Johnny Dawkins Q&A

Johnny Dawkins is about two weeks into his tenure as the head coach at Stanford, after spending the last 11 seasons as an assistant coach under Mike Krzyzewski at Duke, including the last nine as the associate head coach of the Blue Devils.

Krzyzewski has mentioned Dawkins, 44, as someone who should receive serious consideration for the Duke head coaching position whenever Krzyzewski steps down. The Stanford job is Dawkins' first as a head coach.

Dawkins recently caught up with ACC Sports Journal editor David Glenn:

DG: It's been only two weeks since you were officially announced as the head coach at Stanford, and I've tracked you from Durham, N.C., to Washington, D.C., to Phoenix for an Olympic commitment, to Texas and Delaware and North Carolina on recruiting trips, and back and forth to Palo Alto, Calif. Have you had any time to exhale during this wild ride?

Dawkins: I have not had a moment to exhale, but it's been fine. It's an amazing experience.

DG: Very few of your fans can identify with the idea of becoming a head coach, but many can identify with the first thing you did when athletic director Bob Bowlsby offered you the Stanford job over dinner. You turned to your wife, Tracy, and asked for her input. How did that go?

Dawkins: It went well. She was great. She's been a great supporter, and we've been together for a lot of years. She was great. She said she had a great feeling about it, and I did as well. So that made the decision a little bit easier for us. Of course, it's tough any time you have to leave an environment like Duke. I had been there for 11 years as an assistant, and had played there, and everything that Coach (Krzyzewski) had done for me. That made it hard, but it was kinda time. It was the right situation at the right time, I believe.

DG: How are the real estate prices out there in California?

Dawkins: (Loud laugh). Hey, that's not funny! They are high. They are incredible. But it's a great area. The reason the real estate prices are so high (in Palo Alto) is that it's a great area. Everyone wants to be here. It's an unbelievable area, and that's been terrific.

DG: What have your priorities been over this short time period? Buying a house? Recruiting? Hiring a staff? Are those things at or near the top of your list right now?

Dawkins: Those are at the top of the list. 1A would be our players, the current players, getting them accustomed to who I am and developing those relationships. 1B would be recruiting, trying to make sure we stay up with that, because we only had a couple of days after I took the position. 1C would be staffing, trying to make sure that we get people in here who complement what we do and fit the profile for what we want to get done at Stanford.

DG: You've had other inquiries about becoming a head coach, during that time when you served as Coach K's right-hand man. In the past, prior to deciding that Stanford was the right opportunity for you, were those other opportunities not the right fit, was the timing not right, or was something else keeping you at Duke?

Dawkins: I would say it was a combination of those things. I've been very fortunate at Duke, to have I think the best experience any coach could have, working with Coach K. So, for me, it's more or less the fit. I was very happy with where I was. Duke has been terrific to me. So I think the timing of this, and me getting outside my comfort zone, that's how you grow. Those challenges always have attracted me. This was an opportunity at a great institution, one of the best schools in the world, and one of the best programs in the country. It was the right fit. You talk about a profile, and what I've come from and where I'm going, I saw it as a great fit for my transition.

DG: You have a diverse background in basketball — first as a player under Coach K, then under a lot of coaches as a player in the NBA, and most recently back with the Blue Devils as an assistant coach. During that time, did you mentally take a lot of notes, sort of a "Future Head Coach's Handbook," and build a profile on how you would run your own program when that day came along?

Dawkins: I won't say I kept a little handbook, but you keep a few mental notes on what you would like to do. The main thing, and Coach (Krzyzewski) said it best when I was looking at this opportunity and it looked like I may end up getting the position, he said: "Remember just to be yourself." That's the main thing you have to take away from these experiences as a coach. I've worked for and played for some of the greatest coaches in this game, of course with Coach (Krzyzewski) being the most notable one, and I'm going to take the lessons I've learned and try to apply them in my way. I can't do it the same way he did it, and he didn't do it the exact same way as Coach Knight did it. So you just have to try to find your way through it and make it work for yourself, make it work for your program.

Coming Next: Johnny Dawkins Q&A, Part Two