When Mike Krzyzewski talks, he effortlessly turns into a coach. He can speak at length on nearly any topic and no matter how much you dislike his Duke basketball team, he'll have you believing every word of his message.
But there's a side to Coach K that many are not familiar with.
It's his humor.
And it was unleashed Tuesday at Dallas' Hilton Anatole Hotel when the coach with four national titles discussed the three February days he spent with Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett.
When the legendary Duke coach was asked about Garrett filling up multiple notebooks during a weekend trip to Durham, North Carolina, he responded: "I don't know if he was doodling or drawing and making us think that we were actually saying something good."
The 64 year old then quipped that the Cowboys coach was working on publishing a children's book called "Garrett's Drawings."
"There's a lot of stickmen," he added.
But when Krzyzewski got serious, it was obvious that he was impressed with the man Jerry Jones picked to lead his franchise.
"I can see why he was chosen to be the head coach," he said. "He's very good. I can see why you would want to work with him or work for him. He's got good stuff, good charisma, smarts. I would think he'd be very much a player's coach."
On hand to learn how Coach K communicates and prepares his team and staff, Garrett attended multiple meetings, practices and even grabbed a seat behind the bench during a game.
"I loved it," Krzyzewski said. "I found him to be just a real humble, great guy. And very smart. We had a lot of time one-on-one because after practice or whatever, I'd drive him back to the hotel. It was neat for me to talk to another head coach and get his insights.
"I enjoyed the whole time. I know he did, too. Hopefully they win a lot so someone won't say: 'Well, you went down there and they put a bad curse on you.'"
And there was Krzyzewski getting back to the humor.
Despite the good times, the Chicago native wouldn't commit to rooting for the Cowboys in the future, he still openly cheers for the Bears. But he did come away with some Cowboys gear.
"We got a whole bunch of Cowboys stuff," Krzyzewski said. "I know my Bears friends are not happy with that. And my wife's Redskins family is definitely not happy about that."
Krzyzewski admitted that he didn't know much about Garrett before Cowboy alum Calvin Hill set up the trip. Coach K is close friends with Hill, whose son Grant won two national titles playing for Krzyzewski at Duke.
"I figured if Calvin was giving his endorsement than he must be a really good guy," Krzyzewski said of Garrett.
The Hall of Famer returned to the jokes when talking about one of his staff members being a diehard Cowboys fan. Athletic trainer Jose Fonseca was supposedly keeping tabs on where Garrett was at all-times during his visit.
"When [Garrett] was around, Jose was like maybe a teenage girl following a rock singer, like 'where is he at?' I would be like, 'We have guys to tape,'" Krzyzewski said. "He sold me out when [Garrett] was there, which was kind of humbling also."
The time spent together was also a learning experience for the Duke coach. He admitted to getting several ideas and opinions from Garrett. Krzyzewski believes you can always learn from watching others, and he hopes that the Cowboys coach received some good information.
He made it clear that he wasn't trying to persuade Garrett do anything a certain way. Krzyzewski just went about his usual business and allowed Garrett to take what he wanted.
"I'm not a missionary or an evangelist or anything," Krzyzewski said. "Whatever they want to take. ... You don't put on a show, you just be yourself.
"Whenever I'm involved in anything like that, I'm not trying to get a message across. I'm just telling you about what we do, not that you have to become a follower of this or now we have a secret handshake or we get a tattoo together. That's not my goal."
Secret handshakes and tattoos, just adding more of that humor.
However, all jokes aside, Krzyzewski seriously stated: "What I'd like to see is for him to be very successful."
But there's a side to Coach K that many are not familiar with.
It's his humor.
And it was unleashed Tuesday at Dallas' Hilton Anatole Hotel when the coach with four national titles discussed the three February days he spent with Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett.
When the legendary Duke coach was asked about Garrett filling up multiple notebooks during a weekend trip to Durham, North Carolina, he responded: "I don't know if he was doodling or drawing and making us think that we were actually saying something good."
The 64 year old then quipped that the Cowboys coach was working on publishing a children's book called "Garrett's Drawings."
"There's a lot of stickmen," he added.
But when Krzyzewski got serious, it was obvious that he was impressed with the man Jerry Jones picked to lead his franchise.
"I can see why he was chosen to be the head coach," he said. "He's very good. I can see why you would want to work with him or work for him. He's got good stuff, good charisma, smarts. I would think he'd be very much a player's coach."
On hand to learn how Coach K communicates and prepares his team and staff, Garrett attended multiple meetings, practices and even grabbed a seat behind the bench during a game.
"I loved it," Krzyzewski said. "I found him to be just a real humble, great guy. And very smart. We had a lot of time one-on-one because after practice or whatever, I'd drive him back to the hotel. It was neat for me to talk to another head coach and get his insights.
"I enjoyed the whole time. I know he did, too. Hopefully they win a lot so someone won't say: 'Well, you went down there and they put a bad curse on you.'"
And there was Krzyzewski getting back to the humor.
Despite the good times, the Chicago native wouldn't commit to rooting for the Cowboys in the future, he still openly cheers for the Bears. But he did come away with some Cowboys gear.
"We got a whole bunch of Cowboys stuff," Krzyzewski said. "I know my Bears friends are not happy with that. And my wife's Redskins family is definitely not happy about that."
Krzyzewski admitted that he didn't know much about Garrett before Cowboy alum Calvin Hill set up the trip. Coach K is close friends with Hill, whose son Grant won two national titles playing for Krzyzewski at Duke.
"I figured if Calvin was giving his endorsement than he must be a really good guy," Krzyzewski said of Garrett.
The Hall of Famer returned to the jokes when talking about one of his staff members being a diehard Cowboys fan. Athletic trainer Jose Fonseca was supposedly keeping tabs on where Garrett was at all-times during his visit.
"When [Garrett] was around, Jose was like maybe a teenage girl following a rock singer, like 'where is he at?' I would be like, 'We have guys to tape,'" Krzyzewski said. "He sold me out when [Garrett] was there, which was kind of humbling also."
The time spent together was also a learning experience for the Duke coach. He admitted to getting several ideas and opinions from Garrett. Krzyzewski believes you can always learn from watching others, and he hopes that the Cowboys coach received some good information.
He made it clear that he wasn't trying to persuade Garrett do anything a certain way. Krzyzewski just went about his usual business and allowed Garrett to take what he wanted.
"I'm not a missionary or an evangelist or anything," Krzyzewski said. "Whatever they want to take. ... You don't put on a show, you just be yourself.
"Whenever I'm involved in anything like that, I'm not trying to get a message across. I'm just telling you about what we do, not that you have to become a follower of this or now we have a secret handshake or we get a tattoo together. That's not my goal."
Secret handshakes and tattoos, just adding more of that humor.
However, all jokes aside, Krzyzewski seriously stated: "What I'd like to see is for him to be very successful."