It seems like the countdown is on for Mike Krzyzewski.

Before his team dropped to .500 in both ACC games and overall with the loss to Carolina, Krzyzewski acknowledged that he was coming to the end of his Hall of Fame coaching career. And he hinted, ever so slightly, what his next job might be.

“In about a week (February 13), I’ll be 74 years old,” Coach K told ESPN. “You know, whether it’s the light at the end of the tunnel or the end of the cave or whatever the hell it is, it’s there. Whenever it happens, it happens…”

He pinpointed playing in an empty Cameron Indoor Stadium as perhaps the most unfortunate part of college basketball in the pandemic. “I’m going to miss it,” he said, “I think being in Cameron for those big games — how lucky can you be. Obviously, that’s one of the sad things about college basketball this year.”

And maybe next year. Depending on how many people get vaccinated, and when, and how safe everyone feels about jamming into sports events and concerts, there is a chance the immediate future will be more of the same. Will Coach K wait another year or two for the new normal to go back to the old electric?

There well may be another role for Coach K, who has become wealthy beyond reason coaching and likely will get some off-the-court opportunities. He touched on a need for college basketball that has long existed but maybe exacerbated while experiencing everything about a crisis like COVID.

When the 2020 season was called of during the ACC tournament, Duke was 25-6 and 15-5 in the ACC, looking at another high NCAA seed. The Blue Devils will almost need to run the table to earn an at-large bid to the 2021 Big Dance.

“Never in the history of college basketball has the landscape changed so much as in the past year,” Krzyzewski said. “It begs for great leadership and maybe some type of restructuring on that leadership . . that it could come under one umbrella with one commissioner or whatever you want to call it.

“In my 46 years, there’s never been a time like this. It’s a great game, so we’ll be able to figure it out. We might have to figure it out a little differently.”

If the sport went to a major restructuring, who would be better to change his nickname from Coach K to Commissioner K? Most major college wins in history, three-time Olympic coach, great insights on officiating, recruiting rules and relationships with the NBA that could help the college game.

Was he ruminating or reaching out?

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