Originally Posted by
davekay1971
jk - I'm sure you're right, but as fans we like to see our man's skillz recognized!
I just went back and looked at K's ACC COY years: 84, 86, 97, 99, 00.
Interesting. Four of the five years he won the award were years in which Duke's success (or the degree of their success) probably came as something of a surprise to the media. 84, 86, and 97 all involved significant improvements in ACC regular season record compared to the year before, while in 00 a fall-off was expected but didn't happen (16-0 in 99, 15-1 in 00). 99 we were supposed to be monsters and we were. I'd be interested to see the COY record of other coaches and don't have time to search for it now, but I suspect that trend holds up. Coaches don't get much credit for their role in building a successful team, they get credit for exceeding the expectations the media has for their team. That's understandable, but it probably minimizes the recognition of the importance of a coach in many parts of putting a successful team together - from recruiting to retention to building player's skills over the course of their college career.
Maybe we need to change the award to the ACC Coach Who's Team Most Surprised Us Media Types In A Good Way Award.