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.

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 40 years of unparalleled success as a coach and mentor. This national bestseller is now in paperback and with a new closing chapter.

“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