[Red State]

How the hell does a head coach of a (currently) top tier Div. 1 program take a whole month off to sail and tour the Mediterranean and Europe?

I am not begrudging any of these coaches time off.  Lord knows the job is tough enough and doesn't go away on most weekends.  But it astonishes me that a HC can and did do this.  I know how time off can refresh mental energy, enthusiasm and actually let him spend time with the family.  I just don't see how a HC can tune out the  hounds-to-the-hunt rush during prime recruiting time.  Maybe now, or never.  Or his spouse and family put their foot (feet?) down and forced the issue.  Hope he can pull it off.  It's a good example for lots of other coaches whose families pay the price.  Now, Sorry Yikes doesn't get a vacation.  Maybe in four years after he's accomplished something.

(I know a little bit about what I speak.  An in-law of mine, now in the NFL,  trod the beaten path as a college assistant and then head coach for decades.  His family turned out OK but his idea of time off was mostly sneaking out in the afternoons for an occasional round of golf...with some other coaches.  A month off would be unthinkable.)

Shaw went to Spain last summer for a few weeks and the team turned out okay. This could be called a "Save The Marriage" getaway as Shaw won't being seeing too much of his family for the next six or seven months. Dave Tipton told me that all the coaches took off for lengthy vacations following the summer football camps. And while recruitment is a year-round process, this is not "prime" recruiting time.

[Red State]

How the hell does a head coach of a (currently) top tier Div. 1 program take a whole month off to sail and tour the Mediterranean and Europe?

I am not begrudging any of these coaches time off.  Lord knows the job is tough enough and doesn't go away on most weekends.  But it astonishes me that a HC can and did do this.  I know how time off can refresh mental energy, enthusiasm and actually let him spend time with the family.  I just don't see how a HC can tune out the  hounds-to-the-hunt rush during prime recruiting time.  Maybe now, or never.  Or his spouse and family put their foot (feet?) down and forced the issue.  Hope he can pull it off.  It's a good example for lots of other coaches whose families pay the price.  Now, Sorry Yikes doesn't get a vacation.  Maybe in four years after he's accomplished something.

(I know a little bit about what I speak.  An in-law of mine, now in the NFL,  trod the beaten path as a college assistant and then head coach for decades.  His family turned out OK but his idea of time off was mostly sneaking out in the afternoons for an occasional round of golf...with some other coaches.  A month off would be unthinkable.)

Shaw went to Spain last summer for a few weeks and the team turned out okay. This could be called a "Save The Marriage" getaway as Shaw won't being seeing too much of his family for the next six or seven months. Dave Tipton told me that all the coaches took off for lengthy vacations following the summer football camps. And while recruitment is a year-round process, this is not "prime" recruiting time.