Bobby Knight or Dean Smith - Who’s The Best Coach Of All Time?

While this is a deviation from my normal entries - the unexpected resignation of Bob Knight from Texas Tech caused me to think about the legacy that one leaves after a career of choices and consequences. Bob Knight is known for two things: (1) his basketball brilliance; and (2) his fiery temper. As the winningest men’s coach in major college basketball, Bob Knight just walked away from his team leaving his son, Pat Knight, in charge.

“There’s a transition that’s going to take place here from me to Pat and I’ve dwelt on this all year long … how it would be best for him and for the team and for what we can do in the long run to make this the best thing for Texas Tech,” Knight told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.

According to an Associated Press report:

“He’s ready,” Pat Knight said during his weekly radio show. “He’s tired.”

Hance said: “I think Bob is through with coaching. I think he got to the point where it wasn’t fun for him.

“He thought about it Sunday all day and talked to his wife and decided ’This is something I want to do.”’

Knight told the news paper he informed the team before practice Monday.

There is no question that Bob Knight has had an outstanding career in men’s college basketball wins. But, what is his legacy? It has been said that Bob Knight is the best coach of all time; however, an equally stellar career in men’s college basketball was the career of Dean Smith at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Smith had a great career and a dramatically different style than that of Bob Knight.

According, again, to the AP report: “I guess you can never be surprised at some of the things Bob does,” former UCLA coach John Wooden told the AP. “I don’t think there’s ever been a better teacher of the game of basketball than Bob. I don’t always approve of his methods, but his players for the most part are very loyal to him. I would say that no player that ever played for him would not say he did not come out a stronger person.”

“I didn’t know, I’ve never really known when I was going to step down from this job. As I thought about it, my first thought was at the end of this season,” Knight told the Lubbock paper. “My thinking was .. the best thing for the long run for this team would be for Pat and his staff to coach these remaining 10 games.”

Unorthodox - perhaps - but you can’t deny the results of his coaching. But for those who follow college basketball - of the two, who do you think is the best coach of all time? Would Bob Knight be at the top of the list or would you vote for Dean Smith - who had a professional stature about him that earned him respect nationwide?

What are your thoughts?

For now Motivational Speaker - Chuck Gallagher - signing off…