Dean Smith has to be the best all time college coach. His skills at teaching and leading his teams are tops.

easly the best all time

As a Tar Heel, I'm a bit biased, but even with that said, Dean Smith easily deserves a five star rating. Smith was hired after North Carolina was put on probation, yet he built the model for a clean and successful program. One that not only won on the court much more often than not, but also graduated its players. Smith's teams almost always finished in the top two spots in the ACC and reached the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament during a time when the competition was much stronger than in prior eras. Impressive as his record, as noted in prior comments Dean Smith is also responsible for several innovations in the college game (e.g. the four corners, tired signals, and the run and jump defense), and he's also credited for pushing for the racial integration of southern universities.

Since the '90s, Dean Smith has been the coach to emulate.  Though he may not have been TOO popular when he first arrived (I have an uncle that was there at the time), he really came around to claim Tar Heel hearts.  Most wins ever, most sweet sixteen appearances in a row, lots of final fours, big nose, and the list continues.  He gave UNC enough of a permanent name that coaches since have been able to work well with his foundation.

The fact that UNC has continued to win consistantly following his departure is just one measure of the program he built.

The numbers don't lie. . .and was a class act to boot. . .the only human alive who held Michael Jordan below 20 points a game. . .

A fantastic coach and teacher. Anybody that can come up with a system that forces the rules makers to change the game is something special. An innovator, creator and champion.

how can anyone else be better. He had the best most CONSISTENT carrer of any college coach. Look at his number of tournament appearances and his teams final rankings. Heck, even Wooden was quoted as saying Smith was the best college basketball coach he had ever seen.

The one thing all who added their (often but not always) misguided criticisms about Smith forgot about: previously, you had to win your conference tourney to even be invited to the NCAA tourney. Just think if Smith coached all his teams in the new era. He would have more final fours, more wins, more accolades, and plausibly more championship rings. Its hard to deny Wooden the "best of all time" label, hell, he was a winner. But Smith was also, and he was an innovator. Coach K is catching up with him very quickly, but much of his coaching is a product of what Smith revolutionized. If he does, in fact, break the wins record (or Knight for that matter) it is confounded by the era in which they coached. I think Dean is the best coach of all time, but I am a UNC grad. I admit that does create bias. But I DO respect the other greats, and acknowledge that this conversation/debate does have merit; you can make an argument for any of the following: Smith, K, Knight, Calhoun, Boeheim (if you buy into the match-up zone creation), Wooden, Rupp, or Phog Allen.

The only thing Dean Smith didn't have a lot of that people still to this very day discredit him for is the NCAA TITLES.What if DEAN had dominated the game like John Wooden & had won 10 championships at UNC.The game of College BB would not have been what it became in March.Put it this way,maybe Dean left that part unfinished in his illustrious career so people would have that title thing to debate about.I grew up in the 1980's watching every team in the freakin nation shoot for the Heels every year at Tourney time & watched as UNC often choked when everyone knew they had the best team.So I believe whole heartedly if Dean Smith had made it a must to win NCAA Titles like he did in the 76 Olympics when he coached the USA back to Gold,UNC would have many NCAA trophies.I never saw Kentucky ripping down F4 banners from the rafters,but they hang them right beside their 7 NCAA Titles.And that goes for the 11 F4 banners hanging beside the 3 NCAA Titles in Duke's little oven they call a BB arena.Dean Smith was great, just ask his greatest player,the man who can still dunk on your head.

GOAT Greatest Of All Time!!!!!!!! They said it John Wooden: "I've always said that Dean is a better teacher of basketball than anyone else. I couldn't begin to teach players the things Dean has taught them. I've admired him because there's more to him than just wins." Bobby Knight: "I think it's a great achievement [breaking Rupp's record], indicative of a guy who really knows how to coach and has decided from day one that things are going to be done the absolute right way." Mike Krzyzewski: "Whatever is written about him in a positive sense he justly deserves. I know he'll give credit, as we all would to the players who have played for us but the praise for him should rise well above that for the players who have played for him."

best ever bitches

He was a masterful recuiter, but at best an alright coach. How can you have the best players in the NBA but only 2 titles. How do you not win championships with Rasheed & Stackhouse, Jamison and Carter. Coack K and The General Knight have 3 with a few dominating players.

Dean Smith is my hero and one of the greatest coaches and humans that has ever spent his or her life dedicated to sports. The beauty of it is that he would absolutely hate to have this sort of thing said about him.

If it wasn't for Dean- well, nevermind......just read 'The Carolina Way', and you will see why he is the best. Hey , Spain's coach , another thing Dean would never do is not shake hands after a game. NEVER! No matter what the beef ( and plenty of coaches disliked him ), he would literally follow a coach until that coach shook hands. Furthermore , he ALWAYS called timeouts towards the end of decided games , but not to disgrace the other team.......to get reserves in , use mop-up time as practice , etc. What nerve to mention The Dean , when he wouldn't even shake Brown's hand ! If you played a game against Carolina , Dean would shake hands afterward if you had the ebola virus. )))))))))))))))))))))))))UPDATE. Ludicrous notion that his assistants got recruited all the players. Being NORTH CAROLINA recruited all the players. 80% of the guys we get dreamed of being a Tarheel their whole lives. READ UP. And being the school where Jordan went didn't hurt. Although, I will say that it's a documented fact that Smith flew to Philly to meet with 'Sheed 3hrs after the '93 championship buzzer sounded. So, he did some recruiting. Furthermore, what great coach hasn't had great players. And no matter what anybody thinks of him, he gets a 5 from me for breaking the basketball color barrier in the state of North Carolina. They told Scott to exit the restaurant, Smith said, then I go too. to make a long story short. 5 just for that. Another 5 for following Rick Barnes (current Texas coach) around for 2 weeks after Barnes wouldn't shake his hand after a Clemson beatdown. He eventually got his handshake in the office of the head of the ACC.

he was all players, and his assistants got those

he was all players

dean - 2 k - 3

The man is a legend and deserves to be just that! Probably one of the greatest coaches of all time, it was a sad day for all Carolina fans when that man walked off the court. He made Carolina the basketball powerhouse they are today! No one can deny that... now, i wonder if he could do the same thing for the football team?

Over Coach K.....laughable

I think that Dean Smith is one of hte greatest coaches of all time, and I am a die-hard duke fan. I don't think anyone can deny it. But do i think he's the best no. Hes top 5 but not 1 in my opinion. UPDATE to lazyland i'm the entry below you, and thus is your comment about class vs nastyness targeted at me, bc there was nothing nasty about my comment, but the coach k ratings in both current and all time have nasty unc fans saying he has a big nose and suxXXX and he looks like a pervert etc. So i dont think you can classify all unc fans as classy, or all duke fans as nasty, both groups have some pretty classless people.

Five stars, but the best of all time is John Wooden, no questions asked. Like Dean Smith, he graduated his players and did not get in trouble. He won 10 championships in 12 years, 4 undefeated seasons, etc. Best coach, any sport, college or pro.

Easy top five all time. I am a Carolina fan, but I also acknowledge that Coach K does an incredible job. That is the difference between the schools, as well evidenced in the previous entry. Nastyness versus class: I choose the latter and pass on speculating whether the fans are emulating some characteristic of their coaches' personality. I don't know him or his style. Ahh... the late game turnovers is what I really meant to write about. Defense creates pressure and confusion. It is not do X and Y happens. A game of hard defense has returns late when the other team makes errors. Deal with it, don't belittle it. Is 2 of 11 a poor average? Damn, who else has eleven final fours and a better one? Wooden. Who else? Oh, then shut the hell up about that.

Smith is the best. The reasons are too plentiful to list. Anybody that disagrees is doing so for personal reasons that probably have something to do with their team being way under .500 all time against Carolina. But logically , they know he is the best............................................... ................................................... ................... update - Blue tells me the real joke is, jKnoble used to hang out in gay bars in Durham in the early 80's, onlt it is not really a joke, knoble admitted it in a message to him. Another rumor floating around is that Knoble knows so much about Linda Lovelace, because she is his Mom. He used to cry as a child, while watching his mother through a keyhole, perform on strange man after strange man. And all he ever wanted was a real father - poor kid.

The joke used to be that Smith was going to be fired and replaced with Linda Lovelace- she might blow a few now nd then but she wouldn't choke on the big one like Smith habitually did. The two Smith finally won were accidents caused by the two biggest choke plays in NCAA history- Georgetown was about to take the lead when one of their guys threw the ball to James Worthy, who was so out of position defensively that he thought he was a teammate. Michigan was about to win in the closing minute when Webber called a timeout with none left and got called for a technical. The other joke was that Smith was the best defensive coach in history becuase he held Michael Jordan under 20 points a game.

Forget the wins records. Forget all those ACC titles. Forget all those Final 4's and championships. Forget that IU is the only team in the country with a winning record against Carolina. Forget all the National and conference players of the year. Forget all the coaches that learned from him who have gone on to become champions themselves. Forget all that. Coach Smith is a revolutionary. He literally changed the way the game is played. That offense your team runs - Smith invented it. That clever defense your team plays - Smith invented it. Your coach wants your program to be like a family - again, thanks Coach Smith. Almost every coach in college basketball runs something, whether it's in practice, a game situation, down to off the court motivational tactics, that Smith invented. Hell, Coach Smith is the reason teams think they can still win , down by double digits with a minute left. Simply the best. If you disagree- how's this?: I bet every penny I have that the coach you think is the best thinks Smith is the best. I guarantee it.

Not only the all time wins leader. But do any of you have any idea how hard that would be to do in the ACC? I understand if you are racking up wins at Marshall or St. Joes or somewhere, but to be the all time leader when you had to play out of conference games like UK, UCLA, AZ, UCONN, then you get in to conference play and face all the ACC power programs twice a SEASON! That's unbelievable! There are literally hundreds of reasons Coach Smith is the best. This just the one I felt like talking about.

I know he will never see this, but I want to say something Coach rarely hears from the fans through all the talk about how great he is: THANKS COACH. You're the reason for our pride. Thank you. We love ya.

Take a look at his all time record against ANY national power. If you think about it, this man is the source. This man is the reason teams run inbound alley oops. This man is the reason teams adopt a running style, AND/OR milk the clock! Jesus, this man is the reason, there even is a shot clock! Also, we all know about MJ, but Dean is the source (if you think about it) of Carolina having more fans than any other program. I mean , you can't go to Alaska, and not see somebody wearing a #32 Rashad McCants jersey. Dean is the creator of all this. He is even the reason black players are in the ACC! He is the reason Jordan, Larry Brown, Rasheeeeeeeed, Worthy, and about 28 others are NBA champions. Coach Smith is the reason John Edwards got elected as a North Carolina Senator - think about that! I was watching the Pistons - Cavs game tonight, and I had an epiphany - there are 11 people involved in this ball game that learned everything they know from Smith. Do your research - real research, and come and tell me this man isn't the greatest! Not the greatest basketball coach, the greatest coach PERIOD! I don't care if Bobby Knight or Lute Olsen win 2000 games, Dean is Jesus Christ on the sidelines................. ..................................UPDATE: New comment

A great man in ways far beyond basketball. The GREATEST man when it comes to basketball. And I'm talking all things basketball.- Pro, college - players, coaches. This man IS basketball.

Has there been anyone better?

Racist your are bright you are not. Stupidity and racism abound in your comments. Dean Smith was much more than a basketball coach he help Black People in so many ways. He was the first to to Blacks on a ACC roster. You guys are ignorant of the facts. He has done more for blacks than Coach K a (republican)and his black uncle Tom players ever did. You racists white people make me sick. Grow up, sports are more than just sports. Your ignorance and racism come through in what you post about a true American Dean Smith. He has done more for Black Americans than the other ten winningst coaches in college basketbal and he is a true man of God.

DEAN SMITH IS A JOKE..HE IS NOT THE BEST COLLEGE COACH, NEVER WAS AND NEVER WILL BE. HE IS OVER-RATED AND IT'S A GOOD THING THAT HE 'RETIRED' WHEN HE DID SO COACH K WOULDN'T EMBARASS HIM TOO BAD. ONLY A MORON LIKE DEANO COULD RESIDE AT SUCH A PATHETIC DUMP LIKE CRAPOLINA. HIS COACHING ABILITY WAS ALWAYS QUESTIONABLE AND SO WERE HIS RECRUITING ABILITIES. WOULDN'T IT BE GREAT TO SEE HOW UNETHICAL AND ILLEGAL HIS SCOUTS OPERATED BACK 20 YEARS AGO??? THEN AGAIN, HE IS TYPICAL TARHOLE MATERIAL. COACH K IS 100 TIMES THE COACH (AND MAN) THAT DEANO OR ANY OTHER TARHOLE WAS OR COULD EVER BE. YOU CLOWNS NEED MATT DOH-ERTY BACK (HE HE). AFTER ALL, IT'S THE IMAGE OF HIS ANTICS AND STUPIDITY AND PLAYERS LIKE WILL JOHNSON AND THOSE BALD HEADED SMURFS THAT WILL LINGER IN EVERYONES MINDS FOR YEARS TO COME. DEAN THE BEST?? THAT'S FUNNY. HE IS THE BEST, THE BEST AT SCARFING DOWN PORK RINDS AND GREASY CHICKEN LIVERS...DUKE RULES!!

To say Dean Smith is not a great coach would be to undermine his accomplishments in college basketball. To say he is not a great man would be ludicrous. Dean Smith was one of the greatest college basketball coaches ever, perhaps second to the great John Wooden- and definitely on par with Adolph Rupp. Many forget that Smith's teams from the 1960s were amongst the greatest teams. However, the 1960s were dominated by Coach Wooden and the mighty Bruins. It is only fitting, however, that Smith won two national titles which helped complete the legendary status of this great coach and teacher. It is also important to mention that he mentored the greatest professional basketball player ever, Michael Jordan, who was part of that legendary championship team of 1982. A great teacher, Smith taught teamwork over personal achievement to get desired results on the hardwood. If anything, his influence in the game exceeds others- maybe even the great John Wooden- as Smith's players and assistants have become successful throughout basketballdom.

Several posters have pointed out that Smith took teams to the Final Four 11 times but won only two championships. Bear in mind, though, that 3 of those Final Four trips were in the late 60's when UCLA totally dominated with virtually unbeatable teams. If you look at the post-UCLA period, Smith's teams won 2 championships out of 8 FInal Fours, which is pretty good.

Not only the greatest coach ever but a great man. Larry Brown just won the NBA championship and the first person he thanked for his success was Dean Smith. All of his former players love him and that is the true mark of a great coach.

As the old line goes, Dean is the only person who could keep Michael Jordan from scoring 20 points a game.

I've always thought Smith was a wee bit overrated.. but good nonetheless.

I have to agree with PBeavr and say Smith deserves a weak five star rating. Undeniably a great coach, though many of his records will be eclipsed by coaches K and Knight. 2 of 11 championships, not good, especially when one was a gift from Chris Webber, and the other was a pass from the other team, but I digress.

A very good coach that I have the utmost respect for as a social advocate.

Simply the best ever. Broke Rupp's record in 6 fewer seasons, and against tougher teams with more parity.

The winningest coach of all time, 2 national champiosnships, 11 final 4s and other amazing records without any violation of NCAA rules....... THE greatest coach of all time, Michaelangelo!!!