Stanford defensive line coach Randy Hart announced his retirement one month ago. We wrote a short obituary of his career, summarizing the myriad of accomplishments checked off by one of the game's great, enduring lifetime assistants.
But it didn't encapsulate the man and his 50 years in the game anywhere near the way Ivan Maisel did for ESPN.com.
While I would strongly encourage you to read the entire thing, I'm going to force you to read the closing paragraphs:
The last time a college football season began without Randy Hart, the number-one single on the Billboard charts was "Help!," by the Beatles. The sport survived the loss of Knute Rockne, the Wing-T and Keith Jackson. It will survive the loss of one assistant coach.
But for all the attention that the Barry Switzers and Bobby Bowdens receive, the bedrock of the sport is men like Hart, who devoted their careers and sacrificed their family life to teach the young men in their charge.
Hart could no longer make that sacrifice. He and Linda have already returned to Seattle and to their grandchildren.
"They're not going to ever see me with a whistle," he said. "... I mean, who's going to have it better than me?"
Not college football.