tactician and motivator
00:34was felt by everyone in North Carolina's Carmichael Auditorium on March 2, 1974.
00:41It's 86-78 with 17 seconds left to play.
00:44Duke is leading by eight.
00:46We had a timeout and Coach Smith said,
00:48this is great, isn't it? We're going to win this game and here's how we're going to do it.
00:51I'm looking up at the clock and the score and everything. I think the guy's crazy.
00:55Bobby Jones is at the free throw line.
00:57And he just categorically stated,
01:00Bobby's going to make these two free throws
01:01and we're going to go into a certain defensive set.
01:04It is 86-80.
01:06Blighton to make the inbound play.
01:07Bounce it in. Recovered by Walter Davis.
01:09Underneath to Kuster. Layup is scored by Kuster.
01:11Barheels get a turn up.
01:12Stopping the clock with 13 seconds left to play
01:15in the ballgame to hold everything.
01:19Another timeout. He's saying,
01:20okay, now what we're going to do, we're going to steal the ball.
01:22If we don't steal it, we've got a foul.
01:24Not the way off. I'm sorry.
01:26Go ahead and...
01:44We didn't get the pass.
01:46Yeah, we fouled right away.
01:48Four seconds to go.
01:49Sure enough, the best free throw shooter
01:51missed the free throw as a one-on-one
01:53and I would have put the game away.
01:55Dallas got the rebound.
01:56Colorado gets timeout
01:58with three seconds left to play in the game.
02:00Are you serious?
02:01Kupchak will make the long, but quick pass.
02:03Get to Walter Davis.
02:04Two, one.
02:05Walter takes the shot.
02:06It's good.
02:07Boom.
02:13And after that game,
02:14I was just convinced
02:15that he was the smartest man
02:16I'd ever been around.
02:17And he was so relaxed
02:18and so confident
02:19that I think that carries over to the players.
02:24He was very innovative.
02:27They had what they call four corners.
02:29And if you were playing against them,
02:31you just dreaded that time.
02:32They're in a famous four-corner offense.
02:35A man in each corner
02:37and Bill Ford in the middle.
02:39They stretched the floor.
02:41They would just melt the clock
02:42and all of a sudden
02:42occasionally sneak in
02:44and take a layup
02:45because everybody was spread out
02:46to the corners.
02:47But it was to control the game.
02:49The last score of this game
02:51was over five minutes ago.
02:54Pick up the tampa.
02:55Let's go.
02:56Let's go.
02:57Coaches in college basketball
02:59abhorred the four corners.
03:01Abhorred the slowdown game.
03:02Bill Foss used to say,
03:03I thought Naismith invented basketball
03:05and not Dean Smith.
03:07It revolutionized basketball
03:09because it forced basketball
03:10to put in the shot clock.
03:13He originated the idea
03:15of the huddle at the foul line.
03:17Acknowledgement of a good pass
03:18by pointing some of his stone traps.
03:22I can't think of anybody
03:23that brought more new ideas
03:26to the game than Dean.
03:27I'm not so sure he ever slept
03:29because I think he must have
03:30spent his whole life
03:31just studying basketball
03:32and all the nuances.
03:34I remember walking in that gym
03:36on a Saturday night
03:37and there was Coach Smith
03:38in the middle of the summer
03:39looking at film by himself
03:41late at night.
03:43And I said,
03:43Coach, there's not a college
03:45basketball coach in the country
03:46doing what you're doing tonight.
03:48And if there's any justice
03:50in this world,
03:51you're going to succeed.
03:52And I believe succeed big time.
03:57That deep personal investment
03:59paid huge dividends.
04:01In his 36-year reign
04:02as their head coach,
04:03the Tar Heels captured
04:04two national championships
04:06and produced at least 20 victories
04:08in 27 straight campaigns.
04:10He retired with 879 wins,
04:13more than any college coach
04:14before him.
04:15It truly is a program
04:17that came out of who he was
04:20from inside himself,
04:22his heart and his soul
04:24and his belief system.
04:26He wanted to separate
04:28Carolina from everybody else.
04:30And he did that
04:31through a number of different ways,
04:32including how they traveled,
04:33how they dressed,
04:34how they behaved.
04:36Nothing happened
04:37in his basketball program
04:38from on the court,
04:40from advertising,
04:41to off the court,
04:42to control,
04:43that didn't have his finger in.
04:46Growing up,
04:46he was a catcher in baseball.
04:48That person controls
04:49the baseball and the pitching.
04:50He was a quarterback
04:51in football.
04:52He was a point guard
04:53in basketball.
04:54So all the various sports
04:56and positions he played,
04:57he was in control.
04:58When we had practice,
04:59we knew from 3 to 3.15
05:01we did this.
05:02From 3.15 to 3.30
05:03we did it.
05:04Every single minute
05:06was outlined.
05:07Every single minute
05:08had a purpose.
05:12Punctuality was
05:13very important to him.
05:15You may not believe this.
05:17My garage is 10 minutes fast
05:18right now.
05:19And it's been that way
05:21since I was 18 years old,
05:23my freshman year
05:24in North Carolina.
05:25And I call it
05:26D.E.S. time,
05:27Dean Edward Smith time.
05:29We won a disciplined team
05:30and I was kind of
05:32a dictator.
05:34I hope you could say
05:36maybe a nice dictator
05:38sometimes.
05:39Hold it, baby!
05:42General, you're talking
05:43and I'm talking.
05:46That's the way
05:46you say it.
05:48Wake up!
05:50You know,
05:51he never cursed.
05:52But he could get on you
05:54when you feel like
05:55he used every full
05:56better word possible.
05:58I remember walking
05:59home from practice
06:00with my teammates
06:01and asking them,
06:02did he call us
06:04SOBs today?
06:04And we'd all laugh
06:05because, you know,
06:07we all knew better.
06:08If you have a bad play,
06:09he would take that
06:10little clicker
06:11and just reverse the film
06:12three or four times
06:13and he would see
06:13your mistake.
06:14And he wouldn't say
06:14anything.
06:15He would just click it
06:15back and forth
06:17and, you know,
06:17you'd get the point.
06:18He'd tell you exactly
06:19what you did wrong
06:20and what you had to do
06:21right.
06:21That's what players
06:22want to hear.
06:23They don't want to hear
06:23suck it up
06:24or be a man.
06:25That's not telling me
06:26how to stop a play.
06:28Play together,
06:30play hard,
06:30play smart
06:31were the drum beats
06:32of a complex
06:33teaching repertoire
06:34meant to inspire
06:35harmony on the court.
06:37Dean always knew
06:38how to use
06:39his best players
06:41the best way
06:42while still incorporating
06:44the team concept.
06:45He made sure
06:46that the other people
06:46had a sense
06:47that they were
06:48equally important.
06:50You remember the joke
06:51who can hold
06:52Michael Jordan
06:52under 20?
06:53Dean Smith.
06:54Well,
06:55that's a tribute
06:55to coaching
06:56because he got
06:57Worthy and Jordan
06:59and all of those
07:00great talents
07:00to play team ball first.
07:03I came out of the
07:04game.
07:05Coach Smith said
07:06there was three
07:07or four tough shots
07:09he took there.
07:10I said,
07:10well,
07:11coach,
07:11I was feeling it.
07:12He said,
07:12go ahead and feel the best.
07:14There were times
07:15when I felt
07:16Smith teams
07:17so subjugated
07:19individual talent
07:20that they could not
07:22perform to the maximum.
07:23they had the players
07:24to do it
07:25but I felt
07:26they didn't always
07:27do it
07:27because of
07:28Dean's control.
07:29Kenny Anderson
07:30was the ultimate
07:32creative playmaker
07:33slash scorer
07:34and North Carolina
07:35was one of the schools
07:36that recruited him hard
07:37and one of the things
07:38he said was,
07:39I just don't want to go
07:40become another horse
07:41in Dean Smith's stable.
07:42he was a person
07:44who taught people
07:45to think
07:45and in the process
07:46of teaching them
07:47to think
07:48and teaching them
07:49how you can't allow
07:52so many freedoms
07:53for going for them.
07:54You don't go
07:54serious as to whether
07:55or not they would
07:56accept that philosophy
07:58of sharing the basketball
07:59and would accept
08:00the philosophy
08:01of being a student athlete.
08:06I think you have
08:07to have a foundation
08:07and the foundation
08:08at Carolina
08:09was this thing
08:10that we came
08:11to call the system.
08:13That one really bothered me
08:14when somebody called
08:15we had a system,
08:17IBM of college basketball.
08:19You know,
08:20we had a way
08:20we liked to play
08:21but would change
08:22year to year
08:22with our personnel.
08:24some people thought
08:25he had to be
08:26in control of everything.
08:27I looked at it more
08:29as a guy protecting
08:30something that he had built
08:32but protecting it
08:33in the name of the young men
08:34who had made the program
08:36instead of protecting it
08:37for anything the coach
08:38would want to get out of it.
08:45He was a gym rat.
08:47He went to practice.
08:4831 to Alfred and Vesta Smith,
08:50Dean,
08:51the younger of two children,
08:52learned early
08:53and well
08:54the way of the righteous.
08:56Both of his parents
08:57were school teachers.
08:58His father was a teacher
08:59and a coach.
09:00The academics came first.
09:01His mother
09:03absolutely saw to that.
09:05I think it's extremely
09:06important to him
09:08to do things
09:08the right way
09:09and I think a lot of it
09:11had to do
09:11with his parents.
09:13It was important to them
09:14that we all go to church
09:15which we did
09:16three times a day
09:17on Sunday.
09:19My mother was
09:20the church organist
09:20and dad was
09:21the chief usher
09:22it was understood
09:23that we did not smoke,
09:24we did not drink,
09:25we did not curse,
09:27we did not lie.
09:32When Smith was 14,
09:34tragedy visited
09:34his idyllic world.
09:35It came in the summer
09:37of 1945
09:38striking a friend,
09:39Shad Woodruff
09:40with whom he had played
09:41American Legion baseball
09:42over the 4th of July weekend.
09:44A couple,
09:45three days later
09:46while Shad Woodruff
09:47was dead
09:47with the bull bar polio
09:49and Dean had a bunch
09:51of clippings
09:51and things of that nature
09:53and he made a scrapbook
09:54and took it over
09:56and gave it to Shad's parents.
09:59It was just
10:00a traumatic experience
10:02for me
10:02and stayed in touch
10:05with him
10:05for years and years
10:07with the family.
10:11Dean learned
10:12the virtues
10:12of loyalty,
10:13compassion
10:14and justice
10:15from his parents.
10:16As a football,
10:17basketball
10:17and track coach
10:18at Emporia High School,
10:19Alfred Smith
10:20further instilled
10:21in his son
10:21the principle
10:22of fair play
10:23and what would become
10:24a consuming drive
10:25to win
10:26through organization
10:27and strategy.
10:28I drew up
10:29a double wing play
10:31for him.
10:31He acted like,
10:32gee,
10:32that's a good idea,
10:33Dean.
10:34When we'd play
10:35on the sandlot,
10:35he'd have a lot of plays
10:37that we got together on
10:38and he'd tell us
10:39to do things.
10:40Then,
10:41if we had a problem,
10:43we'd go home
10:43to his dad
10:44and he'd ask his dad,
10:45now what do you do
10:46in situations like this?
10:48He was a gym rat.
10:49He went to practice,
10:51watched his father
10:51his team's practice,
10:53traveled on the road
10:54with him to games
10:55when he could.
10:56I really believe
10:57he knew
10:57that he was going
10:58to coach
10:59from the time
11:00he was 10 or 11 years old.
11:04After Smith played
11:06ninth grade football
11:07and basketball
11:07under his father
11:08in Emporia,
11:09the family moved
11:10to Topeka
11:10the next summer.
11:11Six years later,
11:12as a junior at Kansas,
11:14Smith was a reserve guard
11:15when legendary coach
11:16Fogg Allen
11:17and his assistant,
11:18Dick Harp,
11:19led the Jayhawks
11:20to the 1952
11:21NCAA championship.
11:22I didn't know
11:22he played.
11:23At the start of the game,
11:24the starters would go in
11:25and then Dean
11:26would usually be
11:26about the other end
11:27of the bench,
11:28which kind of reflected
11:30how quick he was going
11:31to get in the game.
11:32It wouldn't be very long
11:33in the game
11:33until Dean was no longer
11:34at the other end
11:35of the bench.
11:35He would be sitting
11:36next to Dick Harp
11:38and Dr. Allen
11:39and pointing out
11:40things that were going
11:40on in the game.
11:42Dean used to actually
11:43coach the second
11:46and third team
11:47running the same
11:48type of plays.
11:52After graduation
11:53in 1953,
11:55Smith served briefly
11:56as a graduate assistant
11:57at Kansas
11:57before fulfilling
11:58his ROTC obligation
12:00in the Air Force.
12:01While stationed
12:02in Germany,
12:03he met Bob Speer,
12:04who hired Smith
12:05as an assistant
12:06when he became
12:06head coach
12:07at the newly opened
12:08Air Force Academy
12:09in 1955.
12:10Coach Speer
12:11was a hero of sorts
12:13to Coach Smith.
12:14He saw Coach Speer
12:16go against teams
12:17with much better talent
12:19than the Air Force Academy
12:21had and still figure out
12:22ways to win the game.
12:23On the day
12:24of the 1957 NCAA final
12:27between North Carolina
12:28and Kansas,
12:29Speer introduced Smith
12:30to the Tar Heels coach.
12:31With the possibility
12:32of a job in the air,
12:34Smith impressed
12:35Frank McGuire,
12:36who posed him
12:36a question.
12:38McGuire says
12:38to young Dean Smith,
12:39so Dean,
12:40who are you going
12:41to be pulling for tonight?
12:43And Dean Smith
12:44swallowed hard
12:44and said,
12:45I'm going to have
12:46to go with
12:46your alma mater coach.
12:48And then left
12:49the hotel room
12:50and went to
12:50Carl's dad
12:51and said,
12:52I think I just blew it
12:53with Coach McGuire.
12:54And Alfred Smith said,
12:56no, no,
12:56he'll admire
12:57and respect
12:58your honesty.
12:58And that's really
13:00the way it turned out.
13:01It bedrocked
13:01the relationship
13:02between Dean
13:03and Frank McGuire
13:04and sure enough,
13:04McGuire did hire him.
13:06That's nice.
13:10They won it.
13:11North Carolina
13:12wins the championship
13:1454 to 53.
13:17The undefeated
13:181957 championship season
13:20immortalized
13:21Frank McGuire,
13:22not only at North Carolina,
13:23but throughout
13:24the college basketball world.
13:26Beginning in 1958,
13:27Dean Smith worked
13:28in the flamboyant
13:29New Yorker's shadow,
13:30ever diligent,
13:31ever reserved.
13:33I can remember
13:34being in a
13:35pre-game meeting
13:36where Coach Smith
13:37came up with a
13:38game plan
13:39and Coach McGuire
13:40came in and
13:41uttered a profanity,
13:42which was his nature,
13:44and said,
13:45we're not going to do that.
13:46Coach Smith was much
13:47more the tactician
13:48and Coach McGuire
13:49was much more
13:50the emotional,
13:52instinct-oriented coach.
13:55In January of 1961,
13:58during Smith's
13:58third season
13:59under McGuire,
14:00the Tar Heel
14:01basketball program
14:02was placed
14:02on a year's probation
14:03for excessive
14:04recruiting expenditures.
14:06Seven months later,
14:07McGuire resigned
14:08to become the head
14:08coach of the
14:09Philadelphia Warriors.
14:10The chancellor,
14:12Bill Acob,
14:12wanted Dean
14:13to be his
14:14head basketball
14:14coach.
14:15He says,
14:15this is what
14:16I want you to do.
14:17I want you to give
14:18this university
14:19a basketball team
14:21that it can be
14:22proud of.
14:23Coach McGuire
14:24was a giant.
14:25When Coach Smith
14:26was hired to take
14:27his place,
14:28to many people,
14:30he was a midget.
14:31And no one,
14:31I think,
14:32in their wildest dreams
14:33thought this fellow
14:34would be,
14:35in time,
14:36bigger than
14:36Frank McGuire.
14:41At 30,
14:42Smith began
14:42the 1961-62 season
14:45as North Carolina's
14:46head coach.
14:47Working under
14:47tight university
14:48restrictions,
14:49his team finished
14:50at 8-9.
14:51Although it would be
14:52Smith's single
14:53losing campaign
14:54as a head coach,
14:55it was just the
14:56beginning of a
14:56four-year siege
14:57on campus.
14:58It was the worst.
15:00We lost scholarships.
15:01We were only allowed
15:02to play 16 regular
15:04season games.
15:06He had every
15:07obstacle you could
15:08possibly have.
15:10in front of him,
15:11and I thought
15:11seriously about
15:12leaving.
15:13I was doing the
15:14PA for the games
15:15played in the
15:16Greensboro Coliseum,
15:17and at the end
15:18of the Carolina
15:19introductions,
15:19I would say,
15:20and the head coach
15:21of the Tar Heels,
15:21Dean Smith,
15:22and he could boo.
15:26The fans'
15:27discontent grew
15:28stronger in his
15:29third season
15:30as the Tar Heels
15:30finished fifth
15:31in the ACC,
15:32while rival Duke
15:33reached the final
15:34four for the
15:35second straight year.
15:36The next season,
15:37following a 22-point
15:38loss to Wake Forest
15:40in January of 1965,
15:42Smith felt the full
15:43measure of the
15:44students' wrath.
15:45We pulled up to
15:46Woolen Gym,
15:47and it was about
15:4811, 11.30 that
15:49night, and we could
15:50see some students
15:51gathered around
15:52over on the front
15:52of Woolen Gym,
15:53and then as we got
15:54off the bus,
15:55we could see this
15:55effigy hanging from
15:57the tree,
15:58and with the name
16:00of Coach Smith on it.
16:01And the minute
16:02Billy Cunningham saw
16:03this, he moved
16:04out ahead of
16:05everybody, went
16:05over there and
16:06yanked that down.
16:09And they wanted
16:10to get rid of me.
16:11I thought I could
16:12always coach high
16:13school and math,
16:15but I didn't think
16:16I was going to get
16:16fired.
16:18The fact that he
16:19was hung in effigy,
16:20and the fact that
16:21the team had that
16:23terrible loss,
16:25did cause him to
16:26rethink.
16:27He told me,
16:27maybe I'm not
16:28supposed to be a
16:29coach, maybe I'm
16:30supposed to be doing
16:30something else.
16:34At a low point
16:35in Smith's personal
16:36crucible, he read
16:38Beyond Ourselves,
16:39given him by his
16:40sister.
16:40He was particularly
16:41moved by one
16:42chapter.
16:44The power of
16:45helplessness is
16:46very strong.
16:47Just the fact that
16:48you kind of turn
16:50everything over to
16:51our creator and
16:53do what you can
16:54and don't worry
16:56about it is very
16:58helpful to me.
16:59The key piece of
17:01that was, you're
17:03not master of the
17:03universe, and you
17:05need to give things
17:06up and relax, and
17:08you're not in charge
17:09of everything.
17:10And he said that
17:10that was a real
17:11turning point for
17:12him, that if you do
17:14the right things,
17:15winning will come.
17:17He goes to Duke
17:19with players not
17:20nearly as good as
17:21Duke had, beat
17:22Duke.
17:23The same people
17:23that hung him in
17:24effigy were
17:25hollering for him
17:26to make a speech.
17:27And Coach got up
17:29on the platform
17:29and says, I can't
17:31speak.
17:31There was something
17:32tied around my neck
17:33the other night.
17:34I just can't get
17:35the words out.
17:39Despite another
17:40effigy hung in his
17:41honor after a loss
17:42in North Carolina
17:42State, Smith finished
17:44the regular season
17:45with seven straight
17:45wins as the Tar
17:46Heels tied for
17:47second in the ACC.
17:49It was almost dawn,
17:50and help was on
17:51the way.
17:52Getting Larry
17:52Miller and Bobby
17:53Lewis, you know,
17:55those two kids
17:56were huge because
17:58everybody in the
17:58country wanted
17:59him.
17:59When he finally
18:00got the players
18:01to run the kind
18:02of basketball
18:03system that he
18:03wanted to run,
18:04then his program
18:05took the quantum
18:06leap.
18:07Smith, the Atlantic
18:08Coast Conference
18:09Coach of the Year
18:10and third in the
18:10nation in that
18:11building, cuts
18:12down the net
18:13with his assistance
18:13and the plate.
18:15What they win.
18:16From 1967 to
18:171969, Smith's
18:19Tar Heels won
18:19three straight ACC
18:21regular season
18:22and tournament
18:22titles, and
18:23advanced to
18:24three final fours.
18:25Following an
18:2618-9 record in
18:271970, Smith had
18:29to prove that it
18:30was more than
18:30just excellent
18:31players that
18:32had been
18:32responsible for
18:33North Carolina's
18:33success.
18:35That season
18:36defined Coach
18:37Smith.
18:37That 1970-71 team
18:39wasn't predicted
18:40to do anything.
18:41We didn't have a
18:42superstar on the
18:43team, and we
18:44bought into Coach
18:44System.
18:45You know, play it
18:45my way, guys.
18:46Do it as a team,
18:47and you will win.
18:48The Tar Heels
18:49have won the
18:50regular season
18:50championship, and
18:52where's everybody
18:52that picked up
18:53the finish
18:53seven?
18:54The fact that
18:55Dean was so
18:56different from
18:57Frank McGuire,
18:58once he became
18:59successful, that
19:01helped him.
19:01He was his own
19:02man.
19:03McGuire was the
19:04bright light.
19:06Dean was the
19:07steady candle,
19:08always burning.
19:12Smith returned to
19:13the Final Four in
19:141972, but even as
19:16his career was
19:17taking flight, his
19:18marriage to Ann
19:19Clevenger was in
19:20steep decline, the
19:21couple who had
19:22three children
19:23divorced in 1973.
19:25The one time that
19:27I had seen Dad
19:29very sad and very
19:31tearful was when
19:33he told us that
19:35he and Mom were
19:37not going to be
19:38living together
19:39anymore.
19:39He felt like a
19:41failure, and he
19:42felt a great deal
19:43of pain because he
19:46knew that it was a
19:47shock for all of us.
19:49He was there for me
19:50even during then.
19:51He would listen and
19:53hear me out.
19:54He was willing to
19:54take the anger as
19:55well as the love at
19:57the same time.
19:58When he was going
19:59through the trauma
20:00of going through a
20:01divorce, the job
20:02really kind of saved
20:03his sanity.
20:04If he could get
20:05wrapped up in his
20:06team, which he
20:07certainly did.
20:09In 1976, Smith
20:11married Linnea
20:12Weblimo, and the
20:13couple had two
20:14daughters, Kristen
20:15and Kelly.
20:16In time, the pain
20:17and guilt of
20:19Smith's divorce gave
20:20way to a new
20:21family dynamic.
20:22It's nice about it
20:24where my first
20:25wife and we go to
20:26her house Thanksgiving
20:27and kids do, and
20:29my wife Linnea,
20:31you know, it's
20:31something that,
20:34you know, they
20:35accept, I think,
20:36very well.
20:37The journey of
20:38his life, I
20:39think, has been
20:39learning the
20:40lesson that you
20:41can't control
20:41everything.
20:42One of the great
20:43pleasures of looking
20:44at the sweep of
20:45his professional
20:46and personal lives
20:46is to see how
20:48he worked it out.
20:49He realized that
20:50failure is not the
20:51final answer, that
20:52you can look at
20:52failure, learn from
20:53failure, and keep
20:55on moving on in
20:55life.
20:58Yep.
21:00Not get to win.
21:01If he won fair
21:02and square, he won
21:03fair and square.
21:07At certain points
21:08in big games
21:09especially, you
21:10could see, you
21:12know, true
21:13intensity and a
21:15passion to win.
21:16The public
21:17Smith was a
21:18gentleman, the
21:19competitive Smith
21:20that rival coaches
21:21saw all the time
21:21was a no-holes
21:23barred, fierce,
21:25determined man
21:26with a cutting
21:27tongue that would
21:28yell at the
21:29referees just as
21:29much as everybody
21:30else.
21:30There was at the
21:31time at Cameron
21:32that Dean got so
21:34incensed about a
21:34sub that he went
21:35to the table, slammed
21:36his hand down on
21:36the scores table, hit
21:38the scoreboard
21:38control, and put 20
21:39points on the
21:40board.
21:41In 1977, he stormed
21:43onto the court
21:43against Kentucky in
21:45the East Final when
21:46he thought Rick
21:47Robey was roughing
21:48up one of his
21:48players.
21:49When people were
21:50playing a style of
21:51basketball that he
21:52thought was not
21:53only not good for
21:53the game, but
21:54potentially injurious
21:55to his players,
21:56that's when you saw
21:57him lose his
21:58cool.
22:00Dean was not
22:01warm and fuzzy
22:02at all.
22:02He knew his job,
22:04and it was a
22:04them against us.
22:05I mean, he
22:06wasn't out to win
22:07any popularity
22:07contests.
22:09Norm Sloan at
22:10NC State refused
22:11to shake Dean's
22:12hand even at the
22:13coaches' meetings.
22:14He got to be so
22:16irritated because
22:17Dean would find
22:18your button, and
22:20he would push it.
22:21He always had the
22:23ability of almost
22:25giving you a
22:26compliment, and
22:28then as you
22:29just about tasted
22:31it and began to
22:33swallow it, he'd
22:34pull it back.
22:35He would let you
22:36savor it.
22:37He was always
22:38battling between
22:39being this incredibly
22:41competitive person
22:42and this person who
22:43wanted to be the
22:46embodiment of his
22:47spiritual beliefs,
22:48and sometimes it
22:50came at him in
22:51slightly contorted
22:52ways.
22:53We kind of burst into
22:55Dean's office, and
22:56we had caught him
22:57smoking a cigarette,
22:58and Dean practically,
22:59you know, burned his
23:02finger trying to put
23:03out the cigarette.
23:04Obviously, it was
23:04someone concerned with
23:06his self-image, but it
23:07was also someone who
23:08legitimately did not want
23:10to spread the message,
23:12even in the state of
23:13North Carolina, that
23:14smoking tobacco is
23:15okay.
23:19I think he views
23:20himself as somebody
23:21who has a social
23:22responsibility, and
23:24the Lord put him in a
23:25position of influence,
23:27and he felt like that
23:28was his calling to say
23:29and do what was
23:30important at the time.
23:33One of the remarkable
23:33things about Dean is
23:35his willingness to take
23:37a stand on controversial
23:38issues, everything from
23:40being against the death
23:42penalty to supporting
23:44the nuclear freeze to
23:47welcoming and
23:48and freeze, uh, that
23:51was a, let me say
23:52that.
23:52Affirming gay and
23:53lesbian participation
23:56at all levels in our
23:58church.
23:59Most guys in coaching
24:00feel like, that's not
24:01my arena.
24:03A lot of times I
24:03didn't agree with
24:04them, but I thought,
24:05wow, I mean, it's
24:07special that you step
24:08out there and take
24:09stands like that.
24:12As a young coach
24:13during the Civil Rights
24:14Movement, Dean Smith
24:15joined forces with his
24:17pastor from the
24:17progressive Binkley
24:18Baptist Church to help
24:20integrate Chapel Hill.
24:22The town was rigidly
24:24segregated in terms of
24:25public facilities, and
24:27Dean was willing to go
24:28with me and with an
24:29African-American student
24:30to what was then the
24:31Pines Restaurant.
24:33And, uh, when they
24:35saw Dean at the door
24:37with an African-American
24:38student, there was an
24:40initial hesitation, but
24:42they realized that there
24:43was no way they could
24:44say no to him.
24:45Coach Smith was still
24:47not, uh, considered a
24:48winning coach at that
24:49time.
24:50That showed a fair amount
24:51of courage and
24:52certainly, um, engendered
24:54a great deal of
24:55admiration for people for
24:56his willingness to take
24:57a chance at that point
24:59in his career to step
25:01out for fairness.
25:05Smith's social consciousness
25:06stemmed from his
25:07upbringing.
25:08In 1934, when Kansas
25:10high school basketball
25:11teams were strictly
25:12segregated, his father
25:13brought a black player
25:14onto his all-white team.
25:16Yes, sir.
25:16The high school
25:17athletic association
25:17wanted Alfred Smith to
25:20drop Paul Terry from
25:21the team, and Alfred
25:22Smith refused, said,
25:24you'll have to fire me.
25:25And the athletic
25:26association backed off,
25:27and Paul Terry remained
25:29a player and a prominent
25:30player on his team.
25:31In his value system.
25:33He had to be good
25:34enough to do that,
25:35because they would've
25:36just fired.
25:38He was equal before
25:40God.
25:41To keep a young man
25:42from playing ball
25:43because of his color,
25:44Dad just felt that
25:46was totally unfair.
25:47That episode influenced
25:49Dean Smith and led to
25:51his goal when he got
25:53to be the head coach
25:53at Carolina was to
25:54integrate to the
25:55Carolina program.
25:58In 1966,
26:00Smith found a player
26:01who qualified academically,
26:03athletically, and
26:04temperamentally to become
26:06his school's first
26:07African-American
26:08scholarship athlete,
26:09Charles Scott.
26:10Coach Smith always
26:14wanted to make me feel
26:16like I wasn't black.
26:20Coach Smith always gave
26:22me the feeling that I was
26:25like everyone else,
26:27equally appreciated
26:28as everyone else.
26:30He said, you know,
26:31I know I'm going to get
26:32a lot of opposition,
26:33et cetera, and so on,
26:34but he said, this is so
26:35long overdue and just so
26:37wrong.
26:38And I mean, he felt
26:39really emotional about it.
26:42As they went to other
26:43campuses, Coach Smith was
26:45ridiculed and Charlie Scott
26:46were ridiculed, but they
26:48stood together as a team.
26:49On the road at South
26:50Carolina, a fan yelled at
26:52Charlie, he called him a
26:54big black baboon, and Dean
26:55Smith actually wanted to go
26:57up in the stands and get
26:58this guy until he was
26:59restrained by his assistant
27:00coaches and players.
27:01This was not just something
27:03he was doing to make his
27:04basketball team better.
27:05This was the philosophy that
27:06they believed it in life.
27:17Smith always resented the
27:19fact that people didn't
27:21think he was a great coach
27:24until he won a national
27:25championship.
27:25Dean Smith, a values-driven
27:27coach and man, saw even
27:30larger goals than just
27:32winning games.
27:33He wanted to establish
27:34relationships with players
27:36that were sustained not only
27:38in the short term, but in
27:40the long term.
27:41We never, ever talked about
27:44winning in North Carolina.
27:45You know, it was very
27:46important to win.
27:47The only time I heard Coach
27:49Smith talk about winning was
27:51in the 76 Olympics.
27:53Although Dean Smith's U.S.
27:55team won Olympic gold, his
27:57Tar Heels had yet to win a
27:58national championship.
27:59Then in 1977, Smith's troops,
28:02although hampered by
28:03injuries, won 15 straight to
28:05advance to the final against
28:07Marquette.
28:08There's David.
28:10He has it.
28:11Game tied.
28:1243 all.
28:14After coming back from a
28:1612-point halftime deficit,
28:17Smith went to the four-corner
28:19strategy with the game tied.
28:21On the floor in place of
28:22freshman star Michael Corrin
28:24was reserve senior Bruce
28:25Buckley.
28:27And one of the assistants
28:27suggested, Coach, don't you
28:29think we ought to call a time
28:30out to get Michael Corrin in the
28:31game was waiting at the
28:32scorer's table.
28:33And Coach Smith leaned over and
28:35told the assistant coach, I
28:36would never, ever do something
28:38like that to embarrass one of my
28:40players.
28:40And it comes down to one of my
28:42close friends, Bruce Buckley,
28:43was in the game and went back
28:46door, got the shot blocked.
28:48What it is?
28:49What the hell?
28:52Maybe had it been Michael Corrin,
28:53he would have maybe dunked the
28:54ball.
28:55There were 4,000 other examples
28:57where it worked out and everybody
28:58remembers this one.
29:00And Marquette has won the
29:01national championship.
29:03It was the most emotional loss
29:06that I think I've ever experienced
29:09in all the years that I've been
29:10with Carolina because you thought
29:12this is finally it.
29:13He's finally going to win a national
29:15championship.
29:16He took an awful lot of heat
29:18because at that time everybody
29:21said you can't win the big one.
29:28In each of the next three seasons,
29:31Smith's Tar Heels were eliminated
29:32in the first round of the NCAA
29:34tournament.
29:34Then in 1981, North Carolina's
29:37hopes ran high when it reached its
29:39sixth final four in 15 seasons.
29:41But after beating third-ranked
29:43Virginia and Ralph Sampson, the
29:45Tar Heels met Bob Knight's
29:46Hoosiers, whose point guard was
29:48not to be denied.
29:49Thomas inside!
29:51Yes, sir!
29:52See?
29:52We felt that that one really hurt
29:54and you couldn't get that monkey
29:56off his back.
29:57So the guerrilla started growing
29:58and growing.
30:00It bothered me more than it
30:02should have and I think it was
30:03just a wish to be able to silence
30:06that criticism because it seemed
30:08to overshadow some of the other
30:10accomplishments.
30:12It just got to the point where
30:13it was sickening and as a
30:15consequence, we made a decision
30:17to do everything we could to win
30:20the national championship.
30:24Throughout the 1982 season, the
30:27team led by James Worthy, Sam
30:29Perkins, and a freshman guard named
30:31Michael Jordan had but one mission
30:33to lift the final burden of
30:35criticism from their coaches'
30:37shoulders.
30:37There were games where they were
30:41just breathtaking.
30:43Here comes Jordan
30:43and Roy!
30:44Jordan!
30:46Here comes Worthy!
30:47Worthy will take it in!
30:49James Worthy, after they won the NCAA
30:51Eastern Championship in Raleigh,
30:54he wouldn't let his teammates cut the
30:55nets down.
30:56Leave those nets there.
30:57Those are not the ones we want.
30:59We want the ones in New Orleans next
31:01week.
31:03After dispatching Houston in the
31:04semifinals, North Carolina again
31:06made the final.
31:08Down by a point to Georgetown with
31:1032 seconds left, Smith called
31:12timeout.
31:13Coach Smith said, we're in great
31:15shape.
31:15We're exactly where we want to be.
31:18We're going to determine who wins
31:20this game.
31:21Michael walked in and I said, if it
31:23comes to you, you're knocking it in.
31:24I don't even know whether you heard
31:25me, but he sure did.
31:2620 seconds to go.
31:28They got something set out.
31:30Here's Jordan.
31:30Yep, he's letting it go.
31:32Good!
31:32From 15 feet.
31:33And it is now 63-62.
31:36Fred Brown looking.
31:38Oh, wait a word.
31:39Worthy five!
31:40Are you serious?
31:41Are you going to win the next?
31:44Why did he throw that pass?
31:46National Championship!
31:50I never will forget the expression
31:52that he had on his face and I
31:54never will forget the fact
31:56that rather than rejoice, he
31:59walked directly to me and he
32:00embraced me.
32:03After we won and you go up to
32:04the podium, they hand you a
32:05watch.
32:06We had four managers on the
32:07team and one did not get a
32:09watch.
32:10And back in the locker room,
32:12Coach Smith gave his watch to
32:14David Hart and said, here, you
32:16didn't get a watch.
32:17You should take this.
32:18The fact that he would think of
32:20that at that moment, that says
32:22something about the man for
32:23sure.
32:23Coach Smith stood before the
32:25press.
32:25after that game and people were
32:27saying, how relieved of you to
32:29win your first national
32:30championship.
32:31And he said, I'm not a better
32:32coach today than I was
32:34yesterday.
32:37The Tar Heels would go nine
32:39more years before returning to
32:40the Final Four.
32:41A new force had developed in the
32:43ACC.
32:44Eight miles up the road in
32:46Durham, Mike Krzyzewski's
32:47Blue Devils made six Final
32:48Fours over seven years.
32:50Smith, meanwhile, burned with a
32:52cold fire.
32:54The North Carolina program was
32:56the Paragon program.
32:57They all graduated.
32:59Cheating.
33:00They were articulate.
33:02And they won.
33:03And then here came Duke, and it
33:05was doing all those things, too.
33:07By winning NCAA titles in 1991
33:09and 1992, Krzyzewski was one up
33:12on Smith.
33:13In 1993, when the Tar Heels lacked
33:16the flash of previous teams, the
33:18coach altered his strategy to fit his
33:20material.
33:20It was not poetry in motion.
33:28It was a team that was more blue
33:30collar.
33:31He knew it, and he coached to those
33:35strengths.
33:36After winning its first ACC regular
33:39season title in five years, North
33:41Carolina advanced in the NCAA
33:42tournament to face Michigan's
33:44nationally vaunted Fab Five in the
33:46final.
33:47Trailing by four with less than five
33:49minutes left, the Tar Heels went on a
33:519-0 tear.
33:52With 20 seconds left, they were
33:54hanging on ahead by two.
33:56And Weber front toward Carolina,
33:58thought he traveled with it.
33:59Weber front toward Carolina with
34:00foul.
34:00He takes a timeout.
34:02They're on a timeout.
34:03Technical foul.
34:04Technical foul on Michigan.
34:06The Tar Heels have won the national
34:10championship right where they won it
34:1211 years ago.
34:14In many ways, that title team was a kind
34:17of valedictory for Dean Smith.
34:19When you look back on that team, it's
34:20very hard to think of a transcendent star
34:24player.
34:24I think it was a team that vindicated,
34:27that expressed what it is that he had
34:29taught and believed and hoped for.
34:35Without just this huge, huge massage of people,
34:39just, they adored him.
34:41I've never seen a guy so uncomfortable in that
34:44situation.
34:45As college basketball mushroomed from regional to
34:49national prominence, the private and introverted
34:51Smith seemed out of place.
34:53Dean Smith kept an awful lot of his life very close to the
34:58vest. Just because he was a basketball coach in the
35:02spotlight didn't mean that he felt like he had to spill his
35:06personal guts.
35:07Part of it may be because you never know what people are
35:12trying to get from him.
35:14You know, you can't control things if you're always giving
35:17yourself to people.
35:18But if you talk to him long enough, at the end of that
35:22conversation, he'll know everything about you and you'll
35:26know nothing about him because he deflects the conversation
35:29to you.
35:36It was always the players.
35:37It was always the school.
35:39It was always the assistant coaches.
35:41The equipment manager, the, you know, the ball boys were more
35:44important than what I did.
35:46When they built the Smith Center, they came to him and said,
35:49Coach, we want to name this building for you.
35:51He said, Oh, no.
35:53Can't we do it for my players?
35:55They finally decided on the Dean E. Smith Student Activity
35:59Center.
36:00And to this day, he still calls it the Student Activity Center.
36:05He hates to hear anybody call it the Dean Dome.
36:11In the mid-1990s, Smith's aversion to public acclaim intensified
36:16as he closed in on Adolph Rupp's record of 876 wins.
36:20He said, Well, I'll tell you this.
36:22If I get within one victory of Rupp's record, I will quit
36:27because I don't want that record beside my name.
36:30It's not my record.
36:32It will reflect too much on me and not on my players.
36:35I can remember saying, Coach, you know, it may not matter to you,
36:40but we all want to say we were part of the winningest coach
36:44in college basketball history because we think that much of you
36:47and we all would like for you to do that.
36:49When he won his 877th game, all of a sudden this crowd in the Coliseum
36:56started chanting, Dean, Dean, Dean.
37:03Dean Smith is the winningest coach in the history of college basketball,
37:09877 career victories.
37:11He sprinted to the locker room because he didn't want the acclaim.
37:15He was embarrassed about the Rupp record.
37:18I think the day that Bobby Knight gets that record,
37:21he'll probably be happy.
37:25After breaking the record on March 15, 1997,
37:28in the second round of the NCAA tournament,
37:31Smith's forces reached the 11th Final Four under his reign.
37:34Seven months later, Smith decided that the time had come to step down.
37:38Although he wanted to announce his retirement with a simple press release,
37:42the world of swarming media wouldn't allow it.
37:45That day he couldn't hide.
37:47Because it wasn't about the players, and he knew it.
37:49It was just about him.
37:50With what loyalty I've had, any man from my players over there,
37:56they're really special.
37:59That's all.
38:01Sure enough, when it's all over, he drives John Thompson to the airport,
38:06turns himself into a chauffeur, essentially, for somebody else,
38:11which was a fitting way for him to go off into the sunset.
38:19Our players like to come back and talk to the old coach,
38:23and we play golf together, they're here, and that's special.
38:29Every major decision that a former player makes in his entire life,
38:33regardless if it's 23 years old or 50 years old,
38:36he still gets a little more confidence that he checks with Coach Smith
38:39and see what Coach Smith says about it.
38:41Not a day goes by that I don't, I'm not influenced by what he taught me.
38:47Everywhere I go, our program's the envy of everybody,
38:50because we truly are family.
38:52One of the things that I always thought was really nice
38:55was that he would telegram all the players
38:58who were playing professionally on the day of their first game,
39:00wishing them luck.
39:02I knew he was opposed to the war,
39:03but when I was in Vietnam,
39:05I got letters every week from three people,
39:08my mom, my wife,
39:10and from Coach Smith.
39:11And this is to somebody who contributed very little to that basketball program.
39:20In the mid-1980s, when Phil Ford sought treatment for a drinking problem,
39:25Smith memorized the Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step program
39:28and attended several meetings with his former star.
39:31Ford later became Smith's assistant coach for nine seasons.
39:35When you have a disease like that,
39:37you're probably either going to die or go insane
39:41or go to jail.
39:42And if you don't get the disease under control,
39:46and the fact that I was able to get the disease under control
39:49with him behind me probably saved my life.
39:53A million great players played for Dean Smith.
39:57I know that they look at Dean not just as a great coach,
40:00but as a great and good man.
40:03And that's rare.
40:06When his hand-picked successor, Bill Guthridge,
40:09retired in 2000,
40:10Smith campaigned for former assistant Roy Williams
40:13to become the new caretaker of the Tar Heels.
40:15But Williams decided to remain at Kansas,
40:18and Matt Doherty,
40:19a member of Smith's 1982 championship squad,
40:21took over.
40:22But after three seasons,
40:24it became clear that Doherty couldn't walk in his mentor's footsteps.
40:28Matt tried to change too much too soon.
40:31So I think a lot of the guys who'd played for four decades
40:33suddenly didn't feel like they were a part of the tradition
40:37and a part of the family.
40:39I think it bothered Coach Smith just the fact that
40:43some of the people were unhappy,
40:44and he wanted the Carolina basketball family to be together.
40:49And I think at that time, it probably was splintered.
40:52He wanted me to come back.
40:53He felt that I could heal some of the wounds.
40:57The pressure of saying no to Dean Smith a second time
41:00was the ultimate factor in Roy taking the job
41:03and coming back to Chapel Hill.
41:04And look what's happened to Carolina basketball since.
41:07They're saying nothing could be finer than the title for Carolina.
41:11The Tar Heels are the national champions of college basketball.
41:22Smith won 78% of his games,
41:26while 96% of his lettermen graduated.
41:29The Kansas boy did it right and did it well,
41:32and no one did it better.
41:34He served as an example that you could do it the right way
41:38and compete for a national championship
41:41and do all those things while still maintaining your integrity
41:45and high standards of academic excellence.
41:48He's a very long shadow over the basketball.
41:51And if basketball had it Mount Rushmore,
41:54Dean Smith's face would be on it.
41:56Every game you watch,
41:58whether it's high school, college, or professional basketball,
42:01you see something in that game
42:03that Coach Smith was the first one to do.
42:06There are coaches out there
42:08that have had a positive impact on our sport,
42:12but I can't think of one that has done it any better
42:15with any more grace or class than him.
42:17It's not the Carolina way, it's the right way.
42:20He cared about the game,
42:22and he made it better.
42:23He cared about the game,
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