One day after iconic Duke Blue Devils men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski held a retirement news conference at Cameron Indoor Stadium even though Coach K isn’t stepping down until after the 2021-22 season, assistant Jon Scheyer, set to replace the living legend, spoke with reporters about a task many would shy away from for obvious reasons.
“I’ve been told many times in the last 48 hours, ‘You’re not supposed to be the guy that follows the guy. You’re supposed to be the guy that follows the guy that follows the guy,'” Scheyer admitted, per Jeff Borzello of ESPN. “With that said, I am not afraid of it. This is an incredibly unique situation. Coach did mention it yesterday. This is one of one in terms of succession in how this is going to work. I think it’s built for success.”
History suggests Scheyer, 33, won’t immediately find success. David Moyes flopped trying to replace Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. The New York Giants still haven’t yet found a proven successor for Tom Coughlin after those two parted ways in January 2016.
Unlike in those cases, however, Scheyer will work directly under Krzyzewski for an entire preseason and a campaign knowing ahead of time what his role will be a year from now.
“I plan on taking advantage of the amazing opportunity that these 10 months present,” Scheyer added on Friday. “This unique situation, I think the thing that it does is it gives clarity. Clarity is helpful. Sometimes when something is unknown, your mind starts to wonder.
“Now that there’s clarity for our team, I think for everyone, we can focus on the task at hand. Which is to win the whole damn thing this year and have the best season we possibly can.”
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