YouTube Gold: The Fire Of John Chaney

Temple University head coach John Chaney speaks to Temple guard Mark Tyndale during the NIT Season Tip-off game against Army at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, November 15, 2005. Chaney celebrated his 500th victory with a 69-37 win over Army. (Photo by Joseph Labolito/WireImage) *** Local Caption ***

We’ve talked before about how thoroughly Billy King dominated Temple’s Mark Macon in the 1988 Elite Eight.

Macon, in case you didn’t know, was being sold as the next Magic Johnson. And in fairness, Macon had a phenomenal freshman season that ended with King just crushing him.

But that’s not what we’re talking about here today. We’re here to talk about his coach, John Chaney.

Chaney could be charming, intense, ruthless, and a very kind man, sometimes within just a few short minutes.

For example, he once stormed into a press conference with then-UMass coach John Calipari and threatened to kill him.

Later, they both laughed about it.

He also sent a player in a game once with orders to hurt an opponent. No one laughed, and Chaney later apologized for the goon tactic.

This video from that 1988 matchup with Duke shows Chaney’s intensity as his inner turmoil played out on screens across America. He had his flaws and rough edges, but Chaney’s positives outweighed his negatives. He was a good man, and the game misses him.

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