Coach K blows up at Duke fans, then says he may have overreacted

As far as chants from the Cameron Crazies go, the one that set off Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski during Tuesday night’s game between the Blue Devils and Pittsburgh was fairly benign.

“Jeff Capel, sit with us,” they shouted at the Panthers’ coach, who played for Krzyzewski at Duke, served as his top assistant from 2011 to 2018 and is thought to be a possible replacement for Krzyzewski, 72, whenever he decides to step down. For some reason, Krzyzewski thought fans were lobbing an insult at Capel and vehemently told them to knock it off as he walked off the court at halftime.

Afterward, he kind of admitted that he may have misheard what the Crazies were saying.

“I don’t know if I made a mistake on that, but I’ve never heard another coach’s name yelled out in the middle of the first half when we’re in a war with the team,” Krzyzewski said.“I don’t know if they were saying, ‘Come sit with me.’ ... I thought it was something personal . ... I apologize to the students for that.”

Still, Krzyzewski thought it wasn’t the best cheer he has ever heard from the notoriously prepared Crazies. “Let’s think of a different cheer — like ‘Defense!’” he said.

In 2013, Krzyzewski said he was a “lucky guy” to play in front of fans who come up with such “incredible” chants.

But there have been a few occasions in which the longtime coach has thought his team’s most ardent fans have gone too far.

For his part, Capel said later, on Twitter, that he was more than fine with the chants.